In a message to the Harvard community on Thursday morning, as students were returning for the start of classes next week, President Alan M. Garber offered a welcome—and an admonition. He asked those coming back to campus to seek “enlightenment, understanding, and wisdom together.” The 2023-24 school year included months of upheaval and campus tension and ended with a pro-Palestine encampment in Harvard Yard and a walkout during Commencement. Foreseeing a continuation of those disagreements, Garber wrote: “We have everything to gain from our commitments to one another—and so much to lose if we falter. Our community includes people of intensity and passion with beliefs both deeply held and strongly expressed. The challenges we faced in the last academic year have not abated. We anticipate demonstrations and protests, as well as disagreement and argument. We expect tension among individuals who hold opposing positions. We will surely be tested again this term.”
Pointing toward a January statement on University rights and responsibilities, and rules governing the use of campus grounds and buildings, Garber warned, “Those who fall short of our expectation that the rights of others be honored must be prepared to be held accountable for their actions. We reject bias or hate directed at any individual or group, and we will not tolerate harassment, intimidation, or threats.” In May, the University withheld diplomas from 13 students who were involved in the pro-Palestine encampment; earlier this month, 11 of those students were belatedly granted their degrees after the penalties were reduced.
In his letter, urging a “fundamental and enduring commitment to education and scholarship,” Garber concluded: “Our future will be shaped by the concern and compassion we show—by our willingness to regard one another as fellow human beings, diverse in our views, ambitious in our interests, and committed not only to asserting what we believe but also to seeing the world through eyes other than our own. We must listen attentively and generously in the weeks and months to come, resisting urges to judge too quickly and approaching our dealings with one another in good faith. We must have the courage and the decency to care about each other and to care for each other.”
