Ahead of this year's commencement, Harvard's governing board has rejected the recommendation of faculty to allow 13 pro-Palestinian students who participated in a three-week encampment at the school to receive their degrees alongside their classmates.
Impacted students will still be able to participate in commencement ceremonies on Thursday; however, they will not receive diplomas, compromising their post-graduation plans.
The announcement follows a vote by several members of Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences to grant the 13 students degrees as the school prepares for the most important day of the academic year.
The faculty was shocked when the governing board overruled their vote because they stood firm in their belief that student protestors are receiving unfair punishment.
"I'm upset," said Ryan Enos, a professor of government.
"This was pure hubris by the Corporation. To think a bunch of billionaires that visit Cambridge a couple times a year could tell the professors who educate these students that they know better than them who deserve to earn degrees-the audacity is breathtaking. In my opinion, the Corporation is not worthy of leading the university."
The Harvard Corporation issued a statement addressing its decision.
Citing the Harvard College handbook, it states that a "degree will not be granted to a student who is not in good standing or against whom a disciplinary charge is pending with the Administrative Board, the Honor Council, or the disciplinary board of another school."
The students in question are either on probation or have been suspended.
The Corporation has faced pressure from conservative politicians, donors, students, and alumni who support Israel to show that the protesters, who repeatedly ignored disciplinary warnings during their encampment, will face serious consequences, according to The Boston Globe.
The main pro-Palestinian student group at Harvard criticized the Corporation's decision.
"Today's actions have plunged the university even further into a crisis of legitimacy and governance, which will have major repercussions for Harvard in the coming months and years," the Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine coalition said in a statement.
Graduating senior Jeremy Ornstein said the student body is divided and added that "people feel pain on all sides" of the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
Stephen Marglin, a professor of economics who has taught at Harvard for 59 years, called the Corporation's decision "a slap in the face" to faculty and likely to prompt protests at graduation Thursday.
