The Harvard Crimson
The Harvard Law School student government is embroiled in a bitter feud with Dean of Students Stephen L. Ball over a proposed referendum to condemn the administration for taking disciplinary action against students who participated in pro-Palestine study-in protests.
The dispute started after student government members and Ball clashed over scheduling and finalizing the language of the referendum, but escalated when HLS administrators deactivated the student government’s email account in response to a school-wide email that was sent without Ball’s approval.
On Nov. 16, the student government passed a resolution calling for a referendum to be held within 10 business days.
The referendum would ask students if they agree to condemn the bans, that “students who abide by all rules of behavior in a space cannot reasonably be punished merely for doing so as a group,” and that the suspensions “are part of Harvard’s ad hoc creation and weaponization of overbroad rules against those who speak in defense of Palestinian life.”
The referendum further calls for the library bans to be removed from students’ records and for “an end to Harvard’s use of intimidation tactics and its escalating restrictions on freedom of expression, assembly, and access to campus resources.”
However, the student government’s self-imposed deadline of 10 business days approached without Ball approving language in the email announcing the referendum. The Dean of Students Office is required to approve language in emails that the student government sends to the entire student body, per a longstanding agreement between the student government and the school.
The lack of confirmation from Ball prompted the student government’s leaders to take matters into their own hands by informing students of the referendum in an unauthorized email on Nov. 26. The email also claimed that voting would begin on Dec. 4.
But the voting never started.
Instead, Ball criticized the student government’s unauthorized communication in an email to the student body on Tuesday, one day before the intended vote. In the email, he also wrote that the Dean of Students Office would work with the student government to administer the referendum after winter break.
“Before we had finalized plans for SG’s proposed communications, and without prior notice to DOS, SG emailed individual students last week announcing the referendum would proceed on Wednesday,” Ball wrote.
The referendum is currently slated for Jan. 6, 2025, according to a Law School administrator who was granted anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the matter publicly.
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https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2024/12/5/law-student-government-administration-clash/
