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April 1972: Mass Hall Takeover
Black students takeover Massachusetts Hall, which houses the office of the president, to protest the Universities refusal to divest of stock in Gulf Oil. The students charged that the oil company was supporting the colonial government of Portugal in Angola. Bok worked out of a separate office for seven days. Eventually the students left on their own volition; no arrests were made.
April 1985: Sit-in at 17 Quincy St.
In the first major anti-apartheid action in several years, student activists push aside a University police officer standing guard at 17 Quincy St. and takeover the headquarters of the Harvard Corporation to protest the governing body's refusal to divest of South Africa-linked holdings.
The group of students decide to leave at 5 p.m. after their day long sit-in. They later face disciplinary proceedings.
May 1985: Lowell House Blockade
Students block a South African diplomat from leaving the Lowell House Junior Common Room where he had been speaking. Police break through the blockade, injuring some students, but do not arrest the activists. Protesters later face disciplinary proceedings.
April-June 1986: The Shantytown
Students build shanties in Harvard Yard under the watchful guard of campus police. University officials decide to allow them to remain standing, saying the structures are an expression of free speech. The students take down the shanties several days after Commencement ceremonies.
May 1986: Sit-in at Holyoke Center
Union activists sit-in at the offices of Harvard's 350th anniversary planning committee to protest Harvard's links to Shell Oil, which does business in South Africa. The protesters leave in time for the 11 o'clock news after being told they will be arrested if they stay the night.
September 1986: 350th Dinner Blockade
Students, alumni and labor activists blockade Memorial Hall and prevent a formal dinner honoring Harvard's 350th anniversary from ever taking place. Rather than arrest the protesters, University officials cancel the dinner leaving 500 of some of Harvard's most prominent alumni hungry.
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