Mass. Hall Ejects Three PSLM Protestors

Three students protesting Harvard sweatshop policy inside Mass Hall yesterday morning provoked a rapid administrative response, as Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) officers evicted the students and College and University officials gathered to discuss the demonstration.

The Progressive Student Labor Movement (PSLM) organized the action in response to a wave of anti-sweatshop sit-ins at college campuses across the country. The group planned to spend four hours handing out leaflets in Mass Hall, but was ejected within minutes.

Members of the group described the administrative response as excessive.

"I can't help if it's interpreted as such, but it wasn't intended to be anything like a sit-in," said PSLM member Benjamin L. McKean '02. "The administration was really scared," said PSLM member Amy C. Offner '01. "It was just three people with a table--it was pretty innocuous."

Administrative officials said they viewed the demonstration as a more serious threat.

They said they were "surprised" and "disappointed."

"We had such a good communication with [PSLM] that we didn't expect them to react to outside influences like that," said HUPD Chief Francis D. "Bud" Riley.

University Attorney Allan A. Ryan Jr., who meets with PSLM members on a regular basis to discuss Harvard's sweatshop policy, said he hoped yesterday's events would not affect the ongoing dialogue.

"I'd be disappointed if what happened today will take that focus and shift it elsewhere," he said. "I just don't think today was particularly constructive."

PSLM members said sit-ins taking place on other campuses sparked the administration's swift response.

Three sit-ins have broken out at colleges over the past week.

The University of Pennsylvania recently gave in to student demands, ending a nine-day standoff. Two sit-ins, at the University of Michigan and the University of Wisconsin, are still ongoing. At Wisconsin, more than 50 students entered the chancellor's office and six locked themselves together with bicycle locks. Police officers forced their way into the building and used pepper spray to subdue the demonstrators.

"There's national pressure growing, and the administration is scared that something like that is going to happen here," Offner said.

Protesters at Harvard and across the country are demanding that universities leave the Fair Labor Association (FLA) and join the Workers' Rights Consortium (WRC). Both organizations are designed to monitor conditions in overseas factories manufacturing collegiate apparel, but activists charge that the FLA is too closely tied to corporate interests to be effective.

Less than an hour after the PSLM protesters left Mass Hall, administrators clustered in the building to discuss the demonstration. The group included Ryan, Riley, Associate Dean of the College David P. Illingworth '71 and Executive Assistant to the President Beverly B. Sullivan. Harvard President Neil L. Rudenstine, who was on the second floor of Mass Hall during the protest, did not attend the meeting.

Illingworth said the group discussed both sweatshop policy and issues of security.

He said Mass Hall staffers felt the demonstration "came out of the blue," and said, "they're concerned."

McKean said he hoped the meeting focused more on matters of policy.

"I seriously hope they're talking about the virtues of joining the WRC as opposed to studying security deficiencies, because that is not what this is about," he said.

McKean said PSLM originally planned the action as an outreach effort in solidarity with protesters at other schools.

"We were already planning on leafletting," McKean said. "We were trying to think of a way to step it up. So we thought that leafletting where it counted would be more effective."

The three PSLM members arrived at Mass Hall about 10 a.m., set up a table, turned on a radio and began hanging up posters and handing out leaflets.

A Mass Hall receptionist, Jane Moody, immediately called HUPD.

HUPD records indicate Moody placed the call at 10:06 a.m. and three officers, two uniformed and one plainclothed, arrived by 10:07 a.m.

But PSLM members said officers did not appear for five or 10 minutes--and they said they had time to leaflet the entire first floor of Mass Hall before HUPD officers arrived.

McKean and PSLM member Alexander B. Horowitz '02 knocked on office doors and handed out literature, while Offner spoke with a Mass Hall staffer whom she described as "confrontational."

"She was really flustered," Offner said. "She was bickering with us for several minutes."

When the two uniformed officers arrived at Mass Hall, they spoke to the students and suggested that they speak with Illingworth to get permission to demonstrate. The officers asked them to leave, and the protesters agreed to do so.

"They were very polite. There was no real confrontation," said University spokesperson Joe Wrinn. "They left voluntarily."

The officers then escorted the three students across the Yard into University Hall, where they met with Illingworth for about 20 minutes.

When they emerged, Ryan, who had been called by Mass Hall administrators, spoke with them about the demonstration.

Offner said they managed to hand out literature to Hasty Pudding Man of the Year Billy Crystal, who was making his way across the Yard.

"You're doing the right thing," Crystal reportedly told the group.

The protesters then moved to the Science Center, still escorted by an HUPD officer. Riley met them there and confirmed that they were not planning further demonstrations.

Members of the group then began handing out literature, staying until 2 p.m. without further incident.

HUPD officers remained on duty outside of Mass Hall and University Hall for most of the afternoon.