Harvard Law Student Government Spars With Admin Over Referendum on Study-in Protests

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.

However, the administrators’ promises to hold the referendum have done little to quell the anger among students.

HLS student government co-presidents Déborah V. Aléxis and John M. Fossum disputed Ball’s characterization of events in a statement to The Crimson on Wednesday.

“Student Government leadership has never had a conversation with the Dean of Students Office about a referendum date after winter break,” Aléxis and Fossum wrote. “The response to the referendum from the HLS Dean of Students office has ranged from disappointing to openly dishonest.”

Amid the referendum’s delay, more than 250 HLS students signed a petition that alleges Ball is obstructing students’ right to vote in “another unprecedented and unacceptable display of repression.”

Supporters of the referendum hung flyers around the school that read: “John Goldberg and Stephen Ball: Let us Vote!” and “Election Interference at Harvard Law”. The flyers direct readers to the petition link and provide context about the referendum and Ball’s response.

Students delivered the petition to interim HLS Dean John C.P. Goldberg in-person Wednesday evening and also emailed a copy to Ball.

Law School spokesperson Jeff Neal declined to comment for this article.

Gilbert Placeres, a member of the student government, said in an interview that Ball “doesn’t think that we are a natural student government that’s supposed to represent students that has some degree of independence.”

“He thinks that we can only do what he allows us to do, and we can only communicate the ways that he allows us to communicate,” Placeres added.

The conflict between the student government and the administration caps a semester at the Law School defined by study-ins and conflict over protest guidelines. All three of the student government’s resolutions this semester have been about administrative responses to student protests.

After the HLS administration disciplined protestors with library bans for their participation in study-ins in Langdell Hall, the HLS Student Government passed a resolution on Nov. 12 condemning the library-bans. The condemnation passed on a 13-1 vote, with one abstention.

Despite Ball’s pledge to hold a vote after winter break, some student government members remained pessimistic that the referendum would be allowed to happen.

“At this point, what I believe in is the ability of students to come together and to advocate for one another,” Courtney Chrystal, a member of the student government, said.

“What I am uncertain of is the ability of the Dean of Students to commit to administering it.”

—Staff writer S. Mac Healey can be reached at mac.healey@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @MacHealey.

—Staff writer Saketh Sundar can be reached at saketh.sundar@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @saketh_sundar.