After Criticism, Harvard Will Standardize Fact-Finding Process for Disciplinary Cases

Harvard will standardize fact-finding procedures for disciplinary cases across the University after facing fierce blowback when students who participated in the pro-Palestine encampment faced different disciplinary charges depending on which school they attended.

But it is unclear if the new procedures, which were adopted on Thursday by interim Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 and endorsed by the Harvard Corporation, will fully address frustrations from students and faculty about inconsistencies in Harvard’s disciplinary sanctions as final disciplinary decisions will still be left to the individual schools.

“In recent years, this goal has been challenged in a growing number of disciplinary cases involving students from different Schools who are involved in the same event or behavior but may be subject to quite different investigative and fact-finding processes,” Garber wrote in an email co-signed by all of Harvard’s top deans.

“Fully acknowledging that, at Harvard, each School is responsible for determining discipline for its own students, the facts informing discipline should not vary depending on what School a particular student attends,” Garber added.

The procedure, recommended by the University Committee on Rights and Responsibilities, formalizes an 11-step process for investigating complaints, including the use of a fact-finding committee and an independent investigator to determine whether a student violated the policies.

The new independent investigator can either be a Harvard faculty member or staff or can be employed externally at the fact-finding committee’s discretion.

Evidence will now be presented to respondents in a report, which they can then appeal before it is shared with their school-specific disciplinary body. The fact-finding committee will also make a “non-binding recommendation” of possible sanctions.

While the University has been heavily criticized for the disciplinary actions themselves, the fact-finding process has also come under new scrutiny since pro-Palestine protesters staged a 20-day encampment in Harvard Yard.

Two Graduate School of Arts and Sciences students placed on probation for their participation in the encampment alleged in a Crimson op-ed that they “were not presented with any documentation” that proved they had disrupted campus life.

And at least 20 students were placed on probation for participating in the encampment last spring. 5 undergraduates were initially suspended for their involvement, but the Harvard College Administrative Board downgraded the suspensions to probations earlier this month after considering the students’ appeals.

The process has been criticized by protesters as inconsistent and too opaque and by other University critics who supported stronger sanctions against protest guideline violations.

The committee to review the fact-finding process was convened last fall by Garber and former Harvard President Claudine Gay to suggest a standardized procedure.

The committee on rights and responsibilities membership is not public, but each school nominates two faculty members and one student to join, according to a University spokesperson.

Unlike the other schools, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences has four faculty and three student representatives. Nominees are approved by Harvards’ governing boards each year.

In January, the University updated its Statement on Rights and Responsibilities to clarify that protests are prohibited in indoor university spaces and “other places in which demonstrations and protests would interfere with the normal activities of the University.”

Those new guidelines, in addition to rules prohibiting tables and tents in the yard when closed, served as the basis for disciplinary charges against encampment protesters.

In the two-year trial period, the procedure will be revised based on additional input before a final policy is adopted. It is unclear if cases against encampment protesters will be affected by the new policies.

—Staff writer Cam E. Kettles can be reached at cam.kettles@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @cam_kettles.

—Staff writer Neil H. Shah can be reached at neil.shah@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @neilhshah15.