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Outgoing Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana said student groups should err on the side of caution in publicizing campus events with unrecognized groups, but declined to clarify whether it violated College guidelines, in a Tuesday interview.

“If you are worried that you might be breaking the rule by your actions, you should engage with people who can help you understand what the guidelines are,” Khurana said.

“If you’re doing it to game the system, you should stop,” he added.

While Khurana stood firm on the policy that unrecognized student groups cannot sponsor or co-sponsor campus events, he deferred to the Dean of Students Office on whether unrecognized groups publicizing official events on their Instagram page constituted a policy violation — though he warned students not to take the risk.

“I always encourage students and student organizations that if their foot is incredibly close to the chalk line, to move their foot back,” Khurana said.

According to the College handbook, unrecognized students are “not permitted to conduct any activity at Harvard” — a policy that Khurana reaffirmed in an interview last month.

Despite the longstanding rule, multiple unrecognized groups have used Harvard’s academic buildings and House spaces for events without repercussions — including the African and African American Resistance Organization, Harvard Vote Socialist 2024 campaign, and Harvard for Harris in the fall semester.

But in recent weeks, administrators have been more stringent in cracking down on unrecognized groups.

Increased enforcement of Harvard’s policies regarding unrecognized student groups was one of the demands outlined in the Trump administration’s April 11 letter to Harvard — though the University publicly rebuffed the demands three days later.

In the past month, two events in Adams House were prohibited by House administrators over ties to unrecognized groups, including an anti-Zionist seder. The seder was publicized by Jews for Palestine — an unrecognized pro-Palestine student group — on their Instagram page, though organizers denied any official co-sponsorship.

And earlier this month, the College placed the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee on probation, alleging that the group co-hosted a rally with unrecognized groups.

In a press release condemning the probation, the PSC disputed their role in sponsoring the rally, which was hosted by Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine to protest Harvard’s compliance with “fascism” under the Trump administration.

“Their letter merely states that a rally happened and some unauthorized organizations cosponsored it, but it says nothing about what role, if any, the PSC played,” the press release stated.

The PSC had publicized the rally in an Instagram post that was shared by several unrecognized student groups, including HOOP.

Amid administrative crackdown on unrecognized student group activities, Khurana’s comments did not provide any clarity on whether student groups would be sanctioned for hosting events publicized by unrecognized student groups.

Tamar Sella ’25, who helped organize the Adams House seder, said the DSO previously told them that student groups could publicize events without officially co-sponsoring them if they did not add their logos to flyers promoting the events.

The Harvard Undergraduate Association, the College’s student government, publicized an event co-sponsored by an unrecognized group last week before later disaffiliating — likely due to concerns over violating the College’s policy.

Some students alleged administrators unfairly target certain unrecognized groups because of the content of their events or messaging.

Sa’maia J. Evans ’27 — who had booked a room in Adams House for an AFRO event that was later shut down by House administrators — wrote in an email last month that the group was “being targeted because it is a Black political student organization that threatens the benevolent facade that this University tries to maintain.”

Khurana, however, rebutted the notion that College policies are not being enforced equally, maintaining that they are being applied in a “content neutral and consistent way.”

“If anyone believes that they are not being treated in this way and that they’re either being biased or discriminated against, I encourage them to report this through our reporting systems,” he said.

—Staff writer Samuel A. Church can be reached at samuel.church@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @samuelachurch.

—Staff writer Cam N. Srivastava can be reached at cam.srivastava@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @camsrivastava.