The decision by the Progressive Student Labor Movement (PSLM) to occupy Byerly Hall on Friday marked a significant escalation in the group's campaign for a living wage.
In its 18 months of activism, PSLM members had never defied direct orders of the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD), communicating openly and often with officers and HUPD Chief Francis D. "Bud" Riley.
At all past protests, even unannounced "teach-ins" in Mass. Hall and the Holyoke Center, PSLM ended its demonstrations as soon as HUPD officers asked members to leave.
But on Friday, the group refused.
"It's an escalation that is unfortunate," Riley said. "It's the first time they refused to leave when we requested them to."
PSLM members said they undertook Friday's action knowing they faced the risk of arrest.
"We didn't expect to be arrested, but we were prepared to be," said Benjamin L. McKean '02, a member of PSLM.
But he said the group did not anticipate forceful action by HUPD because of the presence of prospective first-year students.
Read more in News
Yet Again, Anemic Attendence Afflicts CouncilRecommended Articles
-
Bill in Congress May Reform Crime Reporting, Disciplinary ProceedingsOn a chilly Saturday night late last September, Adam G. Prentice, a bright young honors students at the University of
-
PLAYING IT SAFERWalking along the Charles, in the shadow of Harvard's bell towers, it is easy to be overcome by the serenity
-
Security Guards Stuck In LimboThe body of John H. Skochlas was found in his Prescott Street home by Cambridge Police officers around 9:30 p.m.
-
Safer Streets?Crime on Harvard's grounds dropped more than 21 percent in 1998, according to statistics released by the Harvard University Police
-
Mass. Hall Ejects Three PSLM ProtestorsThree students protesting Harvard sweatshop policy inside Mass Hall yesterday morning provoked a rapid administrative response, as Harvard University Police
-
Winning Friends: Bud Riley Woos Student Protesters, AdministratorsIn 1969, a little more than thirty years ago, police officers beat and clubbed student protesters occupying University Hall to
