Participants say that Occupy also engaged some students inexperienced with advocacy. The group’s connection to a national movement that addressed big topics—primarily economic disparity and a cluster of other issues of social justice—was, for some, a powerful draw.

Gabriel H. Bayard ’15, one of the organizers of the Ec 10 walkout and an occupier, said that he was excited about Occupy because he “felt that movements in the U.S. had been lacking” since the financial crash of 2008.

“I had never been part of much protesting in high school,” Bayard said. “But Occupy was so big—when it came to Harvard, there was no way I was not going to be a part.”

It is unclear exactly how many protesters occupied the tents in the Yard at any given time. Among the 16 occupiers interviewed for this article, estimates of the number of participants ranged from 25 to 100. But all agreed that the movement was dominated by graduate students.

“I have really not seen, in all my years at Harvard, such an active participation by grad students in protest,” said Karen A. Narefsky ’11, a longtime leader of SLAM and an occupier.

While Narefsky said she was excited about graduate students’ participation in Occupy Harvard, she also acknowledged that their overwhelming presence may have alienated the undergraduate population. She blamed the “disconnect between the way grad students and undergrads understand Harvard” for some of the negative undergraduate reaction to the Occupy Harvard movement.

Whitham agreed, “Grad students definitely dominated the Occupy Harvard movement, especially at the end.”

He added, “I think some undergraduates felt a bit isolated.”

GATED COMMUNITY

One night in November, students supporting the Occupy movement announced a three-hour protest in front of the John Harvard statue.

They found, however, that security personnel had been stationed at all the gates to the Yard to prevent anyone without a Harvard ID from entering. To include Harvard staff, Occupy Boston protesters, and others who wanted to attend the rally, they relocated to the Law School.

There, they decided to attempt reentry to Harvard’s historic center.

For hours, a massive crowd tried to enter at every gate, chanting slogans as they went. Eventually, every protester with a Harvard ID gained access to the Yard, but the guards remained posted at the gates.

They would stay there at their stations for the next six weeks.

Those occupiers who entered the Yard hastily constructed a tent city at the foot of John Harvard statue. The next day, the occupiers released their first set of demands, a list of policies for “a university for the 99%.”