{shortcode-c33a6f2c401234d53b079d066ec7a34cec15370a}
Members of three Harvard unions plastered hundreds of Black Lives Matter posters across campus on Thursday to protest the University’s decision to remove a sign bearing the same message from two professors’ office windows this summer.
The demonstration, led by Harvard’s undergraduate, graduate, and non-tenure-track faculty unions, comes as all three groups remain locked in contract negotiations with the University. Most of the posters, which were taped to dorm walls, faculty office windows, and public bulletin boards, bore the phrase “Black Lives Matter” in black lettering.
But some were more direct criticisms of Harvard, suggesting the August removal was part of a campus-wide rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives on campus and urging affiliates to display the sign in public places.
The controversy traces back to August, when a Harvard administrator ordered two biology professors to remove their Black Lives Matter sign from the Northwest Science Building, citing campus policies introduced last year prohibiting “self-mounted displays” without prior approval. The sign had been taped to a public-facing window in the building since 2020.
Union organizers argued that since the Black Lives Matter posters put up on Thursday were distributed by campus employees and addressed workers’ academic freedom, the posters were protected under the National Labor Relations Act — and would be exempt from campus policy on signage.
“We see this not only as a strong affirmation of a core belief of our unions, which is that Black Lives Matter and we should be free to say it — but also we see this as part of our larger fight for winning strong academic freedom protections in our contracts,” said Denish K. Jaswal, a member of the graduate union’s bargaining committee.
Academic freedom has been a point of contention between Harvard and its unions in recent months. Both graduate students and non-tenure-track faculty have pushed to enshrine academic freedom protections in their contracts, arguing that speech rights in classrooms, labs, and offices are integral to their working conditions.
But Harvard rejected the non-tenure-track faculty union’s proposal in May. They have not yet responded to a similar proposal from graduate students.
Michael C. Duff, a former NLRB attorney, cast doubt on the claim that the posters would be protected by labor law since many of them did not directly reference working conditions.
“I don’t think we would find that the poster is in itself protected by Section 7,” he said, referencing the provision of the National Labor Relations Act safeguarding concerted activity.
Anticipating the possibility that Harvard might remove the posters, the unions encouraged affiliates to report any incidents of officials taking them down through a Google Form, framing it as a collective defense strategy and signaling a willingness to push back if the University acts.
A Harvard spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on the posters — or if it would move to tear them down.
The postering also comes amid mounting concerns from Harvard affiliates about academic freedom on campus as the University continues to draw ire from the White House. Harvard reopened settlement talks in June and late last month, President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that his administration had reached a deal with the University.
Though no deal has been formally announced just yet, all three unions have been wary of the talks for months and kept up the pressure in the Thursday demonstration.
“We also believe that it is our right and duty to uphold the value of free speech as a core principle of university life,” one of the posters read. “However, Harvard University management is enacting an anti-DEl, anti-free speech, regressive agenda, potentially to reach a deal and capitulate with the anti-science and anti-education Trump administration.”
—Staff writer Hugo C. Chiasson can be reached at hugo.chiasson@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @HugoChiassonn.
—Staff writer Amann S. Mahajan can be reached at amann.mahajan@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @amannmahajan.
