{shortcode-9f322d4c6877337571e8ac890fbe4fff4b55c312}
Sixty-three percent of respondents to a survey question posed by the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee said the University should divest from “companies and institutions operating in Israel,” according to an email obtained by The Crimson.
The question submitted by the PSC was part of an optional Harvard Undergraduate Association survey sent to the College Monday, in which student groups could pose approved questions. The HUA Election Commission allowed students to view the survey only after ranking three candidates for Sports Team Officer.
Out of roughly 7,000 total undergraduates, 1,055 students voted in this week’s HUA election. Nine hundred twenty-five responded to the question on divestment. Twenty-three percent said “no” on divestment, and 14 percent said they were uncertain.
The PSC also submitted a question on whether students thought Harvard should disclose its investments in “companies and institutions operating in Israel.” Nine hundred twenty-seven students responded, with a small increase in “yes” responses compared to the divestment question: 70 percent said “yes,” 19 percent said “no,” and 11 percent were uncertain.
{shortcode-40699f52ea818a2f41bb27b47306e838905b3e8e}
All questions on the survey were nonbinding. The survey stated that the “views, opinions, and content expressed in these questions do not reflect” those of the HUA, the College, or the University, adding that the results “have no impact” on Harvard’s decisions.
In response to a request for comment on the survey results, University spokesperson Jason A. Newton directed The Crimson to an April 2024 statement on divestment, when calls for a similar student referendum began.
“Harvard leadership has made clear that it opposes calls for a policy of boycotting Israel and its academic institutions,” the statement read, citing a quote from former University President Lawrence S. Bacow stating that “academic boycotts have absolutely no place at Harvard, regardless of who they target.”
The Election Commission declined to release full results after voting closed Wednesday morning, sending The Crimson only inconclusive data. Based on a partially redacted copy of the results, The Crimson reported Wednesday evening that a majority of students indicated “yes” on divestment and disclosure.
It was unclear during and after the voting period exactly how the Election Commission would allow student groups to publicize their results.
When the Election Commission emailed the results to the PSC on Wednesday, they included a disclaimer at the bottom: “Any attempt by your organization to release these results to the broader public in a leading manner will be reviewed by the Election Commission, and appropriate action will be taken.”
Separately, a member of the Commission privately messaged a member of the PSC asking them not to release the survey question results to The Crimson, adding that doing so in their official capacity as a PSC member would constitute releasing the results to the public.
The HUA Election Commission did not respond to a request for comment.
The same warning against releasing results in a leading manner was also in the Commission’s email notifying Harvard Undergraduate Jews for Peace of their survey question results regarding whether Harvard should have adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism — which has drawn opposition for characterizing certain criticisms of Israel as antisemitic.
The results from the IHRA survey question have not been released publicly. The Election Commission has repeatedly told The Crimson it will not publicly release survey question results, only providing them to the respective student groups.
No disclaimer about a “leading” release of results, however, was included in the Election Commission’s email notifying the HUA of their survey question results. As the HUA operates separately from the commission, they are required to formally submit survey questions and results are exclusively processed by members of the commission.
The commission also did not comment on whether the HUA would be treated like the other participating student groups.
In this week’s election, the HUA submitted eight questions of its own that were posed to undergraduates in the survey prior to the PSC and Jews for Peace questions.
The Election Commission’s guidelines from the 2024-25 academic year, which the commission told The Crimson applied to this week’s election, state that student group survey results “will also be released in a non-leading manner.” It is not clear from the language of the guidelines whether they refer to release of results by the commission or the student group itself.
On Wednesday, the PSC posted on Instagram that the Election Commission had “banned” them from publicizing their results, and accused the Commission of fabricating arbitrary rules, concealing survey questions, and not wanting students to “know the truth.”
The post included a screenshot of the email from the Commission with their full results, but with all the figures redacted.
“The majority support for disclosure and divestment demonstrated by the student body’s responses to PSC’s survey questions is yet another affirmation of popular support for divestment from genocide and apartheid,” the PSC wrote in a Friday statement to The Crimson.
“Throughout the survey process, PSC dealt with immense repression, as the HUA Election Commission did not inform us of any guidelines,” they added. “Despite the HUA Election Commission’s efforts to conceal the results, we will not rest until Harvard hears the voices of its students and divests.”
—Staff writer Claire L. Simon can be reached at claire.simon@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @ClaireSimon.
