Harvard holding commencement after weekslong pro-Palestinian encampment protest

By STEVE LeBLANC
Associated Press

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Harvard University planned to hold its commencement Thursday following a weekslong pro-Palestinian encampment that shut down Harvard Yard to all but those with university ties and roiled tensions on the campus. Those tensions were ticked up a notch on Wednesday when school officials announced that 13 Harvard students who participated in the encampment won’t be able to receive degrees alongside their classmates. The decision by the school’s top governing board follows a recommendation Monday by faculty members to allow the 13 to receive their degrees despite their participation in the encampment. Those in the encampment had called for a ceasefire in Gaza.