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Black student organizations blast Harvard’s response to swatting incident in letter signed by 45 campus groups
“We condemn the University’s failure to, at large, protect its Black community’s emotional and physical wellbeing in the aftermath of such trauma.”
Forty-five Black student groups and supporting campus organizations issued a letter this week condemning Harvard’s response to a swatting incident at a dorm earlier this month, and calling on the school administration to take a series of actions to address their concerns.
Harvard Swatting Incident
During the April 3 incident, Harvard officials say campus officers responded around 4 a.m. to three calls from an anonymous male claiming he’d taken a female student hostage in a room at Leverett House and tried to kill her. Students say four Black students were removed at gunpoint by police from the dorm.
School officials have said that the officers followed protocols in the incident.
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“We strongly believe that the University’s response to the swatting incident reflects a deep investment in protecting a false institutional image over a sincere commitment to the well-being of the Black students targeted and the Black community as a whole,” the 45 student groups wrote in their letter to the school administration.
The student groups, which included both undergraduate and graduate organizations, said the incident “served as a harsh reminder of the persistent struggles Black students face within an institution that has historically upheld white supremacy and the oppression of Black people both nationally and globally.”
“We assert that Black students should not have to live in fear of the police force being used as a weapon against them,” the groups wrote. “We condemn the University’s failure to, at large, protect its Black community’s emotional and physical wellbeing in the aftermath of such trauma.”
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The Harvard Black Graduate Student Alliance and Harvard Undergraduate Black Community Leaders were among the groups who signed the letter.
The letter writers called on Harvard leadership to take a series of actions to address student concerns, including conducting a “thorough investigation that centers” on the humanity of the students who were targeted, “rather than institutional interests,” and providing regular updates on the ongoing probe into the incident.
“While we acknowledge that swatting attacks are a national issue affecting many schools in Massachusetts, Harvard University bears a responsibility to provide frequent, thorough, and transparent updates to its students on the steps being taken to hold the perpetrator accountable,” the students wrote. “We refuse to let this incident be dismissed or forgotten, and we will not rest until we receive concrete answers and the University has upheld its commitment to bring justice to the targeted students.”
The students are also demanding that the school provide “proactive mental health responses to incidents of racial trauma” and that leaders hold a university-wide town hall on the incident.
The groups said if they do not receive a written response to their requests by April 23 from the administration, the organizations plan to stage a demonstration during Visitas, the official admitted students weekend for the Harvard Class of 2023.
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“We will not wait for justice and will take all necessary measures to ensure that the University is held accountable for its inaction in addressing the ongoing racial trauma and injustices inflicted on Black students,” the students wrote.
Jason Newton, director of media relations and communications at Harvard, told Boston.com in a statement on Friday that the school takes its “responsibility for the safety and wellbeing of our campus community very seriously.”
Since the April 3 incident, he said college and campus police staff “have convened and facilitated discussions, meetings, and listening sessions with the students directly impacted, and with the Leverett House community broadly.”
“Together, the University, the College and HUPD are continuing to review the swatting incident, and our response, to identify learnings that can be incorporated into the protocols that guide first responders, the University and our Schools when incidents like this happen,” Newton’s statement said. “This work includes engaging other higher education institutions who have also experienced swatting incidents in recent weeks, to ensure we are drawing on all considerations that can help guide our protocols and responses in the future.”
The hoax call itself is being investigated by the university with assistance from the FBI.
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