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BREAKING: HLS Suspends Library Access for Students Over Nov. 6 Langdell ‘Study-In’
Students who participated in the Nov. 6 study-in supporting HLS clinical instructors have been banned from the Law Library for two weeks, including a student journalist covering the event.
Harvard Law School suspended physical library access for two weeks Friday morning for students who participated in a Nov. 6 “study-in” in Langdell Library, according to emails obtained by the Record. Among them was a student journalist who was covering the event.
More than 50 HLS students staged the study-in. Many wore buttons reading “Students stand with HLS clinicians” and taped signs to their laptops urging Harvard to reach a contract with its clinical instructors, as the Record noted at the time.
The emails were sent at 10 a.m. from the Law Library’s account and signed by Amanda Watson, Assistant Dean of Library and Information Services. They accused the recipients of “coordinating an organized demonstration” in which participants “assembled in the Law Library Reading Room with the purpose of capturing attention through the coordinated display of flyers provided by demonstration organizers.”
It is not immediately clear how the administration identified participants, and how many were suspended. An HLS spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The emails say the suspension “is not considered disciplinary action” and will stay off students’ disciplinary record. They also say the Library will keep a copy of the letter for any “future infractions,” and that additional disciplinary action may be warranted.
This comes two years after a 2024 study-in protesting the war in Gaza, when HLS banned at least 60 students from Langdell Library for two weeks.
The Record is continuing to follow and update this story. A previous version misquoted the study-in buttons, which read “Students stand with HLS clinicians.”