The Unity for Gallaudet Protest of 2006 :

In 2001, a group of Harvard University students in the Progressive Student Labor Movement occupied Massachusetts Hall, the administrative building where the President, Provost and Vice Presidents have their offices. For twenty-one days, the longest sit in of a University building in history, the students occupied the first floor and refused to leave until the University implemented a “living wage” (then $10.25 per hour) for all of its service workers, those directly employed by Harvard as well as those employed by contractors. During those three weeks, daily protests filled Harvard Yard, and the protestors received endorsements from national labor leaders, politicians at both the federal and local level, professors and students, and celebrities. President Neil Rudenstine, meanwhile, refused to negotiate with the students while they occupied the building. Harvard University fought a public relations war as the national media descended upon the campus; law enforcement became an increasing problem as a tent city sprang up on the lawn. Outside audiences such as the national media and labor union interests dramatically transformed a local issue into a national forum for fair wages within higher education at large. I briefly explore the history of activism at Harvard which informed the administration’s responses to the events of 2001, and then explore in detail the events prior, during, and immediately after the sit in. The living wage sit in was a vivid demonstration of what happens when all stakeholders are not brought to the table, and is an excellent study of how institutional change functions within an organization with such a long history as Harvard’s. Negotiations were successful in ending the sit in and both parties defined it as a success, even though neither side achieved their initial objectives. Each was challenged to formulate the most compelling narrative in the media in order to win the hearts and minds of the public. This paper explores the many stakeholders and positions that emerged throughout the occupation, and suggests where there were missed opportunities to guide student and community learning connected to a campus incident that spread to the national stage. All In The Family?: The Changing Demographics of Black Students at Harvard