Fire Alarm Cuts Short Yo-Yo Ma, Stephen Colbert Event as Graduate Student Union Pickets Outside

A sold-out panel event featuring cellist Yo-Yo Ma ’76 and comedian Stephen Colbert was cut short by a fire alarm Thursday night, forcing attendees to evacuate Sanders Theatre as roughly 80 Harvard graduate student union demonstrators picketed outside.

The alarm sounded about 40 minutes into the conversation, as Colbert and Ma were answering questions from students. Colbert initially continued speaking before security ushered him and Ma offstage and instructed the audience to leave.

Protesters’ chants could be heard from inside the theater, according to attendees, and continued as organizers directed the crowd to evacuate. Harvard University Police officers outside the venue confirmed there was no fire.

Union president Denish K. Jaswal said the organization had no involvement in triggering the alarm.

“We would not do such an action. We were out here to peacefully picket,” she said.

A Harvard spokesperson wrote in a statement that the University was reviewing the cause of the alarm. The spokesperson also directed The Crimson to a Friday letter from Paul Curran, managing director of the Harvard Office of Labor and Employee Relations, reiterating Harvard’s campus use rules.

“HGSU-UAW members who violate University policies and rules while exercising their right to strike will be subject to employment disciplinary action,” Curran wrote.

The event was canceled following the evacuation. Harvard Office for the Arts Director Fiona Coffey wrote in a statement that she was grateful for the “time and energy” that students and staff devoted to planning the event and was “profoundly sorry that it ended in such a disappointing way.”

The Harvard Graduate Student Union-United Auto Workers went on strike last week, urging the University toward a contract settlement over noncitizen worker protections, increased wages, and a third-party arbitration process for discrimination or harassment cases.

Since the walkout began, union members have organized pickets across campus, including one that disrupted a midterm exam. The union previously went on strike for 40 days this spring before ending the walkout without a contract.

Jaswal said demonstrators circled the entrances and exits of Sanders Theatre in an effort to speak with Ma and Colbert before and after the event. Ma and Colbert did not address union members as they departed through the Cambridge Queen’s Head exit, flanked by security. Jaswal followed their black SUV as it pulled away, shouting toward the vehicle.

“They left and didn’t even stop to say a single word, which is deeply disappointing,” Jaswal said in an interview after the event.

“I think we expected a lot more, especially from Stephen Colbert who is a SAG-AFTRA member himself,” she said, referring to the union representing media professionals.

The demonstration comes after author John Green moved a Thursday event originally scheduled on campus to Zoom following a request from HGSU-UAW that he not cross the picket line. Green also donated his compensation for the event to the union’s strike fund, according to Jaswal.

“He gave a shout-out to us also in his live streamed recording, so we really appreciate John Green. We’re very thankful for his solidarity” Jaswal said.

Jaswal said the union contacted Ma’s and Colbert’s agents and unions with similar requests, but received no response.

Attendees expressed mixed reactions to the demonstration and the event’s abrupt cancellation.

Daniel L. Leonard, a graduate teaching fellow at Boston University, said the timing of the firm alarm raised questions but cautioned against drawing conclusions about the union’s involvement.

“The events coincided. There’s a convenience to it,” Leonard said. “But I would not make an allegation without any information.”

Brookline resident Mike L. Mosbrooker said the cancellation was disappointing, but voiced support for the union.

“They’re here because they have demands that I’m sure the pockets of the people that I was sitting with could reach,” Mosbrooker.

Attendee Sarah R. Nolen, a puppeteer, offered a lighter assessment of the evening.

“We definitely got two concerts tonight,” Nolen said.