HLS Class Marshals Address Strike, International Student Uncertainty at Reshuffled Class Day

Harvard Law School held its Class Day ceremony Wednesday after a last-minute reshuffling of the program, with Class Marshals using their remarks to acknowledge the ongoing Harvard Graduate Student Union-UAW strike and the uncertainty international students have faced under the Trump administration.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu ’07 — slated to be the Class Day speaker — withdrew on Tuesday after HGSU-UAW asked her not to cross its picket line. A second speaker, HLS professor Naz K. Modirzadeh, dropped out for personal reasons, and the school then cut a third, Harvard Defenders clinical instructor John Salsberg, to reorganize the event around student award winners and Class Marshal speeches.

HLS Dean John C.P. Goldberg opened the ceremony by acknowledging the changes.

“We’ve had to make some adjustments to our program, and that’s not fun, but it takes nothing away from the loveliness of this day and the specialness of this occasion,” Goldberg said.

Salsberg, who was in attendance, was recognized for his award and his retirement and met with applause.

Class Marshal Felipe Lobo Koerich drew one of the day’s loudest responses when he recognized the labor of student workers at the Law School and called on Harvard to reach a deal with the graduate student union, now in the 37th day of its strike. Three groups of picketers stood around Holmes Field during the ceremony but remained largely silent throughout the event.

“As a proud student worker all three years here, I hope and trust that Harvard University will honor that contribution and live by its values as this esteemed institution finishes its negotiations with the graduate students’ union,” Lobo Koerich said, to cheers from the audience and the picketers.

Two Class Marshals, both international students, also used their remarks to address the uncertainty international students have faced over the past year, after President Trump repeatedly sought to suspend Harvard’s ability to enroll international students last spring. The orders were later put on hold after the University sued the administration.

“It seemed very unlikely that we would be here today. As international students sitting at home on our own, we did not know if we would be allowed to come to Harvard,” Class Marshal Freija M.G. Haas said. “There was nothing we had done wrong, and nothing we could do to change it. Our future was totally out of our hands.”

Class Marshal Patrick Healy, who was originally set to introduce Wu, framed the truncated program as a fitting reflection of his class’s three years.

“The ray of light in all this is that this revised classmate ceremony was accidentally an accurate, if unfortunate, reflection of the challenges we face,” Healy said. “I’m sorry I could not defy this one, but I know that, as we have for years, we will face it together.”