Last Friday, the Trump Administration privately sent a letter to Harvard University with a series of racist, reactionary, and unconstitutional demands attacking civil liberties, academic freedom, human rights, and racial justice. The letter explicitly calls on Harvard to defund and dissolve the Harvard Law School chapter of the National Lawyers Guild—along with several student groups supporting Palestinian rights—and punish our student members and leadership.
The Trump administration targeting the National Lawyers Guild is yet another example of governmental repression of pro-Palestinian organizations and speech. It is also a clear message that this administration, like all authoritarian governments, recognizes that the power of the people threatens its regime.
“NLG’s mission, to use the law for the people by valuing humans and ecosystems over property interests, is fundamentally at odds with our government funding the ongoing genocide in Palestine, disappearing people from our neighborhoods, and attacking our most marginalized communities,” stated Allie Ryave, a third-year student and co-president of Harvard Law School NLG.
“That the federal government wants us disbanded and disciplined exposes what they fear: an organized resistance movement, supported by law students and lawyers dedicated to fighting back against fascism,” added Corinne Shanahan, a third-year student and co-president of Harvard Law School NLG.
The Harvard Law School Chapter of NLG was founded roughly 50 years ago and has long functioned as a hub for progressive law students to organize. Over the past year, Harvard NLG members have protected those protesting for Palestinian rights, academic freedom, and the rights of immigrants. We have provided legal observers, held Know-Your-Rights trainings, and helped educate the broader Harvard community on staying safe while imagining a better world.
“The student movement for racial justice, immigrant justice, and for Palestine is unbelievably powerful. It’s unsurprising that the Trump administration is targeting us,” said Ariel Boone, a second-year student and incoming co-president of NLG. “Trump’s threats just steel our resolve to continue organizing. We’re proud to stand with the student groups listed in this letter.”
We call on all NLG chapters to conduct membership drives, schedule regular meetings, subvert your institutions, hold your ground, and strengthen the social fabric.
Organizations like NLG help form a bulwark against violations of human and civil rights around the globe. This is not the first time the National Lawyers Guild has been targeted by the federal government. In the 1950’s, during the Second Red Scare, U.S. Senator McCarthy targeted the National Lawyers Guild and its members under the guise of eliminating communism.
We urge the Harvard administration to protect all of the students, organizations, and academic programs named in Trump’s letter and to fulfill its promise to push back against the government’s unconstitutional demands. At the same time, we know the power of Harvard NLG comes not from its name or its funding, but from students. We, as the members of the Harvard Law School chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, are committed to continuing in the tradition of fighting for justice and human rights, no matter what form that fight takes.
Our fight goes beyond the Trump presidency. We won’t be distracted from our pursuit of full liberation.
This is a statement of the HLS National Lawyers Guild Executive Board.
