PRESS RELEASE: HPDC sues Harvard to Divest from the Prison Industry
On February 19 at 10 am the Harvard Prison Divestment Campaign filed a lawsuit against Harvard University at the Supreme Judicial Court in Massachusetts alleging that the University continues to benefit from its historical ties to slavery through its investments in the prison-industrial complex. Harvard is complicit in white supremacy and we are taking them to court.
A press conference was held immediately after filing outside the steps of the Supreme Judicial Court where plaintiffs took questions from the press.
This is not a decision that our campaign arrived at lightly. Turning to the courts is a last resort. Having tried multiple channels, from protests to petitions to rallies to teach-ins to reports to non-official and official meetings, but finding no relief, we have been forced to file this lawsuit against the President and Fellows of Harvard College, the Harvard Management Company, Lawrence Bacow in his capacity as President of Harvard University, and William Lee in his capacity as Senior Fellow.
We believe in abolition. We believe in a true end to slavery. We believe in a world and a future without the caging and exploitation of millions of poor, Black, brown and Indigenous people across the nation and around the world.
Towards that end, we demand action on prison divestment now. We are seeking the court to order that Harvard produce a report disclosing its direct and indirect investments in the prison-industrial complex and create and enact a feasible plan for divestment.
There is no solution but abolition, it’s time Harvard take action.
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