Activists to Harvard: Give Degrees to Expelled Gays

Group wants students expelled by 'secret court' in 1920 recognized
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 28, 2012 1:15 PM CST
Activists to Harvard: Give Degrees to Expelled Gays
Baker Library at Harvard University School of Business.   (Shutterstock)

In 1920, seven students were expelled from Harvard University because they were gay or thought to be gay—and now a group of students and faculty wants the school to award the seven with posthumous degrees. The group also wants Harvard to formally abolish its "secret court," the group of administrators who investigated possibly homosexual students in 1920, which only became public in 2002 when a student reporter discovered the "court" and its expulsion of the seven students.

A rally will be held tomorrow when Lady Gaga visits the campus to launch her Born This Way anti-bullying foundation, the AP reports. "Given the Born This Way Foundation's commitment to this mission and their choice to launch their foundation at Harvard, we felt like this was an opportunity to ask for their support and would hope they would join us in asking Harvard to do the right thing here and help seek justice for these students," says one visiting faculty member. Oprah Winfrey, Deepak Chopra, and Kathleen Sebelius are expected to join Gaga on campus. (More Harvard stories.)

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