Members of Act on a Dream, an anti-immigration-enforcement student group at Harvard College. Image taken from the web site of Act on a Dream.
Several left-of-center student groups at Harvard College are calling for a boycott of the student newspaper because a reporter asked a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman for comment about a rally on campus calling for the agency to be abolished.
Editors of The Harvard Crimson maintain they were just trying to be fair to both sides, but organizers of the rally and their supporters accuse the newspaper of putting illegal immigrants associated with the rally in harm’s way.
“This was the wrong call. We are extremely disappointed in the cultural insensitivity displayed by The Crimson’s policy to reach out to ICE, a government agency with a long history of surveilling and retaliating against those who speak out against them. … In this political climate, a request for comment is virtually the same as tipping them off, regardless of how they are contacted,” the anti-Crimson petition states, with boldface in the original.
The president of the student newspaper, Kristine E. Guillaume, a senior, said contacting both sides of a conflict “demonstrates a commitment to ensuring that the individuals and institutions we write about have an opportunity to respond to criticisms in order to ensure a fair and unbiased story,” according to The Harvard Crimson.
The Crimson news story on the petition also includes the following paragraph:
The Crimson reached out to an ICE spokesperson after the protest’s conclusion and did not provide names, immigration statuses, or extended quotes of those who criticized the government agency, according to Guillaume.
But the newspaper’s decision and policy are unacceptable to Act on a Dream, an anti-immigration-enforcement group that organized a rally to abolish ICE in September. The anti-Crimson petition states in full:
Last month, Act on a Dream held a rally calling for the abolition of Immigration, Customs, & Enforcement (ICE). In the reporting of the article, The Crimson staff contacted ICE for a request for comment on the protest. In a follow-up meeting to discuss their policy, Crimson staff stood by their decision to call ICE and stated that they would do so again.
This was the wrong call. We are extremely disappointed in the cultural insensitivity displayed by The Crimson’s policy to reach out to ICE, a government agency with a long history of surveilling and retaliating against those who speak out against them. Here are just a fewexamples. In this political climate, a request for comment is virtually the same as tipping them off, regardless of how they are contacted.
We strongly condemn their decision to uphold a policy that blatantly endangers undocumented students on our campus. The Crimson, as a student-run publication, has a responsibility to prioritize the safety of the student body they are reporting on — they must reexamine and interrogate policies that place students under threat. Responsible journalism includes being conscious about the impact caused by their actions as a news organization.
The Crimson relies on the trust of student organizations to accurately and effectively report on events happening on campus. They have violated that trust. We call on The Crimson to take public accountability for their actions and take steps to change a policy that actively endangers undocumented students and members of their own staff.
We demand that The Crimson:
Apologize for the harm they inflicted on the undocumented community.
Critically engage with and change their policies that require calling ICE for comment.
Declare their commitment to protecting undocumented students on campus.
Resolutely,
Harvard College Act on a Dream
The petition had gotten 692 signers online as of Thursday night, October 24. Some left-of-center student groups are also supporting the petition, including Harvard-Radcliffe RAZA and Harvard College Palestine Solidarity Committee.
Although the story burst on the national scene late this week, it has been building on campus for more than a month.
Shortly after the rally in September, Act on a Dream members announced they found the Crimson‘s attempt to get a comment from their antagonists unacceptable.
“ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday night.” Last week, The Crimson, a student run-organization, called ICE on their fellow students. This was incredibly uninformed, irresponsible, and insensitive. https://t.co/oBrQGJZFYJ
A follow-up meeting a few weeks after the rally between Crimson staff members and Act on a Dream members did not go the way rally-organizers hoped.
We are disappointed that during our meeting with @thecrimson staff, we were told that in the future, they would continue to call ICE on their fellow students for stories involving Act on a Dream and ICE. This is shameful and unacceptable.
“Objective journalism” doesn’t mean tipping off a terrorist agency that has a history of actively retaliating against undocumented activists that speak out against them. “Objective journalism” doesn’t mean put students in danger of deportation.
The Crimson, as a student organization, has an obligation to it’s student body. This act directly violates the safety and trust of undocumented students on this campus.
Members of Act on a Dream, an anti-immigration-enforcement student group at Harvard College. Image taken from the web site of Act on a Dream. 
