After nine days of walking past the protestors in Massachusetts Hall without a word, two university administrators spoke to the 40 students sitting in at the senior administrative building on Wednesday.
Members of the Progressive Students Leader Movement (PSLM) met with Reverend Dorothy Austin, co-master of one of Harvard's residential houses, and J. Bryan Hehir, the head of the divinity school, on Wednesday and again on Thursday. But when Rudenstine entered the building for a tenure meeting that afternoon, he did not approach the students, having previously stated that Harvard wages would be re-evaluated only after the sit-in ends.
Still, the talks between administrators and members of the Progressive Student Leader Movement (PSLM), which is pushing for increased wages for campus employees, marked a major breakthrough for the sit-in effort, as university officials previously refused to speak to the students occupying the building.
While administrators have begun to talk with protestors, the possibility of disciplinary action against the protesting students, as well as actual police intervention in the sit-in, has also been discussed by Harvard for the first time since the protest began.
According to Iris Halpern, a Tufts student involved in the sit-in, Rudenstine gave the students an ultimatum before the Friday meeting.
"Rumors have it that they will forcibly remove the students after this meeting," Halpern wrote in a mass e-mail to allies, in which she calls for students from Tufts and other colleges to go to Harvard Yard to support the campaign and stave off police intervention.
Protesters remain firm in their conviction and are unwilling to vacate Mass. Hall until all university workers are guaranteed a living wage, $10.25 per hour.
Daily rallies have attracted large crowds of participants and spectators - the number of protesters reaching 700 last Thursday, when the PSLM organized a rally they entitled "The Big One."
A large number of dining hall workers attended an evening rally on Wednesday during which the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) received various incident reports. According to The Harvard Crimson, one freshman inside Mass. Hall reported being attacked by a staff member who attempted to enter the building, and bottles and water balloons were thrown among protesters.
An opposing student force that claims the PSLM is a "terrorist" group has entered the picture, increasing tension within the crowd. The 15 counter-protesters held banners reading "Against Coercion, Against Intimidation, Against PSLM," and the two sides insulted each other during the rally.
Fearing that the situation may turn violent, and having patrolled the area for numerous days, the HUPD asked for back-up from the Cambridge Police Department. This is the first time in 32 years that Cambridge police officers have taken up jurisdiction in Harvard Yard. Their presence will aid in controlling the crowd outside Mass. Hall, and will also reduce the HUPD officers' long shifts, allowing them to police other areas of campus.
Alumni, parents, politicians, religious leaders, faculty, and students from various colleges have supported the Living Wage Campaign since the sit-in began, and the local and national media has kept a close watch on the situation. Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, telephoned PSLM leader Amy Offner during Thursday's rally to endorse the sit-in. Stern said that he and the rest of the AFL-CIO executive board - including its president, John Sweeney - would come to Harvard Yard this week to support the demonstration.
Students were skeptical of the administration's promises to negotiate university wages on the table and said that Rudenstine is merely seeking to encourage students to leave Mass. Hall. The university president, who has been in office for ten years and will remain for two more months, has had a good relationship with university donors, but a fractured one with students.
