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> > Demonstrators stormed the field during halftime, causing the game to be > delayed for about an hour. The Yale police issued 42 summonses for > disorderly conduct. > > https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/23/us/harvard-yale-game-protest.html > <https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/23/us/harvard-yale-game-protest.html?action=click&module=News&pgtype=Homepage> > > > > NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Climate change activists stormed the field at the > Yale-Harvard football game on Saturday afternoon, disrupting the game at > halftime in a protest to call attention to the universities to divest their > investments in fossil fuels. > > A group of about 70 protesters took to the field just before 2 p.m. after > the game’s halftime show. They were then joined by others from the stands. > > At its peak, the demonstration drew up to 500 people, packing about 45 > yards of play between the large numbers that marked yardage, and delaying > the game for roughly an hour. > > Players from both schools warmed up as police and security officers > surrounded the demonstrators and announcements were made on the public > address system imploring protesters to clear the field. > > > > The game was being aired live on cable television > <https://twitter.com/ESPNCFB/status/1198321969726406663>, with ESPNU > switching to another game during the delay while periodically checking on > the efforts of officials to clear the field. > > As the protesters sat at midfield chanting and clapping, players retreated > indoors. Then, to the tune of John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” > hundreds of fans rushed to join the protesters on the field as it became > clear the game would not resume as scheduled. > > Reactions from the crowd were mixed; some attendees began booing and > others shouted “Drag them off the field!” One sign in the stands read > “Harvard & Yale Complicit.” > > > > As more police officers surrounded the demonstrators, the crowd on the > field thinned. Police officers urged the remaining protesters to leave, > saying they had succeeded in drawing attention. Some activists were > arrested, though an exact tally was not immediately available. A Yale > spokeswoman said that the Yale police issued 42 misdemeanor summonses for > disorderly conduct. Caleb Schwartz, a senior at Harvard, was among those > who was issued a summons for running onto the field. > > > > “It felt really good because we know that people support divestment but > now we know that people will take extra action to support this cause,” he > said. “It was energetic. It was both scary and exhilarating.” > > > > Supporters of the demonstration said they knew firsthand about the effects > of climate change. > > “My country is on fire right now,” Akio Ho, a student at Yale said, > referring to Australia. “Unprecedented wildfires are ripping through homes > right now. Climate change and the climate crisis is an extremely urgent > problem.” > > Harvard has declined to divest for years > <https://www.harvard.edu/president/news/2013/fossil-fuel-divestment-statement> > . Yale has made some divestment pledges > <https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/13/business/energy-environment/yale-advances-in-shaping-portfolio-to-address-climate-change.html?module=inline>, > but got into trouble with its activists over a $122 million investment in a > fracking-related company, Antero; after a protest in December, the school > dropped much of that investment. > > The fossil fuel divestment movement, which started small at schools like > Swarthmore > <https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/05/business/energy-environment/to-fight-climate-change-college-students-take-aim-at-the-endowment-portfolio.html?module=inline> > around > 2011, is now a global movement <https://www.divestinvest.org/>with > commitments from more than a thousand organizations and tens of thousands > of individuals controlling some $8.8 trillion in combined assets. > > At the end of last year, Lawrence Bacow, the president of Harvard, told > The Harvard Crimson that there were more effective ways to “bring about > meaningful change” than divestment. > > In a statement on Saturday, Harvard said its climate action plan > “explicitly recognize what the science has made clear: the world must move > quickly to end its use of fossil fuels.” > > > > “While we agree on the urgency of this global challenge, we respectfully > disagree with divestment activists on the means by which a university > should confront it,” the statement continued. “Universities like Harvard > have a crucial role to play in tackling climate change and Harvard is fully > committed to leadership in this area through research, education, community > engagement, dramatically reducing its own carbon footprint, and using our > campus as a test bed for piloting and proving solutions.” > > Karen N. Peart, a Yale spokeswoman, said, referring to the protest, that > the university stood “firmly for the right to free expression” but added > that it was “regrettable that the orchestrated protest came during a time > when fellow students were participating in a collegiate career-defining > contest and an annual tradition when thousands gather from around the world > to enjoy and celebrate the storied traditions of both football programs and > universities.” > > This is not the first public action taken against Ivy League endowments. > In September, hundreds of students and other participants marched through > Yale calling for divestment. > > The game on Saturday, which Yale won, 50-43, in two overtimes with a > dramatic comeback, was the latest in one of the oldest rivalries in college > sports, dating to 1875. When the protest disrupted the game at halftime, > Harvard led 15-3. > > The rivalry between two schools known more for their academics regularly > draws sellout crowds to the Yale Bowl and Harvard Stadium on the schools’ > campuses. > > Last year, the game was held at Fenway Park, the home of the Boston Red > Sox, and Harvard won 45-27. > _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
