Students silently protested Secretary Betsy DeVos while she was speaking at a conference at Harvard University Thursday evening, unrolling cloth banners that read “white supremacist” and “educational justice is racial justice,” among others.

.@harvardiop hosts Betsy Devos and students protest silently pic.twitter.com/TdXTCb9Dqs — Ashley Spillane (@aspillane) September 28, 2017

DeVos was at Harvard as the headline speaker at a conference on school choice, one of her pet issues, backed by the Koch brothers. (The conference featured no critics of school choice.) The conference runs Thursday and Friday at Harvard’s Program on Education Policy and Governance.


When DeVos began to speak, some students stood and raised their fists, and others held up banners. “Our students are not for sale,” one banner said. The student holding the banner and another student near him who stood and raised his fist were removed from the talk.

WATCH: Protesters at Harvard University interrupt speech by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. https://t.co/HCKPkAKiSp — NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) September 28, 2017

Audience members at Harvard holding up protest signs as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos speaks. pic.twitter.com/l4RsE3nJjG — Keke Vencill (@kekevencill) September 28, 2017

Another banner read simply, “Dark money.”

Another cloth banner was unfurled (we’re at 7 now, by my count from he press riser). Not sure how many are paying attention to her speech pic.twitter.com/9AFr6DpweX — Lauren Dezenski (@LaurenDezenski) September 28, 2017

Thursday’s speech at the school choice conference was DeVos’ first major public appearance since she reversed Obama-era sexual assault guidance last week, a move advocates say could keep survivors from reporting their assaults. “DeVos ignored the protesters and did not directly address” the decision to reverse college sexual assault guidance during her speech, “which focused on promoting school choice,” Raw Story reported.


As ThinkProgress’ Casey Quinlan reported, advocates for sexual assault survivors at Harvard have been pushing the school to keep in place the changes it made in response to the Obama administration’s guidance. Harvard is “reviewing” DeVos’ decision, according to the school’s paper.

The DeVos protests cap off a politically fraught month for the university.

Earlier this month, Harvard announced former White House aids Corey Lewandowski — who was charged with battery during the campaign — and Sean Spicer, the former press secretary, would be coming to Harvard as fellows. The university also offered a fellowship to whistleblower and transgender activist Chelsea Manning, but Harvard rescinded the offer — apparently in response to pressure from two former CIA directors.

Last week, protesters at Howard disrupted former FBI Director James Comey’s speech, as a group chanted “no justice, no peace,” and “Get out James Comey, you’re not our homie,” throughout his speech.

Correction: An earlier version of this article misidentified where Comey spoke last week.