The John Harvard statue A group of Harvard University students, alumni and faculty is fighting for honorary posthumous degrees to be awarded to students expelled almost a century ago for being gay, or being perceived as being gay. ‘Their Day in the Yard’ has collected more than 3,000 signatures in its petition for a group of students who were expelled in 1920, to be honoured. One of the students, Eugene Cummings, took his own life over the ordeal, at the age of 23. The others were not only ordered out of Cambridge, but also reportedly persecuted for decades. However Harvard has told the Associated Press does not typically award posthumous degrees except in the rare case of a student who completes academic requirements but dies before the degree has been conferred. The protest group is still pushing ahead, and is planning a demonstration at the university tomorrow to coincide with a visit from Lady Gaga, who is launching her anti-bullying Born This Way Foundation.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 29th February 2012 - 3:23pm