Boston Mayor Michelle Wu abruptly withdrew as the Class Day speaker for Harvard Law School on Wednesday, after outreach from the Harvard Graduate Student Union–United Auto Workers. The university confirmed the decision one day before commencement, with events
For Harvard Law School’s Class of 2026, the plan changed with a kind of short notice that’s hard to shake—one day before commencement.
On Tuesday, Harvard University notified graduating law students that Boston Mayor Michelle Wu will not speak at Class Day scheduled for Wednesday. The withdrawal came “in light of outreach from the HGSU-UAW graduate student union,” according to an email provided to the Globe by Harvard.
The message to students said Wu. who graduated from Harvard Law in 2012. had been selected by this year’s class to speak on Class Day. which is held the day before Thursday’s commencement. In the email. Harvard told students that Wu informed them she “will not be able to speak at Class Day tomorrow as originally planned. ” and added. “We look forward to welcoming her back to campus in the future.”.
A spokesperson for Wu did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Globe Tuesday night.
The university’s confirmation landed as pressure from graduate workers was already in motion. The Harvard Graduate Student Union–United Auto Workers. which represents 4. 000 graduate students. has been on strike since April. citing what it described as a lack of progress in negotiations for a new contract that have stretched on for more than a year. In the days leading up to commencement, the union made its position explicit.
In a statement Tuesday. the Harvard Graduate Student Union said. “Mayor Michelle Wu will stand with Harvard’s striking student workers . . . declining to cross HGSU-UAW’s picket line and withdrawing from her scheduled remarks at Harvard’s Commencement.” The union added that it “ will bring its picket line to Commencement to make clear to the broader Harvard community that these workers deserve conditions that protect them in their workplace and allow them to afford to live while doing this work.”.
The Harvard Crimson reported that the graduate student union asked Wu not to cross its picket line.
Harvard had previously framed Wu’s role as a milestone: the university touted that she was the first Harvard College graduate to serve as Boston mayor in more than a century when it announced she would speak at Class Day. Now, the program is set to absorb the change.
The email also said that the Albert M. Sacks–Paul A. Freund Award for Teaching Excellence winner would be unable to attend the ceremony. Professor Naz Modirzadeh, a 2002 graduate, is “unable to take part in Class Day due to a personal matter,” the email said.
Harvard told students it would adjust the schedule to match the last-minute withdrawals. “While we are very sorry about the last-minute changes to tomorrow’s program, we are excited to celebrate you, the fantastic Class of 2026,” the email said.
“In consideration of these unexpected circumstances, we will refocus the Class Day speaking program tomorrow more squarely on our student award winners and on remarks and tributes to be delivered by our Class Marshals,” the email added.
The sequence is difficult to miss: a strike that has dragged on through negotiations for more than a year. a union vow to show up at commencement with its picket line. and then a mayoral decision made close enough to the ceremony that students only received the news on Tuesday night. By the time Wednesday arrives. the spotlight that had been promised for Wu will shift back to Harvard’s own student honorees and the graduates leading tributes as Class Marshals—while the larger dispute over labor conditions remains part of the moment everyone is walking into.
Michelle Wu Harvard Law School Class Day Harvard commencement HGSU-UAW strike graduate student union picket line Albert M. Sacks-Paul A. Freund Award Naz Modirzadeh