EDITORIAL
Harvard has long been known for its stellar academics and the noteworthy accomplishments of its students. However, in recent weeks, Harvard has made the news for an altogether different reason.
The Harvard Extension School’s Cultural Studies Club was planning to host a series of events exploring different cultures, and one of these events was a Black Mass. A Black Mass is typically associated with a satanic ritual that mimic a Catholic mass by inverting it.

People in and around Harvard are in an uproar because Harvard is a Catholic College and clearly a Satanic Mass is disconcerting to them. In fact ,CNN reports that a petition with over 60,000 signatures supported the decision to cancel the event. Clearly, there is an overwhelming majority of people who are not in favor of Harvard supporting or sponsoring such an event. This is likely because Harvard is concerned about its reputation as an Ivy League school.
Harvard did not require students to attend the Black Mass. This means that students had a choice and could exercise free will when determining whether or not this experience was one in which they participate. The right to assemble peacefully and with free will is a fundamental right of every US citizen.
By urging Harvard to cancel the event, the Archdiocese of Boston, had the exact opposite effect for which they were aiming. Instead of quelling the rumors about this alleged ‘satanic’ ritual, they fed them. The media picked the story up, social media continued it, and the rest was history. Harvard made headlines, and though the headlines were not always positive, people were still talking about Harvard.
The ceremony was planned to be a reenactment of what the ritual looked like as part of a cultural study. The schools Cultural Studies Club did not mean to harm anyone with the practice but were simply trying to learn more about it, in the same way that others use Civil War reenactments as a means of keeping history alive and accessible to the people who have an interest in it.
Students at Harvard should have been allowed to make the choice about whether or not to attend this event, regardless of Harvard’s Catholic roots. In fact, if this event sponsored by the Cultural Studies Club was centered around the practice of anything else like Buddhism or Hebrew, would it be getting the same kind of publicity? Probably not.
This is a classic example of blowing something way out of proportion. Harvard and the students, alumni, and the Catholic community deserve the opportunity to choose what they want to do, even at the risk of it being unpopular.. Harvard claims it is a “university with our commitment to foster a community based on civility and mutual understanding.” Perhaps they need to rethink what mutual understanding actually means.