A fire alarm forced organizers to end a Harvard University event featuring Stephen Colbert and cellist Yo-Yo Ma early on Thursday, after hundreds of striking graduate student union members gathered outside to protest the pair’s decision to appear despite calls to cancel.
Colbert and Yo-Yo Ma, a Harvard graduate, took the stage for a discussion titled “Arts for Life’s Sake” before a capacity crowd at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre. The Harvard Graduate Student Union (HGSU) had urged both men to stand down in solidarity with its strike, which began Oct. 27. Neither did.
Outside the venue, striking students used air horns and drums to drown out the discussion, making it difficult to hear the speakers, particularly the soft-spoken Yo-Yo Ma. Roughly 40 minutes into the event, a fire alarm was triggered, prompting organizers to halt the question-and-answer portion and escort Colbert and Yo-Yo Ma from the building. The scheduled 90-minute program never resumed.
Union members said they had no idea how the alarm had been set off.
Demonstrators outside carried signs reading “AI can’t replace me,” “Protect noncitizen workers,” and “Teachers, researchers for a fair contract,” while chanting “1-2-3-4, Harvard pay your workers more,” according to Harvard Magazine.
HGSU’s strike is centered on demands for wage increases and protections for non-citizen workers along with stronger harassment and discrimination policies.
Colbert, whose final episode of “The Late Show” aired in May, has previously sided with organized labor, joining picket lines during the 2023 Writers Guild strike and co-founding the podcast venture Strike Force Five with other late-night hosts.
