You have /5 articles left.
Sign up for a free account or log in.
A Harvard University student group dropped its plans to re-enact a Satanic "black mass" Monday evening. But a New York City Satanic group announced plans to hold the event off campus Monday night after the student group ended plans to co-sponsor the event on campus. Whether the event took place was unclear. Employees of the lounge where the event was said to be taking place told The Boston Globe that some people were drinking at a bar and no rituals were being performed. But other reports in The Harvard Crimson and on social media said that later Monday night, some form of a black mass did take place at the lounge. The Harvard student group originally involved did not respond to an email seeking clarification.
Earlier Monday, Harvard President Drew Faust issued a statement condemning the planned event, but refusing to ban it. "[E]ven as we permit expression of the widest range of ideas, we must also take responsibility for debating and challenging expression with which we profoundly disagree," Faust said. "The 'black mass' had its historical origins as a means of denigrating the Catholic Church; it mocks a deeply sacred event in Catholicism, and is highly offensive to many in the Church and beyond. The decision by a student club to sponsor an enactment of this ritual is abhorrent; it represents a fundamental affront to the values of inclusion, belonging and mutual respect that must define our community. It is deeply regrettable that the organizers of this event, well aware of the offense they are causing so many others, have chosen to proceed with a form of expression that is so flagrantly disrespectful and inflammatory."
She added that she would not bar the event. "Nevertheless, consistent with the university’s commitment to free expression, including expression that may deeply offend us, the decision to proceed is and will remain theirs. At the same time, we will vigorously protect the right of others to respond — and to address offensive expression with expression of their own."
