After allowing the encampment to thrive for nearly two weeks, Harvard interim president Alan Garber called it a “significant risk to the educational environment of the University.”

“Those who participate in or perpetuate its continuation will be referred for involuntary leave from their Schools,” Garber wrote. “Among other implications, students placed on involuntary leave may not be able to sit for exams, may not continue to reside in Harvard housing, and must cease to be present on campus until reinstated.”

Garber said the encampment has forced exams, important activities, and events to be moved elsewhere and has affected students’ ability to “sleep, study, and move freely about the campus.”

“The encampment favors the voices of a few over the rights of many who have experienced disruption in how they learn and work at a critical time of the semester,” Garber wrote. “I call on those participating in the encampment to end the occupation of Harvard Yard.”