Stephen Colbert and Yo-Yo Ma leave Harvard talk as alarm forces evacuation

Stephen Colbert and Yo-Yo Ma’s sold-out Harvard conversation ended early Thursday after a fire alarm forced an evacuation, as striking graduate workers accused them of crossing their picket line.

The alarm sounded roughly 40 minutes into the 90-minute discussion at Sanders Theatre. Colbert, cellist Ma and the audience left the building, and the event did not resume.

The pair had answered three audience questions when the alarm interrupted the question-and-answer session.

Before that interruption, the crowd had struggled to hear the speakers over chants and the sound of drums and air horns outside.

The Harvard Graduate Students Union (HGSU), whose members have been on strike since Oct. 27, had urged Colbert and Ma to move, postpone or cancel their appearance in solidarity with workers. In an Instagram post Wednesday, the union wrote, "Please don't cross our picket line tomorrow night!"

"The alarm was unrelated to HGSU's picketing activity and we have no knowledge of its cause," the union said. It said members at the picket "were relieved to learn that no one inside was at risk."

Cambridge Fire Department’s Scott Volz said firefighters "found no reason for the alarm activation." Volz said Harvard staff checked and reset the system, and the fire department cleared the scene.

The alarm’s cause was not known.

In its appeal, the union pointed to Colbert’s participation in the 2023 WGA picket line as a Writers Guild of America member.

During the Hollywood strikes that year, Colbert also co-founded the comedy podcast Strike Force Five to provide financial support for staff and writers out of work.

The union later posted video of demonstrators on Instagram with the words "BREAKING: Stephen Colbert and Yo-Yo Ma have crossed the picket line."

"They continued the event inside without regard for the picket line, and refused to speak with union members as they left the event," the union said.

Fiona Coffey, director of Harvard’s arts office, said she was "profoundly sorry that it ended in such a disappointing way."

The strike involves more than 4,000 workers. The union identifies safe work, fair pay and the right to stay as its three outstanding demands, while negotiations with university leaders are at a standstill.

The union wants research assistants to receive $55,000 a year and teaching fellows on 10-month appointments to earn about $45,000, plus annual raises or cost-of-living adjustments, Fox News reported.

Provost John Manning and Executive Vice President Meredith Weenick wrote earlier that Harvard had shown "an unwavering commitment to reaching an agreement" and offered compounded pay increases and continued access to emergency legal-services funds for non-U.S. residents.

An earlier walkout lasted 40 days in the spring and ended without a contract. On Thursday, author John Green moved his George W. Gay Lecture at Harvard Medical School to Zoom so he would not cross the picket line. He pledged a donation to the union’s strike fund.

Cambridge Day, cited by The Boston Globe, reported possible plans to reschedule the Colbert and Ma appearance. Boston.com, however, citing Cambridge Day, reported that a Harvard Box Office note sent to at least one attendee said the event would be canceled.