Fire alarm cuts Stephen Colbert and Yo-Yo Ma Harvard event short as graduate student union pickets outside

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Set us as preferred A Harvard event featuring Stephen Colbert and Yo-Yo Ma was cut short after someone pulled the fire alarm and all attendees had to evacuate the building.The former late-night TV host and the celebrated cellist took the stage at the university’s Sanders Theatre Thursday night for “Arts for Life’s Sake,” but Colbert and Ma’s conversation was reportedly interrupted by the fire alarm around 40 minutes into the planned 90-minute event, according to the Harvard Crimson and other local outlets.The pair were then evacuated along with the capacity crowd and the rest of the event was subsequently canceled.

The fire department “found no reason for the alarm activation” and “the alarm system was checked and reset by Harvard Staff,” according to Cambridge Day.The university is looking into the cause of the alarm, per the Crimson.

When Colbert was named the new host of ‘The Late Show’ in 2015, he was considered an unusual choice, but he turned out to be the right fit for these times.Members of the Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Auto Workers (HGSU-UAW) were picketing the theater before and during the event.The union, which represents 4,000 students, has been on strike since Oct.

27 to demand a third-party arbitration process for cases involving discrimination and harassment, higher pay and protections for noncitizen student workers in their next contract.The demonstrators’ chants, horns and drums could reportedly be heard from inside the event before the alarm went off after Colbert and Ma, who are longtime friends and collaborators, started speaking and taking audience questions.

“The alarm was unrelated to HGSU’s picketing activity and we have no knowledge of its cause,” the union said in a statement shared on Instagram.“Members at the picket were relieved to learn that no one ...