City Council Attacks Harvard For Boston Gift

In a major setback to Harvard's relations with Cambridge, city councillors last night accused the University of abandoning its long-time host city as it courts new developments in Boston.

The University had planned to announce last week a $100,000 gift for a summer school program in Cambridge. But just days before that announcement had been scheduled, the University unveiled a much larger donation--$5 million over five years--to fund afterschool programs in Boston.

Councillors said they felt slighted by the University's decisions. They said they had heard nothing of the Boston initiative before it was announced and had been taken by surprise by newspaper articles last week describing the richer gift.

Saying that relations with Harvard had deteriorated to a new low, councillors chastised University officials for the monetary disparity and blasted them for leaving Cambridge's elected officials out of the loop.

"I have never seen the council so shocked and dismayed at the actions of a university as I have seen tonight," said Councillor Kathleen L. Born.

At its regularly scheduled meeting last night, the council unanimously passed a resolution proposed by Mayor Anthony D. Galluccio urging the University to match its $5 million Boston gift in Cambridge.

Gallucio's "call to action" expressed "extreme disappointment" with the unequal allotment of money and asked residents affiliated with Harvard to pressure the University to match its Boston gift in Cambridge.

Councillors sounded aggressive notes last night, saying their unanimity in support of Galluccio's resolution showed the council had closed ranks against the University.

"There has been what I would say is an unparalleled level of arrogance," said Vice-Mayor David P. Maher. "No longer can this council sit back and let the crumbs be thrown at us."

All of Harvard's development projects in Cambridge must receive City Council approval. Last night, councillors offered thinly veiled suggestions that the council should consider halting future development--thereby upping pressure on the University to make overtures to the city.

"Maybe it's time for the freeze," said Councillor Michael A. Sullivan.

Anger and resentment boiled over at the council meeting last night. But ill feelings had been simmering ever since the Boston afterschool initiative was announced last week.

Last Thursday, a day after Harvard officials announced the Boston afterschool initiative, Mayor Galluccio sent a letter to University President Neil L. Rudenstine saying he felt "very unclear" about Harvard's relationship with the city. In his letter, Galluccio worried that the inequity in education funding could cause "great harm" to relations between the University and the city.

Rudenstine responded the next day, writing that "our involvement in the Boston program arose out of a long process of consultation and collaboration." He wrote that "all of us should work hard to keep any and all individual events in perspective."

In his letter to the mayor, Rudenstine also said "Harvard is embarked on a course of steadily deepening involvement in the life of our cities," adding that "I hope this is welcome."

As they reacted to Rudenstine's response last night, councillors called the letter "empty" and "condescending." They said the University, which enjoys tax-exempt status on its buildings, was not contributing a fair share to community programs. Currently, Harvard pays the city $1.6 million in in-lieu-of-tax payments each year.

"The City of Cambridge has been a great neighbor to Harvard University," Galluccio said. "You can look at all our neighborhoods that Harvard has crept into and know we are a darn good neighbor."

Other councillors attacked Harvard as an "arrogant neighbor" that disregards elected officials' input. Councillor Marjorie C. Decker likened the Harvard Corporation--the University's small, secretive governing body--to "a realtor and developer."

The discrepancy between the Boston and Cambridge donations brought comparisons to the 20/20/2000 initiative that the University announced with Cambridge and Boston last fall. That deal offered the same amount of money--$10 million in low-cost loans--to both cities.

University officials have said that the Boston and Cambridge initiatives are unrelated. They said that timing pressures on both programs--the Cambridge summer school begins in just three months--forced the two announcements to be close.

In an interview last night, Mary Power, Harvard's senior director of community relations, said that the University is engaged in hundreds of small projects in Cambridge and is open to considering larger commitments.

"We are very willing to be engaged with the city around priorities that are defined," she said. "I think our intent has been to be engaged with city councillors and administrators for growing relationships based on partnerships."

--Staff writer Lauren R. Dorgan can be reached at dorgan@fas.harvard.edu.

--Staff writer Andrew S. Holbrook can be reached at holbr@fas.harvard.edu.