Seven-Hundred Dollars Down...

When an organization can’t raise any money, it renames the campaign and hopes for a miracle. At least, that seems the plan of the UC Capital Campaign, which has split off its fundraising campaign from the UC after a lackluster performance over the summer that generated a paltry $700 for a student center.

It’s not surprising that the UC found itself in this unenviable position in the first place: We were skeptical when we heard the campaign’s lofty aspirations last spring and have never expected much from the plan. The Capital Campaign’s goal to raise $6 million to finance the potential purchase and renovation of a property at 45 Mount Auburn Street seemed particularly unrealistic in a cutthroat economic climate unfavorable to raising capital for any venture. When the university itself is struggling to find donations, attempting to solicit millions of dollars for a student center seems foolish.

Now the fallout of failure will begin, and the UC can only blame itself. While its plan may have been well intentioned—improving social space on campus is an important issue—the UC was in over its head and now must accept that its credibility will suffer.

Now the campaign will continue under the direction of the Student Community Center Foundation, but with an even slimmer possibility of success, facing the same hurdles as before but with less legitimacy. At the same time, the effort implicitly carries the UC’s stamp of approval, involves UC members, and was founded with UC resources, so the ongoing failure of this project will continue to damage the UC’s reputation.

And even if this new iteration of the campaign somehow manages to raise money, we are wholly unconvinced that the property at 45 Mount Auburn Street is the solution to Harvard’s social space woes. The UC, and the College at large, should look to more immediate, pragmatic ways to improve social space, such as focusing on house life. Given the financial realities, we have to work with the budget constraints clearly at play.

To that extent, we urge students to look at resources already in place, such as Hilles—a space with promising options that gets underutilized because of its Quad location. Looking to the future, the administration should not forget the possibility of transforming the Inn at Harvard—which is owned by the university and may be repossessed by the end of the decade—as a long-term option for a large, comprehensive student center.

In the meantime, we can only look at this new twist in the UC Capital Campaign story and say again: This is not working.