Follow the Money

Harvard's money is a perennial source of conflict.

Follow the money. In journalism, it's a dictum that has stood the test of time. Where you have money, chances are you have conflict--who gets how much--and where you have conflict, chances are you have a story.

At Harvard, money is always a subject of interest. This, after all, is the world's wealthiest university, with more than $6 billion stashed away.

It is a university that, over the past several years, has maintained a staff of highly paid money managers who earn more than any other employees of any university any-where.

It is a university that, this semester, will launch the largest capital campaign in the history of higher education. That fund drive--which has tacitly been ongoing for the past two years, though it officially kicks off on May 13--is expected to funnel about $2 billion into Harvard's already bulging coffers.

Money is always the big story at Harvard--and even more so now. We have a lot of it. We're making more all the time. Those among us fortunate enough to work at the University's money management division are getting rich in the process.

But, as is to be expected, money is a source of conflict; we need only look at the last semester for examples of what to look for in the future. When the University announced plans to eliminate its linguistics department, students and faculty members cried foul. And when Harvard announced plans to all but shut down its Semitic Museum, the act precipitated a flurry of criticism.

In both cases, a devoted core of students, faculty and alumni rightly protested the University's claims that the relatively small programs were not financially feasible to maintain. As Harvard continues to slash costs and raise revenues, we can expect more such conflicts. Indeed, we should be quick to raise questions anytime the world's wealthiest university cuts a program for lack of funds.

Finally, there is the matter of those mind-boggling salaries. We should find out in the next couple of months exactly how much Harvard's money men earned last year. You can bet it's a lot. As in the past, we should weigh their compensation with their performance. And if the wages are more than the returns seem to justify--as they have been more often than not--then we shouldn't hesitate to ask why.

Now, more than ever, as the University prepares to ask its supporters around the world to cough up more cash, we need to be vigilant that it isn't wasting--or misusing--the money it already has.

Stephen E. Frank is Editorial Chair of The Crimson.