[716] in peace2
Harvard/Rudenstine response to Living Wage sit-in
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Saurabh Asthana)
Thu Apr 26 16:20:49 2001
Message-Id: <200104262006.f3QK6NE06649@chaos11.bwh.harvard.edu>
To: peace-list@mit.edu
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 16:06:23 -0400
From: Saurabh Asthana <angrymob@chaos11.bwh.harvard.edu>
Hey, check it: here's what Harvard has to say about the sit-in. Basically it
amounts to "We already dealt with this, get out of our offices, you whiny
brats." I would guess tonight an eviction is coming.
Saurabh
------- Forwarded Message
From: Office of the President <presoff@fas.harvard.edu>
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 14:51:19 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Message from the President
Contact: Joe Wrinn
617-495-1585
Statement of President Neil L. Rudenstine
April 23, 2001
Since last Wednesday afternoon, a few dozen students have been
staging a sit-in on the first floor of Massachusetts Hall, the building
that houses the offices of the president, provost, vice presidents, and
associated staff, and is also home (on the third and fourth floors) to a
number of first-year students. I want to offer a brief perspective on
these events.
It was more than two years ago that a group of students expressed
their concerns for the welfare of lower-paid workers at Harvard. With
their concerns in mind, I appointed a special faculty committee to examine
aspects of employment practices at Harvard. Members of the committee met
with interested students, and also invited their submission of written
materials, as part of an intensive year-long study that resulted in a
comprehensive and detailed report (currently available at
www.provost.harvard.edu/adhoc/).
The committee issued a set of recommendations aimed at
substantially enhancing the career opportunities and economic well-being
of lower-paid workers at Harvard. It also discussed and explicitly
decided not to endorse the concept of a mandatory wage floor imposed
without regard to collective bargaining. The committee's report and
recommendations were made public; members of the University community were
asked for comment; and the committee chair and Provost Fineberg invited
concerned students for a full discussion of the report's recommendations.
Having reviewed the committee's report, consulted the Deans of
Harvard's Faculties and Schools, and considered comments received from the
community, I approved the committee's recommendations and directed their
implementation. I believed then, and believe now, that the committee's
recommended approach-focused on investments in innovative education and
job-skills training programs for service employees, as well as expanded
access to health and other benefits-is both progressive and sound. It
also respects the collective bargaining process as the established means
to set wages for employees represented by unions.
This past year, as the committee's recommendations have been
implemented, I have met numerous times with student advocates of a
mandatory wage floor, as have several other members of the administration.
The concerned students have forthrightly expressed their views, as we have
ours. The students now inside Massachusetts Hall continue to disagree
with the University's approach, and that is their right. It is also their
right to express their views, with vigor and passion. But it is not their
right to occupy a University building, to interfere with the conduct of
work inside it, and to disrupt the lives of nearby student residents, in
an effort to force a different decision. The view that efforts at
coercion and disruption, as opposed to discussion and persuasion,
represent a proper means to achieve a desired result is mistaken, and
inconsistent with the fundamental principles of a university.
The University has listened seriously and repeatedly to the views
of students, faculty, staff, and interested others over time, and indeed
has taken substantial action to benefit employees in light of both
expressed concerns and the special committee's exceptionally thoughtful
report. We are fully prepared to continue to exchange views, in
appropriate settings, once an environment of genuinely free discussion has
been restored.
------- End of Forwarded Message
