After 21 days, President Drew Faust still has not responded to our letter. We have however, received a response from Bill Murphy, Director of Labor and Employee Relations. Here is Mr. Murphy's job description:

William J. Murphy
Director, Labor & Employee Relations

Bill leads the Office of Labor Relations, oversees all labor-management communications, serves as the University’s chief negotiator with campus unions, and administers all collective bargaining agreements at the University. Since 2003, Bill has successfully led the University’s efforts in four successor collective bargaining negotiations.

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Bill Murphy has no power to make actual decisions about layoffs. He is only an administrator. We requested a talk with President Faust for a reason. As a member of the Harvard Corporation, the seven member governing body at Harvard, and as the major public representative of the University, she has more power than anybody on campus to make sure that layoffs do not occur. We are still waiting for a response from President Faust. We will post the full contents of Mr. Murphy's letter, as well as our rejoinders, in a few days.

Last night Dean of ht Faculty of the Arts and Sciences Michael Smith and Dean of the College Evelyn Hammonds hosted a townhall students for questions about the budget. SLAM members showed up en force, handed out flyers, and managed to ask six out of the nine total questions. While we applaud Deans Smith and Hammonds for holding this townhall for students, they did not present a clear picture of what budget cuts would come. The Crimson article about the event is here.

On the bright side, I was able to give a few introductory remarks before the whole thing began. Here's the mini-speech:

We are all in this room today because Harvard is facing an economic crisis. We’re here because we all realize that $8 billion is a lot of money even for Harvard, and we realize that the decisions Harvard makes today will have a fundamental impact on Harvard for the foreseeable future, as well as set a model that other universities nationwide will likely follow. How Harvard carries itself right now, therefore, is a national issue. In dealing with our economic shortfalls, we can choose a path that brings the Harvard community together, or pulls our community apart. The path that brings us together is the path of collective sacrifice, it is the path of increased transparency, of meaningful feedback that is then implemented, and above all it is courageous and creative leadership.

Throughout this discussion it is important to reiterate that Harvard is indeed different. What works for Harvard is not the same exact solution that will work at Yale, or Stanford, or anywhere else. Yes, our economic situation is unique, but more importantly, but Harvard is different because Harvard is and should be the nation’s leading university. More is expected from Harvard, and anything less than optimal solutions at this time endangers Harvard reputation’s for years if not generations to come. Harvard needs to set not just a good example, but the best example, and this is done by having the greatest feeling of collective sacrifice, the deepest level of decision-making transparency, and the most productive processes of community feedback. (And then here's the point where I actually introduce Dean Hammonds and Dean Smith).

Earlier today dozens of Harvard workers joined the immigrant rights protest at noon in front of the Science Center. Despite rain, students and workers stood united to celebrate May Day with millions worldwide. The issues that impact workers and migrants are inherently intertwined and we are happy to see a rally that reflects that. Much thanks to Harvard' Act On A Dream for including us in their planning process.

Want to do more? Join us at 4:30pm in the MAC quad for more May Day action.

Over the past several months, Harvard's Student Labor Action Movement has been fighting layoffs in solidarity with Harvard workers with support of many members of the student body, alumni, faculty, staff, parents and more. Through protests, a petition, vigils, letters, and more, SLAM has brought the message that workers are valuable members of the Harvard community to the forefront of campus and even Cambridge politics.

Recently SLAM worked with the Harvard College Democrats to produce a video about the human cost of layoffs:

In an open letter to Harvard University President Drew Faust, co-signed by many organizations including Harvard's Undergraduate Council SLAM writes:

We write to you as members of the Harvard community because we are concerned with our University’s response to the economic crisis. We recognize that Harvard confronts a difficult challenge with a significant drop in the endowment announced in November 2008. However, Harvard remains the wealthiest university and one of the wealthiest non-profit organizations in the world. In this difficult moment, Harvard faces a choice: we can choose either to use our wealth in order to strengthen our community—students, faculty, and workers together—or to allow fear to divide us and erode our institution of higher learning.

We call upon Harvard in these times to act, not out of a logic of fear, but out of a logic of courage and creativity. In recent months, it appears that Harvard is taking the former path by laying off workers and generating an atmosphere of divisiveness. We reject this approach. Accordingly, we demand that the University suspends layoffs and recalls all workers, full-time and part-time, who have been fired since October 2008.

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Today, at 3pm, SLAM traveled to the offices of the Harvard Management Company, the Harvard subsidiary tasked with investing Harvard University's endowment. It's a 6 mile subway ride away from Harvard Yard on the 16th floor of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. We we went there to ask for a meeting about prioritizing worker compensation over new investments.

When we walked into the lobby and asked for elevator access, the guard at the desk made a phone call to the HMC offices. Here's what the first five seconds of the phone call went like:

Guard: Hello, we have students from Harvard here for the Harvard Management Company.
Secretary: Uh oh.
Guard: Uh oh, why uh oh?
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Sometimes the Crimson can frustrate us all, a la the staff editorial accepting layoffs. But this morning there is a staff ed on the town hall meeting that actually calls on Dean Smith to reconsider high level pay cuts (Dean Smith dismissed this during the meeting suggesting that salary freezes were in themselves enough of a paycut). Here's the article.

Though we've heard Dean Smith argue that even these pay cuts would not be enough to settle our deficit-- no one is looking for a one-off solution and we know that we need to fix our budget in a variety of places. But this could be one way of saving some jobs. One place at a time, one job at a time-- each one counts.

So Dean Smith, please listen to SLAM, to the Crimson, to faculty who are willing to consider this. Oh, and while you are at it, please meet with us-- we have lots to offer.

Members of SLAM delivered this letter to President Faust in Eliot Dining on April 14 at lunch along with a "Greed Is the New Crimson" t-shirt. We have requested a meeting with the President and Corporation no later than April 30, 2009. We have not yet received any response from the President or Corporation.  read more »

SLAM just flyered outside the "Project on Justice, Welfare, and Economics Conference" at 2 Arrow Street. The first three discussions were titled as follows: "Debt, Depression, and Development", "The New Deal Was a Good Idea: Let's Give It a Try This Time", and "The Crisis as an Opportunity for Structural Change: Where Should We Focus Our Political Energy?". With Drew Faust giving the opening remarks, we hope she takes to heart just one of the discussions she introduces today.

Attendees and what we gave them:
President Drew Gilpin Faust- a flyer
Nobel Prize Winning Welfare Economist and Harvard Professor Amartyra Sen- a flyer
Social Studies Professor Thomas Ponniah- a flyer

What they gave us:
President Drew Gilpin Faust- mostly business smiles
Nobel Prize Winning Welfare Economist and Harvard Professor Amartyra Sen- a sense of awe, as well as a request for directions
Social Studies Professor Thomas Ponniah- a really nice chat

Some outside of the Harvard community have asked, why "Greed is The New Crimson"?

Well, the answer is simple. It's a play on the recent (and very public) initiative to green the Harvard campus. All across Harvard Yard are banners that read "Green is the new Crimson" along with a myriad of wonderful initiatives coming from the Office for Sustainability and the Environmental Action Committee (EAC).

We have no intention of being critical of the green work taking place on campus but wanted to spin a phrase that we knew all members of the Harvard community would recognize.

We hope that green initiatives can assist in the solution to our budget crisis by helping to reduce unnecessary expenses that can both save the environment and save jobs. Click to learn more about Green Jobs.

Members of SLAM and EAC participating in the Green Jobs Day of Action