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8 Takeaways From Harvard’s Task Force Reports
From that research, the group came up with several specific proposals, including increasing the University's payment to city governments and constructing 3000 new units of housing.
Wilson, chairman of the special committee on "The University and the City," explained some of the internal bureaucratic problems the University had i responding to community needs.
He then explained some of the bureaucratic changes his committee's report suggested--including developing new consultation systems, finding more constructive ways to invest university money, and giving one administrator central authority over community affairs.
When the three panelists were done, students made their plea for a chance to reply. The first student speaker was Crarles Allen '70, who objected to Harvard expansion projects because of "their process and their purpose."
He said that their purposes were unacceptable because "they are not formulated in interests of poor people in the community," and that the process of dislocating tenants was "violent and destructive."
In a final comment, Wilson agreed with student assertions that "the real issue is not housing or relocation--but the distribution of political power in the community."
But Wilson said that he disagreed with plans that would give local residents veto power over University construction projects. "That is an unacceptable statement of the proper distribution of power."
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