Representatives With Class

Harvard fundraisers probably won't be seen passing the hat at September's 350th celebration, but judging by the alumni the University chose to invite as class representatives, attendance at the event is in part a reward for past giving and service to the alma mater--with the implicit hope that such generosity continues after the big party.

Though some 30,000 alumni and friends of the University will descend upon Cambridge to take part in the gala festivities planned for this September, less than 6000 of Harvard's 190,000 living alumni will be class representatives, serving as official participants of the four-day extravaganza.

Alumni from classes as far back as 1914, including all 14 graduate schools, have been invited to the big bash to ensure diverse representation. While there will be 25 to 50 delegates from each alumni class, at least 50 from each of the four undergraduate classes will return to the College early for the attend the festivities next September, says 350th organizer Thomas W. Stephenson '37.

"The University would like to invite all of its alumni," but by necessity, is selecting an artificial representation of Harvard's family, says Victor A. Koivumaki III, who is the Alumni Association's organizer of class events.

In order to "respect the privacy wishes" of the representatives, the specially created 350th office has no plans to publish a list of those singled out to serve as alumni representatives. But without knowing the identity of all the representatives, many have still criticized the method used by the various alumni organizations to select delegates.

While students complained earlier this year about the random, almost haphazard, manner in which tickets were assigned to freshmen, some critics have charged that the selection method for the 350th places too much emphasis on wealthy alumni and their links to the Harvard College Fund, the University's main fundraising organ. Stephenson, the man who is in charge of planning the whole 350th celebration, also served as one of the College Fund's top rainmakers before taking over his current post.

Although College officials would not provide a numerical breakdown of guests invited because of their donations, they did agree that past giving to the University's treasure chest had something to do with their fancy invites. And for those graduate schools that provided figures, spokesmen say that a sizable number of the representatives are there because of past giving.

"You can be pretty sure that our main benefactors have been invited," says James Muller Jr., the secretary of the Law School's alumni affairs office. The Law School was given 450 representative slots for the celebration.

Let Them Entertain You

Despite paying $200 per person for 11 meals and four nights in luxurious Harvard housing, class representatives are entitled to preferred seating at various outdoor events and in the limited-seating scholarly symposia. For those not privileged enough to garner invites, there is still ample hotel space for the first week in September, and tickets can be purchased for many of the larger events.

So far, almost 66 percent have responded to the University's invitation to use the rooms provided for the 6000 invited alumni from Harvard College, Radcliffe and all the graduate schools, an office spokesman says.

Alumni representatives are described as having been "given the first crack" in the mad rush to buy the requisite tickets and to find housing to attend the early September festivities. Koivumaki says that class representatives have filled all the University housing for the celebration, and some, but not all, of the local hotel rooms Harvard bought up in advance.

Selection Process

The representatives were selected under the vague criteria of what Stephenson calls "strongest affiliation with Harvard." David Sanders, the 350th spokesman, is quick to point out that this affiliation with Harvard is a "close association in any capacity" and does not necessarily require donating large sums of money. Soliciting on behalf of the College, organizing reunions, and serving on oversight committees are some of the service criteria.

As the process for selecting the College's representatives is explained by Stephenson, the 350th committee completed the list on an informal basis, with name lists provided by different groups, like class officers, the alumni fund and visiting committees.

Some graduate schools used a different, more formal method of decision. Since the Corporation decided the celebration would be a University-wide affair, the graduate schools were given free rein to select their alloted representatives on whatever criteria they deemed fit, Koivumaki says.

For the School of Public Health (SPH) this means that one-half of their representatives will be non-alumni; for the School of Education, it means that their representatives will meet strict diversity requirements; and for the Law School it means that main benefactors will receive invitations.

At least 10 percent of the Ed School's 250 representatives will be there because they are "generous benefactors," says Dudley Blodgett, director of the school's external relations.

So when Harvard's family celebrates the University's 350th birthday, don't look for long lists of non-Harvard celebrities; a select group of John Harvard's true-blue friends will be there to blow out the candles on the 350th cake next September.