Good Neighbors?

LAST week, Associate Vice President for State and Community Relations Jacqueline O'Neill announced that she planned to leave her post in June. Her departure, along with the selection of Kristen S. Demong to head Harvard Real Estate, could provide a unique opportunity for the University to improve relations with the city.

Many of Harvard's efforts to support the community do not get the credit they deserve. Programs like the Conant Fellowships allow city teachers and administrators to study at Harvard'd Graduate School of Education. The Cambridge Partnership for Public Education aids school administators, providing them with advice from the Harvard community. And the University's support for the city's earthquake relief effort for its sister city in Soviet Armenia this fall shows the best side of town-gown relations.

However, during O'Neill's 12-year tenure, city officials have often charged that Harvard is not doing enough to support the community. City residents have complained that the University has made complex real estate decisions without adequately consulting them. As the principle liason between Harvard and the city, O'Neill has had to bear the brunt of that criticism.

Despite these complaints, city officials and community activists alike last week said they would be sorry to see her leave. Although the principle tensions between the University and the city have not changed in recent years, many said that O'Neill had done much to promote discussion between the two groups.

BUT increased communication is not enough. The sad fact is that all too often, Harvard acts like just another big developer in the city--buying and selling buildings with little regard for how these moves will affect city neighborhoods.

The proposal to build a hotel on the former site of the Gulf station is a perfect example. Harvard solicited community input on the design of the hotel and tried to make sure it would include things the neighborhood wanted. But it was not until members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences criticized the project that the University sat up and realized that the basic idea of putting a hotel on the site needed to be reevaluated. Community residents who objected to the project received little attention.

Obviously, Harvard cannot please everyone. But the University needs to recognize that it cannot simply make decisions unilaterally. Indeed, it is impossible for Harvard to separate itself from the community. Many of the people who live in the city are Harvard affiliates--graduate students, professors and employees. The University is not about to go anywhere; we all have to live with the consequences of the decisions made today.

In picking a successor to O'Neill, Harvard needs to think about how it can provide the most support to the community. It is crucial to have an administrator who, like O'Neill, is outside the real estate business, who has close ties to the city and who is willing to listen. If the University fails to pick such a successor, choosing to think of itself as an entity separate and distinct from Cambridge, Harvard may do the city irreparable harm. And by hurting the surrounding community, the University will hurt itself.