PBHA Enters Boston Interfaith Organization

Thousands of Harvard student volunteers joined forces with activists around the Boston area when the Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA) entered into the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO) this week.

The entrance is part of a conscious attempt to turn PBHA's mostly service-minded volunteers towards greater political activism, says PBHA president Trevor S. Cox '01-'02.

"[The] move toward advocacy gives volunteers and directors a more enriched view of what they're doing," Cox says.

Formed in 1996, GBIO unites about 90 Boston-area congregations and community groups together to advocate for social action in Boston. Last May, the organization prompted the Mass. state legislature to earmark $100 million toward affordable housing after a series of public rallies and petitions.

With yesterday's move to mail off membership dues, PBHA is now officially a part of the GBIO roster. PBHA representatives will vote on behalf of the organization at GBIO's monthly meetings.

Ari M. Lipman '00, a former PBHA volunteer who now works with GBIO, says students have an important perspective to offer the organization.

"Students are a large part of Boston, so it's important that students be represented," he says.

Building Consensus

PBHA is just the second official student group member of GBIO--most of the organization's members have some form of religious affiliation. The first was the Boston Youth Organizing Project--a group of local high school students.

Because only a handful of PBHA students will be representing the views of all PBHA-affiliated programs, student program directors initially expressed concern that they might object to the GBIO stance on certain issues.

But GBIO staff members say this should not be a problem.

"GBIO has no central issue. We [are] about building relationships and building power through relationships," said GBIO staff member Lisa Nazzaro at an introductory meeting at Phillips Brooks House on Saturday.

Since GBIO joins together so many disparate views, the organization has only been able to tackle issues where near consensus is possible. Rather than addressing such "hot" issues as reproductive rights or school vouchers, the organization has focused its action on less controversial topics. Currently, the group is working to create affordable housing and increase funding for afterschool programs.

"The idea of GBIO is that it unites a lot of people who have a lot of interests," says Carol J. Garvan '02, a member of the PBHA organizing committee that coordinated PBHA's entrance into GBIO.

Acting Up

On campus, PBHA is primarily known for its vast array of tutoring programs. The Progressive Student Labor Movement--with its frequent protests--stands out as one of the few high profile activist groups within PBHA.

Indeed, some have complained that PBHA's direct-service focus consists mostly of "band-aid work"--providing quick help without offering long-term solutions--that does not address systemic issues.

While PBHA's entrance does not represent a total shift in organizational priorities, Cox says he is hopeful that more people will take the opportunity GBIO provides to combine activism with service.

"For a while we've done a lot of innovative things around direct service and less advocacy, really getting at the root of the problem," Cox says.

Cox says he believes PBHA as a whole may be expanding in a more activist direction.

Alex A. Guerrero '01, a director of PBHA's Prisoner Education Committee, says he has plans to expand his program to include prisoner-rights advocacy later this month.

"We're trying to get more of the campus at least thinking about the issue," Guerrero says. "I think people generally realize that the need for this volunteer work stems from larger issues."

Guerrero is not working directly with GBIO on his advocacy initiative, but several other PBHA committees--such as the Housing Opportunities Program and Habitat for Humanity--express interest in expanding into more activist roles through GBIO.

"Our goal isn't to shift the focus of PBHA but just to show that there is something other than direct service," Garvan says.

Cox says expansion in an activist direction does not signal a divide within PBHA.

"The organizing committee is not decrying what we're doing, it's just taking another step," he says.