Living Wage Protestors Give Rudenstine a Valentine

A handful of Living Wage Campaign members fought cold, wintry rain and icy sidewalks last night in a series of unannounced visits to the homes of four top administrators.

Student protesters delivered hand-made Valentine's Day cards to lobby for a $10.25 minimum wage for Harvard workers--a figure that the Cambridge city council has adopted as the official Cambridge living wage.

Of the four administrators, only President Neil L. Rudenstine was home last night.

The protestors said they were shocked when Rudenstine--wearing a coat and tie--came to the door.

"It was completely bizarre," said Benjamin L. McKean '02, a campaign member.

McKean introduced himself as a member of the living wage campaign, coming to deliver a "love your workers" valentine.

According to McKean, Rudenstine responded, "Thank you very much, that's very sweet."

McKean said that throughout the exchange, he heard someone laughing in the background.

"That experience made the action--we got the big one," he said. "I think we got our message across, and we certainly startled [Rudenstine], at least. We count the day a success."

Despite the inclement weather, Vice President for Administration Sally H. Zeckhauser, Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles and Provost Harvey V. Fineberg '67 were not at home when the protestors visited.

The protest as a whole, was relatively low-key.

The twelve students started out into the rain armed with large, pink, heart-shaped Valentine's Day cards with living wage slogans. One card read "My Valentine Lives Below the Poverty Level."

One student held a radio protected from the downpour with a large black plastic bag. A Valentine's Day mix--featuring Nat King Cole and the Beatles--provided cheerful background music.

The students first headed to Zeckhauser's house--a ten-minute walk through intermittent rain.

On the way to Zeckhauser's house, however, the protesters got a little lost in the residential area and wound up at Knowles's house instead.

Two students approached the door, while the others lined up in the driveway as Barry White's "For Your Love" played in the background.

When no one answered the door, McKean left a large pink card, reading "Love Your Workers" propped up by the door.

McKean said last night's action represents a new strategy for the living wage campaign--visiting administrators in their homes instead of their offices.

"We're not doing this because we want to disrupt the lives of their families," McKean said, "But by not giving a living wage, they're disrupting the lives of thousands of families. It's easy for them to forget that."

Molly E. McOwen '02 said she thought delivering cards to administrators at home might be a more powerful approach.

"This sort of action is more personal, and we see this as a personal responsibility and a personal failure on their part," McOwen said.

From Knowles's house, the small group trailed down the street to Zeckhouser's home.

Again, the students turned up the radio and knocked on the door, but no one answered.

McOwen said, however, that she saw someone watching the group from the second-floor window.

"This is a playful action," McOwen said. "I'm surprised someone would have been home and not chosen to open the door."

The protesters also left living wage Valentine's Day gifts for Zeckhouser's neighbors.

The students placed pamphlets on neighbor's cars that read, "Do you know your neighbor has no heart? Living wage now!"

The pamphlets encouraged the neighbors to take action.

"Urge your neighbor, Vice President for Administration Sally Zeckhauser, to stop this gross injustice," the leaflet read.

From Zeckhauser's, the students walked slowly through the rain to Fineberg's Craigie Street home to the tune of Nat King Cole's "I Love You For Sentimental Reasons."

Although Fineberg did not answer the door, the students folded a large, soggy, pink oak-tag heart and stuck it halfway through the mail slot.

Discouraged by the unpleasant weather and empty houses, the students decided to split up--only one small group went to Rudenstine's house, while another group went to see if any administrators were spending Valentine's Day at Mass Hall.

At Mass. Hall, the students were marginally more successful.

When Madeleine S. Elfenbein '04 knocked on the door, a woman on her way out of Mass. Hall answered.

Elfenbein gave her the last, rain-soaked card reading "Living Wage =Loving Wage" to deliver to Rudenstine's office.