Mass. Governor, Attorney General Donate to Harvard Basketball

With the help of some big names in Massachusetts politics, the Harvard basketball program managed to raise more than $350,000 in fiscal year 2016.

Last month, Friends of Harvard Basketball, a group of alumni and parents who support the program, announced in their annual report that 192 donors contributed $356,966 in current use gifts to the men’s and women’s teams last fiscal year. These donations, as well as endowed gifts, made up 60 percent of the program’s revenues in fiscal year 2016. Travel makes up a plurality of expenses for the program.

“Harvard and the Department of Athletics provide the funding for a basic program,” the report reads. “It is the Friends funding that allows our teams to properly represent the excellence we all want and expect.”

The program hopes to raise $364,545 in the next fiscal year.

Among the donors were two names familiar to Massachusetts residents: Governor Charlie D. Baker ’79 and state Attorney General Maura T. Healey ’92. According to the report, Healey donated between $100 and $499 to the program this past year. Paul J. Finnegan ’75, the University treasurer and a member of the Harvard Corporation, donated between $25,000 and $29,999 to the program in fiscal year 2016. While Healey gave a current-use gift for fiscal year 2016, Baker has donated at least $100,000 in an endowed fund. His contribution is one of 17 “AD Discretionary Endowment Funds,” which the program uses to generate income.

Massachusetts Governor Charlier D. Baker '79. By Shunella Grace Lumas

Both Baker and Healey, who some have speculated could run against each other for governor in 2018, played varsity basketball for the men’s and women’s teams respectively during their time as undergraduates at Harvard. Healey even played professionally in Austria for UBBC Wustenrot Salzburg shortly after graduation.

The yearly fundraising results follow the announcement that NBA star Jeremy Lin ’10 donated $1 million to the University for undergraduate financial aid and renovations of the Lavietes Pavilion, set for completion by the 2017-2018 school year.

“This summer, we started the Lavietes Pavilion project with plans to renovate the lobby, locker rooms, offices, gym and the entire facility – something we know will improve the experience for both our student-athletes and the greater Harvard basketball community,” men’s basketball coach Tommy Amaker wrote in the annual report. “We are incredibly grateful for these opportunities - none of which would be possible without your investment of time, resources and efforts.”

A new basketball arena to replace the Lavietes Pavilion, is a part of Harvard’s many projects in Allston. The construction project is slated to begin in 2020 and finish in 2024.

Harvard’s university-wide capital campaign, launched in 2013 with a goal of $6.5 billion, recently surpassed $7 billion. With about two years left in the campaign, Harvard has been focusing on meeting its goals for undergraduate financial aid and the Allston campus.

Harvard's men’s basketball team is currently in Shanghai for an exhibition game against Stanford.

—Staff writer Joshua Florence can be reached at joshua.florence@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaFlorence1.