University, MIT Accused Of Ignoring Cambridge

Harvard has given Cambridge officials no co-operation at all on plans for future development of the city, a director of the local League of Women Voters charged yesterday. She made the same accusation against M.I.T.

Mrs. William Wainwright, who is in charge of urban renewal for the league's Cambridge chapter, asserted that the University has not only failed to aid City Hall planners in their attempt to may a new and better Cambridge, but has gone ahead with its own building plans without even consulting the city.

"It's ridiculous for them to build helterskelter and not cooperate with the city at all," Mrs. Wainwright said. As one of the University's "decisions based on whim" she named the Shady Hill housing development, which the Administration proposed last spring as an apartment house to be located near the Divinity School for Faculty families.

Proposed Planning Board

Mrs. Wainwright criticized Harvard for having no planning board of its own to direct the University's future development and to correlate this growth with that of the city. She said she would initiate a committee in the near future "to explore ways to get more action from Harvard and from M.I.T."

In reply to the League official's charges, Edward Reynolds '15, administrative vice-president of the University, denied that Harvard has withheld any cooperation from Cambridge planners. He said that he himself has been in constant touch with City Hall regarding development plans for both the city and the University, and that consequently the University does not need an official planning board at this time.

Shady Hill

Meanwhile, several other Cambridge citizens who have worked on the city's urban renewal project agreed that Harvard "has held itself aloof" from municipal problems. They urged that the University appoint a planning board for its own development and that it consult with the city before planning buildings like Shady Hill or the new hygiene center.

As important Cambridge problems on which Harvard should offer its assistance, they listed parking, the city's tax loss due to exemptions for educational institutions, and the public school system. Individual faculty members are always willing to help, but real aid must come from the administration, they said.

"The University is just downright uncooperative, City Councillor Edward J. Sullivan commented. "Whenever we ask for their help, they get on their high horse and ride off," he added.