A New Way to Help Cambridge

IHAD THE PLEASANT DUTY of commenting on Harvard's public service programs at Quincy House's recent 350th celebration. The contrast between now and 25 years ago in the climate for such programs in Cambridge is remarkable.

Twenty-five years ago, Cambridge actively discouraged volunteers in its public school system. Indeed, outside institutions of all sorts found it difficult to penetrate the bureaucracy and the political system. Scouts and church groups had to fight for the use of a school room after hours. University student volunteers were alleged to be too inexperienced to be of assistance. University researchers were told that Cambridge people did not want Harvard experimenting with its children. Even the PTA had to fight for recognition.

What a difference today. The schools actively seek the assistance of neighboring business and non-profit institutions. Undergraduates teach and tutor during school hours and in the after-school program. Phillips Brooks House and the newer public service programs channel over half the undergraduate body into teaching, prison work, youth work, helping lonely elderly or the homeless and many other worthwhile activities.

Harvard and Cambridge have both grown in their capacity to mesh resource with need in providing compassionate assistance to people.

LIKE MANY OTHER CITIES, however, Cambridge faces tough problems which are unlikely to be solved through these individual efforts, as magnificent as they are and as much as they and to the individual student's education.

These problems are not new nor confined to Cambridge. Rapid gentrification threatens affordable housing and Cambridge's historic diverse population. As the economy changes, displaced workers cannot easily find new jobs in the high tech world. The public schools must lower the drop out rate and prepare a higher percentage of kids for college. The public health system becomes increasingly financially burdensome while public and private hospitals quarrel.

During the past quarter century Harvard and Cambridge have worked occasionally on these structural problems. The Harvard Community Health Plan began in the 1970s as a result of initiative by Dean Ebert of the Medical School.

Faculty at the Education School created the Pilot School, a very successful house within the high school. The organization of the Pilot School became the model for a reorganized high school eight years ago. In the 1960s Cambridge built housing for the elderly by utilizing a non-profit corporation established by Harvard and MIT.

Today the Extension and Education Schools have established scholarships for Cambridge employees. And Professor Von Moltke of the Design School heads a special committee to find a land-use resolution for the Simplex site.

Unlike the organizations which guide undergraduates in their community volunteer work, there is no structured way for faculty and/or corporate Harvard to interact with the city. While there is no barrier to involvement, there is also no formal process by which faculty can discover whether their teaching and research needs might be satisfied by working in Cambridge.

IN THE NEXT STAGE of town-gown cooperation we ought to seek and use a new mechanism which would allow more of Harvard's creative problem-solving ability to focus on Cambridge.

Not surprisingly, I would advocate one of Harvard's favorite devices to get started. There ought to be a town-gown committee composed of interested Harvard faculty, key school and city personnel and other community members who could contribute. This committee would catalogue past successes and current municipal needs, develop a list of priority programs to be worked on and seek out prospective University staff with the skills and talent to help.

Let me emphasize that individuals' involvement would, as now, be entirely voluntary. The only cost would be in staff help to the committee. The University owes its community this resource. And the city owes its people a creative utilization of its non-profit institutions in tackling tough urban problems.

Francis H. Duehay '55 is a Cambridge city councilor and a two-time mayor of the city. In addition to graduating from the College, he earned a Masters and Ph.D. at the School of Education.