Growing Faculty Support Buoys Living Wage Campaign

The first thing Greg R. Halpern '99 did after looking at the front page photo of Cornel R. West '74 in The Crimson raising his fist in last Tuesday's Living Wage Campaign rally was to show it to dining hall workers.

Halpern, a campaign organizer, says he hopes that if some of the more well-known members of Harvard's faculty support their campaign, they will not only be able to pressure the administration more, but to remove the "fringe" label of the campaign's efforts.

"I think that's a very powerful message when you have the people at the `top' asking the administration to include the people at the `bottom,'" Halpern says.

Halpern says he hopes the Faculty support will force the administration to re-examine the campaign's demand to pay all Harvard workers $10 an hour.

"I really can't see the administration not taking this seriously," Halpern says.

"If they don't respond to what the faculty are asking them to do, I don't know who they'll respect."

Yet the Campaign's effort to coordinate faculty support reflect the nature of their organization. With only a handful of professors three months ago, the ranks of supporting Faculty have swelled to nearly eight times that number.

Since the rally, the list of faculty has grown to 115, with everybody from department chairs to lecturers signing their name to a mass letter to the administration.

Faculty notables on the list span the political spectrum, including Institute of Politics Director Alan K. Simpson, a former Republican senator from Wyoming, to Bradshaw Professor of Public Policy Mary Jo Bane, an adviser in the Clinton administration who resigned after the 1996 welfare bill.

James L. Kugel, Starr professor of classical and modern Jewish and Hebrew literature and of comparative literature, teacher of this semester's largest class, Literature and Arts C-37, "The Bible and Its Interpreters," also gave his approval.

A mere three months ago, the situation was vastly different. When Harvard Law School's Carter Professor of General Jurisprudence Duncan M. Kennedy spoke at the campaign's rally in late February, he was in a distinct minority of faculty who publicly supported the campaign.

After the February rally, campaign members began gathering faculty supporters on personal basis, approaching their own professors after class and at office hours.

Aaron D. Bartley, a first-year law school student with prior organizing experience, approached Kennedy during his office hours to ask for his support.

Other professors who were personally approached included Pratap B. Mehta, associate professor of government and of social studies, and Patricia Sullivan, visiting lecturer on Afro-American Studies.

More professors joined the campaign during the widely-attended Rally for Justice protest outside of University Hall in early March, including DuBois Professor of the Humanities Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Organizers simply stopped professors entering and exiting the building and asked for their support.

Fletcher University Professor of Afro-American Studies Cornel R. West '74 even reached into his pocket to fill out a $50 check to support the campaign.

From these initial efforts, the campaign had a list of 15 professors who had pledged their support for the campaign. Encouraged by this initial vote of confidence--and West's $50--the campaign coordinated a faculty outreach effort.

The campaign put together a six-page pamphlet, which included a cover letter, a fact sheet and an open letter to the administration--with room for faculty signatures.

Although the campaign tried to personally deliver the pamphlets to professors, the size and schedule of the faculty required mail delivery as well.

The campaign's results have helped gained not only additional signatures but also more vocal Faculty support.

Kaarina I.M. Hollo, a lecturer in the Celtic Languages and Literatures Department, spoke spontaneously at the campaign at the guard union rally two weeks ago.

Although no one knew who she was, Halpern says, the campaign was more than willing to let her participate.

While campaign organizers say they do not expect to reap immediate benefits from their faculty support, they believe the endorsements will help them keep the pressure on the administration in the long run to pay all its workers at least $10 an hour.

For the future, the campaign is planning a demonstration for Commencement, which will remain "respectful," Halpern says. In addition, three to five campaign workers will stay in Cambridge over the summer to work on the campaign.

In addition to working 20 hours a week for the Harvard campaign, organizers will hone their skills by working for other local unions.

Their plan of action includes trying to gain financial support from alumni for the campaign along with a pledge not to donate money to Harvard's coffers.

Other efforts include trying to organize a living wage conference to bring together wage activists from around the country.

All plans for the future, however, include faculty, whose voices are often stronger than those of students.

Now that faculty support is snowballing, Halpern says he hopes the image of the campaign as a fringe movement may be diminishing, and encourages faculty to stand up in support for their fellow Harvard employees.

"Even some tenured professors and associate professors are scared to sign because they'd be criticizing the administration. Can you imagine how a dishwasher would feel?"