City Urges Harvard to Pay Victims

Usually the Cambridge City Council demands that Harvard donate to local interests, but last night, the council passed an extraordinary order urging Harvard to compensate the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, widely believed to have been the work of international terrorist Osama bin Laden.

Initially, the order suggested a figure of $5 million, and implied that as the recipient of bin Laden family money, through Osama bin Laden’s half brother Baker bin Laden, the University is obligated to donate that amount to victims.

Councillor Kenneth E. Reeves ’72 sponsored the order, which was amended during the meeting to remove the bin Laden language.

All reports have shown that the bin Laden donations to Harvard have come exclusively from members of the family not affiliated with terrorism. So, while other councillors supported the notion that Harvard give to victims, they rejected Reeves’ grounds for the order.

In his public comment, Reeves said he got the idea for the order when reading two articles in a newspaper—one about Harvard’s bin Laden scholarships and one about how many families of those killed in the Sept. 11 crashes would not have insurance benefits.

“I do believe there is a connection—no matter how tangential. It’s all symbolism. That Harvard would be strengthened by the bin Laden family fortune is an odd connection,” Reeves said.

Councillor Jim Braude asserted that he would vote against the resolution with the bin Laden language.

“What troubles me is the suggestion that the family, the siblings, might have some culpability in this,” Braude said.

Councillor Kathleen L. Born— whose name, due to a miscommunication, had originally appeared with Reeves’s on top of the order— withdrew support from the originally worded resolution.

“I think, like Councillor Braude, because some members of the bin Laden family have been generous in funding American educational institutions, that shouldn’t be a reason to cast aspersion on either the institution or the family,” Born said.

But after Vice Mayor David P. Maher suggested the bin Laden section of the order be removed, the resolution passed quickly.

Mayor Anthony C. Galluccio alone voted against the measure.

“I just did not feel like that was an appropriate way to communicate our feelings to our neighbors,” Galluccio said.

Harvard’s Office of Government, Community and Public Affairs responded to the order by faxing information about the bin Laden scholarships and the non-terrorist members of the family to City Hall.

“What we’ve done is we’re sending around to the city councillors the same background factual material that we sent to the media,” said Travis McCready, director of community affairs, just before the meeting.

Aside from the order on Harvard, the council also passed a motion which would ensure full paychecks to city employees if they are called up to serve in the military.fortune is an odd connection,” Reeves said.

Councillor Jim Braude asserted that he would vote against the resolution with the bin Laden language.

“What troubles me is the suggestion that the family, the siblings, might have some culpability in this,” Braude said.

Councillor Kathleen L. Born— whose name, due to a miscommunication, had originally appeared with Reeves’ on top of the order—withdrew support from the originally worded resolution.

“I think, like Councillor Braude, because some members of the bin Laden family have been generous in funding American educational institutions, that shouldn’t be a reason to cast aspersion on either the institution or the family,” Born said.

But after Vice Mayor David P. Maher suggested removing the bin Laden section of the order, the resolution passed quickly.

Mayor Anthony C. Galluccio alone voted against the measure. “I just did not feel like that was an appropriate way to communicate our feelings to our neighbors,” Galluccio said.

Harvard’s Office of Government, Community and Public Affairs responded to the order by faxing information about the bin Laden scholarships and the non-terrorist members of the family to City Hall. “What we’ve done is we’re sending around to the city councillors the same background factual material that we sent to the media,” said Travis McCready, director of community affairs, just before the meeting.

Aside from the order on Harvard, the council also passed a motion which would ensure full paychecks to city employees if they are called up to serve in the military.

—Staff writer Lauren R. Dorgan can be reached at dorgan@fas.harvard.edu.