NEW HAVEN, Conn.--Richard C. Levin took over as president of Yale in the spring of 1993 amid widespread agreement that the nation's second oldest university was in serious disarray.

Rising crime rates in New Haven, coupled with a the widely publicized murder of a Yale undergraduate led applications to plunge 15 percent. Severe budget deficits were forcing the University to eliminate entire departments. And bitter disagreements between faculty and administrators prompted President Benno C. Schmidt to resign.

Serious problems remain today, Levin says, but overall the university is "back on track."

"We've managed in the last one-and-a-half years to renew and restore Yale's sense of self-confidence as an institution," Levin told The Crimson Wednesday.

"We are out of the woods," he said.

Levin noted that undergraduate applications this year were at their second highest level ever. He also said that the university's annual budget deficit--more than $20 million a few years ago--has been cut to $12.45 million.

The university is also in the midst of an ambitious campaign to renovate the area along Broadway and York St. that serves as the campus's main drag. When completed, Levin says, the area will be something like Harvard Square "on a smaller scale."

A few features of the Square have already made their appearance in New Haven. This fall, an Au Bon Pain replaced Demery's, a longtime pizza parlor and bar.

Workers are currently putting down new brick sidewalks and marking preparing to plant more than 80 elm trees--a tribute to New Haven's nickname, Elm City.

Levin said he expected the changes in the environment, combined with renovations of the Yale building would help to further repair the university's image.

"We were being perceived by new students as having our surrounding being a serious liability," said Levin. "One the educational side, things are in excellent shape, but the condition of our facilities is a serious problem."

Levin, 47, was an economics professor and department chair before taking over as president. He has lived in New Haven for more than 20 years.

Unlike his predecessor, Levin is popular with both the Yale faculty and the city's mayor, John DeStefano, according to students, administrators, and city officials.

But Levin has drawn fire from several city politicians in recent months, most notably over Yale's plans to renovate power stations that provide electricity to the university.

"The question is how sincere is the University in bettering New Haven for New Haven or for Yale," said Alderman Josh Civin, who is a Yale senior.

New Initiatives

Levin has made relations with the city a top priority, according to one university administrator.

"The fate of New Haven and the the fate of the University are inexorably linked," said newly appointed University Secretary Linda K. Lorimer.

In April, Levin announced a new program to encourage Yale staff to buy homes in New Haven by offering them $2,000 per year for ten years. The program is supposed to help boost real estate prices and expand the city's tax base, Lorimer said. Roughly 80 people have taken advantage of the offer so far, she said.

Levin has also started a $5 million venture capital fund to help in the development of the city's biotechnology and biomedical businesses.

Yale is also involved in three separate projects to improve areas of the city, the results of a 1987 agreement to invest $50 million in New Haven.

In addition to the Broadway-York St. project, Yale has invested $12.5 million in the $108 million retail and residential project in Ninth Square. That area has been hard hit in the past two years by the closure of Macy's New Haven department store and the now-bankrupt Park Plaza hotel.

Electric Shock

The university's biggest conflict with the city has involved the power plants. Yale receives its electricity from three plants built in 1917. Last year, the university embarked on a $50 million project to tear down one of the plants and modernize the other two.

But last spring, the city board of aldermen fined the university for its plan to dig a tunnel under College St., which runs through the center of town, to connect the plants' steam and chilled water systems.

"That [was] just a protective measure for the city," said Ann Piscottano, a Republican Adlerwoman from the 18th district.

But a week later, the board voted to rescind the decision--Piscottano said she voted against the reversal.

"When the thing came to the floor discussion got out of control and... the Alderman passed a solution which set bad precedents," Levin said.

Yale has also been considering building new power plant. Civin said he fears such a move could force a rise in the rates New Haven citizens pay by taking business away from the current supplier, United Illuminating.

Talks between Yale and United Illuminating have been going on for more than a year and the subject is confidential, said company spokesperson Lucille A. Calindo.

Popularity

Levin has been greatly helped in passing his initiatives by his strong relationship with new Haven Superintendent of Schools John Don, but especially by his friendship with DeStefano, the city's mayor.

Stephen Pryor, the policy advisor to the mayor and a 1993 Yale graduate, lauds Levin's initiatives and his influence on the University.

"The mood has changed," he said. "The city has bottomed out and it is well on its way to recovery."

Pryor called the College St. conflict a "minor bump in the road" and said the city is well on its way to a "renaissance."

Levin said he also wants to turn his attention to campus issues, like changes in meal plans and the construction of a student center:

Geoffrey D. Glasser, the editor-in-chief of the undergraduate Yale Daily News, said Levin's city-wide inititatives are almost complete. He predicts that Levin will now shift his focus to student life on campus.

"You will see Levin change back to Yale within the next two years," said Glasser