Morin said he would be open to expanding to include infant care, but that after meeting with administrators last week he was not hopeful.

"As far as we know, there isn't any other space," Morin said.

Members of the center also said that because Harvard defers some of its costs, it is able to provide high-quality care for reasonable prices.

"The reality is that what we don't pay in rent or utilities goes right into services," Morin said.

Walker said the prices are in line with the rates charged at other top day care centers.

The center is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, a validation held by fewer than half of the centers in the area, according to Santana.

Concerned parents said the ability to find affordable child care is of paramount importance.

Hila Harpak, the wife of an Israeli law student, said that amidst the chaos that comes with trying to resettle in a foreign country, she was happy that she could arrange her child care before coming to the United States.

Harpak said the center was a perfect match for her daughter.

"On Saturdays, she asks to go the center," Harpak said. "There are a lot of things going on at the center I can't offer her at home.... It is also a social connection for us."

Other attendees at the gathering today said the University's decision to evict the center is detrimental to Harvard's attempt to attract top women faculty.

"Since the faculty committee requested additional day care, it is essential that this facility remain open," said Peggy Schmertzler, chair of the Committee for the Equality of Women at Harvard. "If you are trying to attract women faculty, it is essential that Harvard provide child care."

Slaughter said the discussion over the center was particularly important to students who can have families.

"It is an incredibly important issue for people of child-bearing age," she said while holding her six-month-old boy.

But perhaps some of the best testimony for the center came from Alan P. Jasanoff '92, a graduate student who attended the center as a toddler in the early '70s.

"It looks pretty much the same," he said. "The only thing that is different is that the fence wasn't here, but that's just a sign of the times.