"Haven't we done this before? Why do we keep meeting like this? What's the problem?" Braude quipped to the crowd.

But University administrators, including President Neil L. Rudenstine, have said they will not consider implementing a living wage until an ad-hoc Faculty committee, convened last spring and headed by Weatherhead Professor of Business Administration D. Quinn Mills, releases a comprehensive report on labor at Harvard.

In a statement issued yesterday, Rudenstine praised the work of the committee despite its lengthy time frame.

"This process has understandably taken considerable time," he said. "I have every reason to believe that this will turn out to be time well spent."

The committee does not plan to release its report before the end of this semester.

Grogan said the process of enacting new policy is a slow one because of Harvard's size and complexity.

"To make lasting change at a large university and one as decentralized as this takes time and those who insist that [implementing a living wage] takes place overnight or in a short time don't understand how the University works," he said.

But speakers at yesterday's rally said Harvard's wealth would allow the University to enact a living wage with minimal cost or disruption.