"Matt and Ben are very committed to this community," she said. "They see the effects of rising costs on their friends, neighbors and teachers."

In their speeches, the actors said Harvard's failure to enact a living wage has increased gentrification in Cambridge and made it a less desirable place to live.

"Within the Cambridge community, Harvard has long been viewed as some sort of amoral juggernaut, gobbling up real estate, intoxicated by its own power and thereby above the standards of simple human decency," Damon said. "Their resistance to a living wage does nothing to counter this characterization."

Affleck said rising costs have decreased the diversity of Cambridge, one of the city's great strengths.

"[In the future] it won't be the same kind of city I grew up in and want to come back to," he said. "I don't want to come back and [find] it's just a bunch of rich white people. That just doesn't sound like fun."

Both Damon and Affleck appeared well-informed about the labor situation on campus, discussing the findings of the ad hoc committee's report with reporters in detail.

Affleck called the recommendations "insulting."