“That just strikes all the wrong chords for me,” Smith says.

Most recently, PSLM clashed with the University when the group was denied a permit for a rally to be held at today’s installation. The permit was subsequently granted, but the incident has not helped the relationship between the two parties.

“In denying the permit, the administration has created unnecessary hostility between itself and PSLM,” Elfenbein said at the time. “It shows where the administration places the community’s concerns on its own list of priorities.”

Still, with the newly granted permit in hand, PSLM members approached today’s rally with the intent to convince Summers that he enters a community in favor of wage raises and will find, in PSLM, a group with which he can successfully work.

Smith says he sees PSLM adopting an advisory role that would necessitate working closely with the University.

“It would be tough for Summers to ignore the [Katz committee’s] tireless work...particularly in his first year as president,” Smith says. “But it would be easy for him to drag his feet, unless there’s pressure to make sure the University [implements] its policies.”

—Staff writer Daniela J. Lamas can be reached at lamas@fas.harvard.edu.