“In my opinion, it’d be disastrous to have a living wage only for direct hires,” McKean says.

“For the campaign, our goal is to win a living wage by Dec. 31,” he continues. “That’s a pretty tight timetable.”

Katz says the idea of a living wage is a complex one, as the primary examples for the University to study are the 60-odd cities that have implemented a mandatory wage floor.

“It’s clear what it means for the city of Cambridge, for instance, but it’s not so clear what this would mean for a private employer,” Katz says. “These are all issues we will be discussing.”

They will also address the affordability of health care and access to English as a Second Language classes—recommendations made two years ago by the Mills Committee, the first University committee charged with examining Harvard’s wage policies.

The Campaign

As they await the Dec. 19 deadline, “cautious, though optimistic” PSLM members plan to keep up their very visible presence with a series of actions this semester, says PSLM member Madeleine S. Elfenbein ’04.

They are currently planning a “community welcome” for Summers, scheduled to take place before Summers’ official installation on Oct. 12.

“It’s an opportunity for the whole community to say, ‘This is the kind of community you’re coming into, where values like the living wage are important,’” McKean says.

And since the PSLM members are no longer occupying an administrative building, McKean says he hopes those who were hesitant to endorse the sit-in will be able to rally around the idea of a living wage.

“Hopefully, what we’re seeing is a campaign that’s been transformed by the sit-in,” McKean says. “It’ll be easier now for people to express their support.”

Indeed, PSLM members say their first-year membership has skyrocketed, with first-years who saw PSLM members occupying Mass. Hall during their prefrosh visit last spring.

Elfenbein says there are 10 to 20 first-years who have regularly attended meetings and participated in PSLM activities, while meeting attendance has increased dramatically.

Elfenbein attributes this to an aggressive recruiting drive in early September and to the early exposure of many first-years to the sit-in.

“We harnessed the energy that came out of the sit-in,” Elfenbein says.