As they reacted to Rudenstine's response last night, councillors called the letter "empty" and "condescending." They said the University, which enjoys tax-exempt status on its buildings, was not contributing a fair share to community programs. Currently, Harvard pays the city $1.6 million in in-lieu-of-tax payments each year.

"The City of Cambridge has been a great neighbor to Harvard University," Galluccio said. "You can look at all our neighborhoods that Harvard has crept into and know we are a darn good neighbor."

Other councillors attacked Harvard as an "arrogant neighbor" that disregards elected officials' input. Councillor Marjorie C. Decker likened the Harvard Corporation--the University's small, secretive governing body--to "a realtor and developer."

The discrepancy between the Boston and Cambridge donations brought comparisons to the 20/20/2000 initiative that the University announced with Cambridge and Boston last fall. That deal offered the same amount of money--$10 million in low-cost loans--to both cities.

University officials have said that the Boston and Cambridge initiatives are unrelated. They said that timing pressures on both programs--the Cambridge summer school begins in just three months--forced the two announcements to be close.

In an interview last night, Mary Power, Harvard's senior director of community relations, said that the University is engaged in hundreds of small projects in Cambridge and is open to considering larger commitments.

"We are very willing to be engaged with the city around priorities that are defined," she said. "I think our intent has been to be engaged with city councillors and administrators for growing relationships based on partnerships."

--Staff writer Lauren R. Dorgan can be reached at dorgan@fas.harvard.edu.