“Harvard is a schoolyard bully, but instead of asking for our milk money, they are asking us to hand over our children’s education,” Tolman told the crowd. “They are asking us to hand over our town’s future.”

“Unlike Boston or Cambridge, we can’t absorb this loss,” added Mark E. Boyle, Watertown’s director of planning and development.

But after the rally, Wrinn reiterated his belief that Watertown officials and residents were sensationalizing Harvard’s purchase.

“This is total theater,” Wrinn said. “It just creates a mass hysteria that in no way reflects the conversations that are going on behind the scenes.”

Wrinn said “open discussions in good faith” have continued between Harvard and Watertown for the last month, and that Wednesday night’s rally was not indicative of what impact Harvard will have on Watertown.

“To bus in children and elderly people and tell them that Harvard will destroy their lives is totally ridiculous,” Wrinn said.

And Wrinn said Watertown officials were unfairly holding Harvard’s endowment of $19 billion against the University, claiming that Harvard’s strong financial position obligates it to offer the community higher payments.

State Representative Rachel Kaprielian mentioned the size of Harvard’s endowment five times in the first two minutes of her speech.

“It’s obviously very effective demagoguery,” Wrinn said. “The endowment is an easy target, but it’s not a vault filled with cash somewhere collecting dust.”

But Tolman said the rally was not meant to simply attack Harvard—it was intended to present the town’s concerns about the University’s presence.

“It’s not anti-Harvard to put Watertown interests first,” Tolman said. “It’s not anti-Harvard to protect the future of our community.”

Despite the public protest, Wrinn said he felt confident that continued discussions with Watertown officials would achieve a suitable agreement.

“This will eventually pass,” Wrinn said. “Through good faith efforts we will arrive at an agreement.”

But Clyde L. Younger, president of the Watertown Town Council, said that it will take more than a final agreement to repair relations between the University and Watertown.

“The issue is respect,” Younger said. “All we’re asking is for Harvard to be a good neighbor.”

—Staff writer Imtiyaz H. Delawala can be reached at delawala@fas.harvard.edu.