2001

JANUARY

University Hall’s first major renovations since 1896 are completed. The building is now handicapped-accesible and its central Faculty Room is refurbished.

FEBRUARY

A survey conducted by The Crimson finds that 46 percent of Harvard students “binge drink”—one point higher than the national average—but the frequency of that drinking is much lower than on college campuses nationwide.

A handful of Living Wage Campaign members fight cold wintry rains and icy sidewalks in a series of unannounced visits to the homes of four top administrators. Student protesters deliver handmade Valentine’s Day cards to lobby for a $10.25 minimum wage for Harvard workers—a figure that the Cambridge City Council had adopted as the official Cambridge living wage.

MARCH

Film star Jane Fonda gives $12.5 million to endow a Graduate School of Education center to study how gender affects children’s development and learning.

Lawrence H. Summers, at one time the youngest-tenured Harvard professor and former U.S. secretary of the treasury, is named the next Harvard president, effective in July. Summers’ first visit to Harvard is greeted by a loud PSLM protest. Throughout the next several months, Summers quietly meets with student groups and eats in Harvard dining halls. Summers’ selection, first reported by The Crimson, was helped by a protracted lobbying campaign by friends and colleagues.

APRIL

The Massachusetts Beverages Control Commission suspends the Crimson Sports Grille’s liquor license for 18 days—three days for each count of serving minors.

Dissatisfied with the University’s progress on the living wage issue, about 50 members of PSLM occupy Mass Hall. The PSLM sit-in lasts 21 days and attracts worldwide support from labor leaders. It is the longest occupation in Harvard history. A Crimson poll finds that while most students appear to support paying all workers a “living wage,” many do not support PSLM’s tactics.

MAY

PSLM ends its 21-day occupation of Mass. Hall. The University agrees to revisit its contracts with unions, suspend expansion of outsourcing and establish a committee to recommend changes to the wage structure.

Harvard’s plan to redevelop the Arsenal complex in Watertown draws criticism. The city claims that the University’s tax-exempt status will cost it tens of millions of dollars in lost revenue. The University claims it will pay a “generous and appropriate fee” in lieu of taxes. Busloads of school children stage a miniature protest.