“And there was no promise that [benefits] would persist for the lifetime of any one participant,” he wrote.

BROKEN PROMISES?

Protesters’ signs accused the school of “broken promises.”

“Because I perceived the LRAP to be a promissory commitment from the school to us, I took on $100,000 worth of debt,” said protester Andrew M. Simons, a second-year student in the school’s master’s in public administration/international development program.

Yesterday’s announcement left some students concerned that they would have to alter their postgraduation plans.

Before coming to Harvard, Simons worked for Samaritan’s Purse International Relief on an earthquake reconstruction effort in El Salvador, earning $25,000 a year.

He said he decided to come to Harvard under the assumption that LRAP would allow him to continue his work in El Salvador after graduation.

“Maybe I was a bit naive,” Simons said. “I’m finding out now I was too trusting of the administration.”

As an undergraduate at Taylor University in Indiana, Simons spent a semester studying in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Guatemala and was struck by the abject poverty he witnessed. “It wouldn’t be right for me to go back to the States and pretend I never saw that,” Simons said.

And Simons said he remains committed to nonprofit work. Last summer, he helped manage a hospital in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan. But Simons said the LRAP cap would make it more difficult for him to pursue his chosen career.

Tomczak, a native of Kennesaw, Ga., said that before the LRAP cap was announced, he had hoped to return home and pursue a career in Peach State politics. His plan was to take a low-paying job with the Georgia Republican Party and ultimately run for state representative.

But Tomczak said now he would likely have to take a private sector job before launching his political career.

Orion Kriegman, a second-year master’s in public policy/urban planning student, said that “part of my decision to come here was that I didn’t want finances to influence what I did next.”

Kriegman had previously worked for the Organization of American States, helping implement a Guatemalan peace accord. He said he still plans to pursue a career in community development after graduation, but added, “I was counting on [LRAP] to cover the fact that I’ve taken on a lot of loans.”

Kriegman described his opposition to the LRAP cap as “a matter of principle.” He said the KSG “is turning its back on what the school is supposed to be about.”