“Harvard has 42 Division I sports,” Rummel said. “We have plenty of  facilities. Converting them in a short time and making them world class facilities doesn’t take a lot.”

Not all are sold on the committee’s proposal. Christopher Dempsey, a graduate of Harvard Business School and co-chair of No Boston Olympics, a volunteer organization opposing the bid, questioned whether it would be in Harvard’s long-term interests to be involved in the 2024 Olympics.

“Clearly its very attractive to the [United States Olympic Committee] and [International Olympic Committee] to be associated with the Harvard brand,” Dempsey said. “Given the overwhelming academic evidence that Olympics do not benefit hosts in the long run, it’s somewhat troubling that members of the University community have jumped two feet in to supporting the Boston 2024 bid.”

Addressing the age-old question of whether the Olympics are ultimately beneficial to host cities, Dempsey and his colleagues argue that the burden of the games will ultimately fall on Massachusetts taxpayers and, while exciting in the short run, will prove costly in the long run.

The host of the 2024 Olympics will be announced in 2017.

—Staff writer Theodore R. Delwiche can be reached at theodore.delwiche@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @trdelwic.

—Staff writer Mariel A. Klein can be reached at mariel.klein@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @mariel_klein.