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It doesn't seem like Harvard was anywhere close to destroying itself. With enough in the bank to fund operations at current levels for another 20 years this hea

• robg 17y ago
  It's not that simple - see the original: http://www.bostonmagazine.com/scripts/print/article.php?asset_idx=251494 http://www.bostonmagazine.com/scripts/print/article.php?asse... Then consider this quote, which to Harvardites is as bad as it could possibly get: "We are in trouble," says one Crimson professor. In the aftermath of deep and damaging cuts, "there is a real chance that Harvard will no longer be considered the best there is." That may not mean "destroy" in the bankruptcy/going out of business sense, but in terms of forever altering their identity. The numbers are troubling: $400 million/year deficit in FAS $100 million/year in debt financing $100 million/year in Alston maintenance Sure, $600 million/year into $15 billion isn't a huge deal. What is, however, is how they've had to leverage that reserve to pay existing and new obligations - interest rates, bonds they've offered, etc. "In February, HMC, suddenly not looking so smart anymore, started laying off about a quarter of its staff." This is a real money crunch that has a real trickle-down effect. "And by the 2011 fiscal year, the university would be cutting FAS's annual infusion of endowment cash by $125 million." That's scholarships, classes, research facilities, new faculty hires - you name it. When the "best" university in the world is cutting drastically, on it's guiding mission, I'd say folks are legitimately worried about the identity forever changing.