Lavietes' $3M Gift Supports Basketball

After a Harvard football game last fall, Raymond P. Lavietes '36 dropped by the Briggs Athletic Center to visit with some old friends. Awaiting him in the new lounge were the men's and women's basketball teams, gathered to throw Lavietes a surprise party for his unstinting support and enthusiasm for Harvard basketball. "I walked in and knew I'd been taken," Lavietes says with a laugh.

Thanks to Lavietes, Harvard's basketball facilities are now top-notch. With a gift of $3 million, Lavietes not only has funded a major renovation and upgrading in the Briggs Athletic Center but also has provided ongoing support to the basketball program for recruiting, travel, equipment, and coaches' salaries.

"At the surprise party, the players came up to me and said how much they appreciated the new facilities and how the new complex makes them feel good about themselves and about Harvard basketball. Their words meant a lot to me because, all along, prompting those sentiments was what we had hoped to accomplish," says Lavietes.

To honor Lavietes, Harvard is naming the improved basketball facilities the Lavietes Pavilion in the Briggs Athletic Center.

"Ray uplifted Harvard basketball," says Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Jeremy R. Knowles. "We have a higher percentage of students participating in intercollegiate athletics than any other Division I school in the nation, which is strongly supported by the interest and generosity of our alumni such as Ray who make it possible for the College to offer excellent sports opportunities. I am thankful to Ray for his happily targeted support of our basketball program."

The basketball facilities were in dire need of improvement. Now, the locker rooms and coaches' offices are larger; a handsomely furnished new lounge for both formal and informal meetings, a trainers' room, and a place for officials to change clothes have been added; the ticket office has been moved inside to the new, enlarged vestibule; and, optimistically, a display case for trophies and other awards has been installed.

"Before the renovations," explains Lavietes, "the coaches' offices were so small that when a potential recruit visited Harvard with his parents and perhaps a brother or sister, they could not fit in the office at the same time -- someone had to wait in the hall!

"We want our men's and women's teams to practice and play in more adequate and comfortable surroundings," says Lavietes. "We want them to feel good about themselves as varsity basketball players and to feel positive about the Harvard basketball program. I think we are accomplishing that."

"No one is more loyal to Harvard athletics than Ray Lavietes," says Director of Athletics William J. Cleary Jr. "Over many decades, he has worked so hard for the University, for his class, and especially for basketball. I wish there were more people like him."

Lavietes returns the praise: "Our teams are fortunate in having dedicated and talented coaching staffs -- the men headed by Frank Sullivan and the women by Kathy Delaney Smith. More fans are coming to the games and we hope that the improved facilities will help to continue the growth of our basketball program."

"Ray's efforts have invigorated Harvard basketball," says Sullivan. "The renovations have put the basketball environment on a new level for the players, coaches, and ancillary staff -- which was Ray's intention. Ray's hands-on approach during the entire process revealed that this gift was from his heart."

Giving Back to Harvard

One factor in Lavietes' decision to make a significant gift to Harvard basketball was his desire to repay the College. "I was at Harvard during the Depression years," he says. "The dean's office and the bursar helped me survive that difficult time. I am very grateful."

With surprising detail, Lavietes recounts his student days. "I came to Harvard at age 17 from a very small town. I remember my parents putting me on a bus to Boston and telling me: 'When you get to Boston, just ask someone how to get to Harvard.' An overwhelming percentage of the student body had attended private prep schools, and I felt a bit like a second-class citizen. I had to earn dean's list grades to keep my scholarship each term." He itemizes Harvard expenses in the 1930s: $400 for tuition, $300 for room, $300 for board, $200 for laundry, books, and other expenses. "A $225 scholarship helped a lot."

He continues, "Harvard broadened my horizons, strengthened my sense of values, and stimulated a feeling of accomplishment and self-confidence."

Lavietes particularly enjoyed playing varsity basketball. He was a walk-on to the team in his sophomore year. Recalling all the close games the team lost brings a grimace to his face. However, the team improved gradually. "I was the only senior on the team during the 1935-1936 season and once they got rid of me," Lavietes jokes, "Harvard went on to contend for the league title!

"Sometimes people don't realize the importance of sports participation in the students' collegiate experience," remarks Lavietes. "From basketball, I know that I learned a lot about competitiveness, teamwork, and sportsmanship. Also, there was a camaraderie and exhilaration we didn't get anywhere else. Participation in athletics gives you a tremendous lift and a sense of accomplishment if you win. If you lose, it teaches you humility and goads you on to work harder and improve your performance."

Broad Involvement

When Lavietes was awarded the Harvard Medal in 1994, the Alumni Association praised his "far-reaching, imaginative, and enthusiastic" service to the University. His activities include membership on the Committee for University Resources, the Visiting Committee to Athletics, and the New York Major Gifts Steering Committee. Lavietes served two terms as regional vice president of the Harvard Alumni Association. At the active Harvard Club of Southern Connecticut, where he served as president and longtime board member, he helped established a scholarship fund and currently interviews applicants to Harvard. Lavietes is a national and associate member of Phillips Brooks House.

A tireless worker for the Harvard College Fund, he chaired his class's 50th reunion committee and serves today as class chair, area chair, and council member for the Fund.

Harvard is not the only beneficiary of Lavietes' munificence and engagement. A native of Shelton, Conn., he is a leader of many community activities involving the YMCA, the Boys & Girls Club, the United Way, the Todd Educational Scholarship Fund, and the Junior Achievement Program. One of the original trustees of the Hewitt Memorial Hospital, Lavietes is now its chairman emeritus.

Lavietes speaks especially thoughtfully and forcefully about providing opportunities for youth: "Kids need someone to pay attention to them, to teach them about good sportsmanship, compassion, and tolerance," he says. "Through the YMCA, the Boys & Girls Club, and Junior Achievement, we offer not only fun and games but a structured, supportive learning environment. It's great to see a kid who might otherwise be labeled 'at-risk' experimenting on the computer, building a birdhouse, doing ceramics, or learning about how to manage a small business."

Lavietes and his wife, Estelle, are a busy couple. They enjoy travel, the arts, tennis, and music. He reports that they have reluctantly given up skiing since they started wintering in Scottsdale, Ariz. Lavietes has one son, Robert H. Lavietes '71, who lives in Irvine, Calif.

The founder and owner of several small manufacturing companies that made consumer products, Lavietes designed and patented many products and developed much of the special machinery and automated production equipment required.

Love of Basketball

His love, though, remains the basketball program. Lavietes attends practices each fall and at least a couple of games each season. In between visits to Cambridge, he keeps up with Harvard basketball by talking weekly with Coach Sullivan, who also sends Lavietes faxes and newspaper clippings about the games. "Ray has a great passion for the program," says Athletic Director Cleary.

In the summer of 1985, Lavietes, who chairs the Friends of Harvard Basketball, and then-president of Friends of Harvard Basketball, Thomas G. Stemberg '71, sponsored and accompanied the Harvard basketball team on an eight-game trip to Hungary and Egypt. "Spending those weeks with the squad gave Tom and me great insight into the character of each of the fine young men representing Harvard. They were gentlemanly and courteous, but competitive and tough on the court. They were appreciative and exuberant about all phases of that wonderful travel experience.

"The players I met at the October surprise party are of the same fine caliber. Besides, they're a lot of fun to be with."