Yale urges profs to live by campus

Yale University recently announced it will offer $4,000 to employees willing to move into homes in the neighborhoods surrounding the New Haven, Conn. campus. Yale's new endeavor is similar to a Penn mortgage program that guarantees the mortgages of faculty and staff living in and near West Philadelphia. Valid until Dec. 31, 1997, the one-time incentive supplements the school's one-year old Home Buyer Initiative Program that pays 10 yearly allotments of $2,000 to faculty and staff who buy houses anywhere in the city, Yale officials said. The original offer expires at the end of the year. Though Yale consulted with city residents before starting the recent initiative, some neighborhood groups reacted negatively, according to the Associated Press. School officials, however, were optimistic, citing the program's unexpectedly large number of participants since its initiation in April 1994. Yale has spent $4 million funding the Home Buyer program. "We are hoping to make a real contribution to the life of the city," Yale Vice President and Secretary Linda Koch Lorimer told the AP last week. For the past 30 years, Penn, in partnership with two local banks, has also tried to accomplish the same goal through its mortgage program, University Assistant Cash Manager Jean Suta said. Since 1965, Mellon Bank and Berean Federal Savings Bank have provided financing for 30-year mortgages to qualified University and HUP employees, Suta added. The program is open to faculty and staff with at least six months of service. "It's the University's commitment to put down roots," Suta said. "That's the reason for the program." University-guaranteed mortgages are available for properties in West Philadelphia and the area east of the Schuylkill River down 18th Street. West Philadelphia homes are guaranteed 105 percent and Center City homes have a 100 percent guarantee. Since the program's inception, more than 1,200 employees have taken part in the program and 130 faculty and staff currently participate. In that time, the University has lost no money in the project. "I think it's been very successful," Suta said. "We haven't had problems so far. [The program] especially gives first-time home buyers an opportunity." Despite the effort's longevity and apparent success, some participants think the program has room to improve. Many believe that monetary incentives similar to those offered by Yale will help attract Penn employees to the area and boost the rate of homeownership. In response to the criticism, the University program is currently being reevaluated, according to Carol Scheman, vice president for government, community and public affairs.