University presidents weigh their civic role

"We're centers of intellectual growth and questioning and thoughtfulness. We are part of shaping the future. It's a very exciting time to be the president of a larger research university. It places us right in the epicenter of the way we will construct our future."

But for Hart, as for Barchi, there are limits to how far the universities should stretch. Research fits; lobbying does not.

"It's appropriate for our transportation engineers to study the flow of traffic, how it bunches up. Or to develop water-permeable asphalt that allows groundwater to penetrate, not to run off. Or for Hai-Lung Dai, our dean of science, to work on a new special program to educate more science teachers. But we don't have a role advocating construction of a specific highway."

Margaret Marsh, acting dean of state-funded Rutgers University's Camden campus, said the university officials "don't want to tell the neighborhood what to do. We want to partner."

Rutgers is as close to Center City as Penn or Drexel. Marsh said she was spending more and more time meeting with corporate, government and business leaders from across the river.

In part, it's self-defense. Drexel has reached across the Delaware to start a military-contractor business incubator in Camden, right under Rutgers' nose. Rutgers, she said, wants Drexel to make it a partnership.

"We're interested in generating more jobs in Camden and in bringing more business to the city," Marsh said. "It just hasn't gotten up to Taki's level yet."