Bunte’s career is unparalleled in Boston politics. She was a tenant activist at Orchard Park (now Orchard Gardens) who rose to state representative, and then became the first former tenant to run the Boston Housing Authority, under Mayor Raymond L. Flynn. She left the BHA in 1992, and seemed to disappear.
That was deliberate. Her last couple of years in city government weren’t happy ones. Though she enjoyed a good relationship with Flynn, she later complained of being cut out of his inner circle, and her management of the housing bureaucracy had its critics. There was also a federal corruption probe to deal with. The job was, and is, tough. After two decades in the public eye, Bunte vanished.
But even out of sight, she was busy. She worked at the Boston University School of Public Health and, in a less predictable move, spent many happy years at the Center for Sport in Society at Northeastern University. She did both simultaneously, and quietly.
The center is a unique institution in academia. While it is ostensibly devoted to sports, its real mission is unabashed activism. Sports just happens to be a great way to gain entree to young people and get their attention. It conducts programs in middle schools and high schools on such nonathletic subjects as domestic violence and homophobia.
It was a great landing spot for someone who had always been, at heart, an activist. Among Bunte’s many roles there was helping raise $3 million over about 12 years. She retired a year ago, but remains a heroine to the center’s director, Dan Lebowitz.
“She didn’t just embrace the mission and collect a paycheck,’’ Lebowitz said. “She brought people together … I’ve got great love for her.’’
Bunte came to the center through a roundabout path. She served on a board with Northeastern’s then-president, Jack Curry, and he suggested she meet the center’s founder, Richard Lapchick. They immediately recognized each other as kindred spirits.
