Summary of Rejected Proposal:
"An Offer to Create a Joint Educational Program with Harvard and an Endowed Chair (at Middlesex School) in Environmental Science"
• Anonymous benefactors made, in 2003, an offer to Middlesex School in Concord, Massachusetts, to create a joint educational program with Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology and to fund, at Middlesex School, its own endowed chair in environmental science. Funding of $4.5 million was in hand, and the plan had Harvard's support. The condition for this arrangement was that Middlesex School did not develop its portion of the Estabrook Woods. Another part of the proposal was a fund to acquire land to satisfy the school's perceived need for space. The offer was recently renewed, with the additional offer of a funded five-year trail period. The School's trustees twice rejected the proposal, most recently in early March 2005. The following is a vision statement written by the benefactors regarding these coordinated proposals, the release of which they have recently authorized.
Vision Statement
The vision is to preserve the East Fields/Estabrook Woods and create a
premier environmental sciences program at Middlesex School that includes the
following:
1. A jointly-run Harvard/Middlesex School environmental education program
including field research.
2. A Harvard research fellowship or faculty appointment, with teaching
responsibilities at Middlesex School.
3. A Middlesex endowed chair for environmental science.
4. A fund to secure nearby land for future Middlesex School development.
5. A house in the woods near Middlesex School that would be used both as a
research station and as a residence for the Harvard appointee.
Harvard, a group of environmentally conscious Middlesex alumni and parents,
and Concord residents are willing to support and fund this vision.
Harvard's interest in preserving the East Fields/Estabrook Woods is
motivated by the fact that its contiguous land is used as a field station
for research and education, as well as its interest in environmental
stewardship.
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• When this was proposed some eighteen months ago (in 2003), and again in January 2005, more than $4.5 million had already been pledged toward this plan. That initial amount would have covered most or all of items 1 through 3. Responsible officials at Harvard University and the Museum of Comparative Zoology had agreed. Middlesex School turned them down twice, most recently in February 2005.
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