This article originally appeared in the summer 2012 Harker Quarterly.
The Mitra Family Endowment, established last year, has borne its first fruit. Sarah Howells, grade 12 and the first Mitra scholar, added her effort to the handcrafted social and historical analyses produced by this year’s three John Near Endowment scholars.
Howells chose a classic and controversial character for her subject and found an angle not fully explored for her paper, “Winston Churchill’s Efforts to Unify Britain From 1940-1941,” a look at his public relations efforts as they affected Britain’s morale in early World War II.
In 2011, Harker parents Samir and Sundari Mitra (Shivani, grade 11) established the Mitra Family Endowment for the Humanities, which matches gifts to the annual giving campaign up to a total of $100,000.
“The subject matters taught under humanities such as history, languages, communications and philosophy are critical skills and knowledge that develop well-rounded Harker students,” said Samir Mitra at last year’s reception. “Humanities is the bedrock of a superior education and will enable our students to stand out as recognized contributors in their future professions.”
“I knew I wanted to apply for the Mitra grant because I had enjoyed world history so much in my sophomore year,” said Howells. “I thought about Britain; my family was affected on two sides by World War II, both in Poland and in Britain.”
Too broad at first, her topic choices “quickly narrowed to Churchill’s remarkable unification of the government and retaining the trust of the people during the war,” said Howells, who will attend Princeton in the fall.
Howells noted, “The most interesting part of writing the paper was transitioning from the researching to the writing. That was the most difficult task for me, since I had a myriad of great resources but no idea how to put them all together.”
Howells took on a subject usually taken for granted – Churchill’s ability to relate to the “everyman” and to the highest in the land (he often personally briefed King George VI on the war’s progress) – and examined its worth in keeping the spirit of resistance alive in beleaguered England. Her writing, worth the read in itself, conveys the passion that Churchill used to inspire fellow politicians and those in the street. Her division of material shows the way for further research on how Churchill handled groups differently.
Like all good researchers, Howells pointed out the weakness in her own paper, the inability to examine the records of Mass Observation and Home Intelligence, a government bureau that monitored the public pulse, due to their volume and her limited access. Howells noted that lacking the confirming information in those records, it was hard to be sure of widespread public approval of Churchill.
“It’s been such a pleasure to work with Sarah,” said history teacher Ruth Meyer, Howells’ mentor through the process. “She is so balanced in her approach to research, she’s so steady in everything that she does, so well organized.”
“Overall, the process of writing the paper was an exciting and challenging opportunity,” said Howells, “and I’m glad I could get a taste of what real humanities research is like before I head off to college.”
At the reception, Howells gave emphatic thanks to her teachers and mentor, saying, “I don’t think I could have done this if you hadn’t suggested to me that I was capable of completing such a long senior thesis.”
“I’m overwhelmed,” said Sundari Mitra, noting the scholars’ efforts to “inspire us parents. We are really honored and proud that with whatever little we could do, the school has utilized it in such a tremendous manner, so thank you Mr. Nikoloff, the faculty, everyone. I’m really touched and inspired.”
The $300,000 John Near Excellence in History Education Endowment Fund, in memory of the 31-year veteran of Harker’s teaching staff who passed away in 2009, was made by his parents James and Patricia Near to, in John Near’s words, “help develop the history department, both through the acquisition of resources and by providing growth opportunities for both faculty and students.” Each year, three students receive grants from the endowment’s proceeds to be used for research.
Near scholar Max Isenberg, grade 12, chose a subject Churchill, as a former First Lord of the Admiralty, would have been very interested in: the use of on-station naval power as a worldwide deterrent, something at which the British were old hands.
Isenberg’s paper, “Arleigh Burke’s Submarine-Based Finite Deterrent: Alternative to the Nuclear Triad,” an examination of Admiral Arleigh Burke’s answer to ballooning costs involved with maintaining a three-point nuclear deterrent (aircraft, missiles and submarines all carrying nuclear devices), was carefully researched and covered the salient points of the argument.
Isenberg, who will attend the University of Pennsylvania for the Jerome Fisher Management and Technology program in the fall in a dual-degree program for business and engineering, noted, “My favorite part of the entire project was looking at the competing theories of nuclear strategy, and how they had consequences not immediately obvious until later in the Cold War.
“The most difficult part of the project was finding solid first-person sources, especially considering the tight classification of many details from the Cold War,” he added. “That difficulty partly contributed to my eventual focus on nuclear strategy as many of the major players in the development of the Triad and finite deterrence had published works, while a lot of the nitty-gritty details of submarines remain inaccessible.”
Isenberg is appreciative of the grant, thanking teacher and mentor Ramsey Westgate, Susan Smith, library director, and Donna Gilbert, history department chair, for their help. “I don’t think there are very many schools of any sort that offer such a rare opportunity to do history research specifically and then give the leeway to explore the topic in such a thorough manner,” he said.
Dwight Payne, grade 12, chose a current social topic and, as he was out of town during the reception, delivered his address via video. His work, “Can Charter Schools Close the Achievement Gap?” was mentored by teacher Kelly Horan.
Payne’s closely researched paper delves into the arcane world of evaluating charter school results. He located a number of studies which threw light on a portion of the process of evaluation and allowed limited conclusions to be drawn on the efficacy of the charter schools studied. Payne identified some commonalities within the studies and used them for his next step, interviewing charter school administrators and examining the records of their schools.
The schools examined in this portion of the project had a spectrum of student results and, although Payne found and used common criteria for eliminating or at least accounting for bias, the differences between schools, including stability, age of students (one was high school, the others lower and middle schools), location, teaching methods and teacher evaluation and training methods made drawing firm conclusions problematic.
Payne was comfortable, however, generally endorsing charter schools as an option for helping those desirous of helping themselves, feeling that time will only improve the system as learning processes are refined and expanded.
When it came time to write the paper, “sifting through the breadth of literature was a difficult task,” said Payne, who will attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, majoring in business administration with a possible second major in either economics or psychology.
Another hurdle was maintaining objectivity. “It was difficult to swallow my own biases going into the process and accept that most of the literature I read presented inconclusive or conflicting data,” Payne said. “From that knowledge, however, it was rewarding to conduct interviews that examined specific examples of successes or challenges that were illuminating despite the difficulty of reaching an overall conclusion regarding the effectiveness of charter schools in closing the achievement gap. I particularly enjoyed meeting with school leaders, and I was very inspired by their dedication. The administrators whom I interviewed were incredibly helpful and eager to share their work; I am immensely grateful to them.”
Senior Cole Manaster, like Howells and Isenberg, chose a military topic with political ramifications. His effort, “The Changing Dynamic of Unconventional Warfare: The U.S. Special Forces in Vietnam and Their Impact on Modern War,” traced the development of special operations forces first as trainers of villagers in war zones to strengthen them against enemy efforts, then in their roles as covert, uniformed operators behind enemy lines. Manaster documented the status of special operations forces as, following WWII, they grew from a compound of various forces – Army, Navy, Marine and CIA – to the ultimate acceptance of these forces and their integration in the overall military effort.
Today, we are all familiar with the effort to capture the “hearts and minds” of non- combatants in military zones, and Manaster illustrated how that effort grew from early efforts to keep South Vietnamese and other indigenous groups in Vietnam from falling, or being coerced, under the influence of North Vietnamese communists, while noting that a special operations forces mandate also puts them in the most dangerous situations a soldier is likely to face, i.e., behind enemy lines.
“I was fascinated by this facet of the war – how special forces were used,” he said, “so I looked at how they were used in the Vietnam War and somewhat how they have been used since.”
Manaster, who will be going to the University of Southern California next year as a business administration major, said he “wanted to be able to use the things I have learned in my history classes and all my classes,” but noted, “the toughest part of writing such an extensive paper was keeping myself on track timewise.”
His topic firm, Manaster found the next step a challenge. “If I could do it all again, I would probably have spent more time solidifying my outline before writing the paper itself. What I had in my outline made the writing process itself immensely easier, but I think I probably could have done even more, looking back on it now.”
“I was really happy to be Cole’s mentor,” said Carol Zink, history teacher. “I’ve seen his intellectual growth and development over the years and it’s always tremendously rewarding for a teacher to get to see that.”
Zink noted one of the challenges Manaster had in pursuing his research is that it is difficult to find unbiased sources on this topic. “There are a lot of books that are ‘Yay-rah, Green Berets!’” she said, “and then there are other books that say the United States should never have gone into Vietnam in the first place and they (the Green Berets) were the dirty dogs in the deal. It is very difficult to try to walk the middle line, and I know that was a struggle for Cole, but I know he persevered.”
Pam Dickinson, John Near’s widow and director of Harker’s Office of Communication, again represented the Near family. “Like last year, I felt very much as though John was channeled with the presentations,” Dickinson said, noting facets of each paper that interested the Near family. “John would be incredibly proud. I’m honored to be here on behalf of his parents, and it is a wonderful thing that the Mitras have done. Congratulations. You all have done a wonderful job.”
Manaster echoed the thanks of the other scholars, adding, “All of us have put in a lot of work and it is exciting to see our papers truly come to fruition and to have this at the close of our senior year, as well. I’m very honored to have been a part of this program, and it is something I’m going to remember for a long time.”
The history department is pleased to announce the 2012-13 recipients of the John Near and Mitra Family scholar grants, all rising seniors. 2012-13 John Near Scholars: Apricot Tang, Ashvin Swaminathan and Nina Sabharwal. 2012-13 Mitra Family Scholars: Apurva Tandon, Paulomi Bhattacharya, Warren Zhang, Joseph Wang and Shivani Mitra. “Congratulations to all students selected!” said Donna Gilbert, history and social sciences chair.
The $300,000 John Near Excellence in History Education Endowment Fund, in memory of the 31-year veteran of Harker’s teaching staff who passed away in 2009, was made by his parents James and Patricia Near, to, in John Near’s words, “help develop the history department, both through the acquisition of resources and providing growth opportunities for both faculty and students.” Each year, three students receive a grant to pursue an independent historical or social study.
In 2011, Harker parents Samir and Sundari Mitra established The Mitra Family Endowment for the Humanities which matches gifts to the annual giving campaign up to a total of $100,000.
The Mitra Family Endowment, established last year, has borne its first fruit. Sarah Howells, grade 12 and the first Mitra Scholar, added her effort to the handcrafted social and historical analyses produced by this year’s John Near Endowment scholars.
Howells chose a classic and controversial character for her subject and found an angle not fully explored in her paper, “Winston Churchill’s Efforts to Unify Britain From 1940-1941,” a look at his public relations efforts as they affected Britain’s morale in early World War II.
In 2011, Harker parents Samir and Sundari Mitra (Shivani, grade 11) established The Mitra Family Endowment for the Humanities, which matches gifts to the annual giving campaign up to a total of $100,000.
“The subject matters taught under humanities such as history, languages, communications and philosophy are critical skills and knowledge that develop well-rounded Harker students,” said Samir Mitra at last year’s reception. “Humanities is the bedrock of a superior education and will enable our students to stand out as recognized contributors in their future professions.”
“I knew I wanted to apply for the Mitra grant because I had enjoyed world history so much in my sophomore year,” said Howells. “So I took out a map of the world and realized I didn’t speak any languages other than English. I thought about Britain; my family was affected on two sides by World War Two, both in Poland and in Britain.”
Howell said narrowing down and firming up her topic was an effort, and working with her mentor, history teacher Ruth Meyer, helped. Too broad at first, her topic choices “quickly narrowed to Churchill’s remarkable unification of the government and retaining the trust of the people during the war,” said Howells.
During her research, Howells, who will attend Princeton in the fall, received a package of resource material from her mentor’s mother, still living in England, who had lived in Coventry during the war.
Howells noted, “The most interesting part of writing the paper was transitioning from the researching to the writing. That was the most difficult task for me, since I had a myriad of great resources but no idea how to put them all together.”
Howells took on a subject usually taken for granted – Churchill’s ability to relate to the “everyman” and to the highest in the land (he often personally briefed King George VI on the war’s progress) – and examined its worth in keeping the spirit of resistance alive in beleaguered England. Her examination of Churchill’s handling of the press and public to maintain a unified, confident home front is a unique view, and her writing, worth the read in itself, conveys the passion that Churchill used to inspire fellow politicians and those in the street. Her division of material shows the way for further research on how Churchill handled groups differently.
Like all good researchers, Howells pointed out the weakness in her own paper, the inability to examine the records of Mass Observation and Home Intelligence, a government bureau that monitored the public pulse, due to their volume and her limited access. Howells noted that lacking the confirming information in those records, it was hard to be sure of widespread public approval of Churchill.
“It’s been such a pleasure to work with Sarah,” said Meyer. “She is so balanced in her approach to research, she’s so steady in everything that she does, so well organized. There was this wonderful moment when she came to me with her outline, all of her sources in place, excellent organization – you so need that as a researcher. I just loved working with Sarah,” she said.
Then she addressed Howells: “I know you’re going to carry on with this, that this is the first seed in a long journey. Research is something that hopefully you’ll carry throughout your whole life; and keep looking deeper and deeper in to these questions you have been forming here and will continue to do so at Princeton.”
“Overall, the process of writing the paper was an exciting and challenging opportunity,” said Howells, “and I’m glad I could get a taste of what real humanities research is like before I head off to college.”
At the reception, Howells gave emphatic thanks to her teachers and mentor, “and the Mitra and Near families for having the guts to put forward such faith in us as students to be able to complete such ambitious projects. I don’t think I could have done this if you hadn’t suggested to me that I was capable of completing such a long senior thesis,” she finished.
“I’m overwhelmed,” said Sundari Mitra, noting the scholars’ efforts to “inspire us parents. We are really honored and proud that whatever little we could do, that the school has utilized it in such a tremendous manner, so thank you Mr. Nikoloff, the faculty, everyone. I’m really touched and inspired.”
The $300,000 John Near Excellence in History Education Endowment Fund, in memory of the 31-year veteran of Harker’s teaching staff who passed away in 2009, was made by his parents, James and Patricia Near, to, in John Near’s words, “help develop the history department, both through the acquisition of resources and providing growth opportunities for both faculty and students.” Each year, three students receive a grant to pursue an independent historical or social study.
Near scholar Max Isenberg chose a subject Churchill, as a former First Lord of the Admiralty, would have been very interested in: the use of on-station naval power as a worldwide deterrent, something at which the British were old hands.
Isenberg’s paper, “Arleigh Burke’s Submarine-Based Finite Deterrent: Alternative to the Nuclear Triad,” an examination of Admiral Arleigh Burke’s answer to ballooning costs involved with maintaining a three-point nuclear deterrent (aircraft, missiles and submarines, all carrying nuclear devices) was carefully researched and covered the salient points of the argument.
Burke, a hard-charger and destroyer flotilla commander early in WWII, proposed a Cold War all-submarine deterrent but could not sell the system politically. Ultimately, however, Isenberg states that the U.S. is moving towards a submarine-based deterrent as ICBMs and B-52 nuke-carrying aircraft become redundant politically and mechanically, justifying Burke’s proposal.
Isenberg, who will attend the University of Pennsylvania for the Jerome Fisher Management and Technology program in the fall in a dual-degree program for business and engineering, noted, “My favorite part of the entire project was looking at the competing theories of nuclear strategy, and how they had consequences not immediately obvious until later in the Cold War.”
Like Howells, searching out a topic was a significant part of the effort. “The process of narrowing down the topic was incredibly informative,” Isenberg said.
“The most difficult part of the project was finding solid first person sources, especially considering the tight classification of many details from the Cold War,” he added. “That difficulty partly contributed to my eventual focus on nuclear strategy as many of the major players in the development of the Triad and finite deterrence had published works, while a lot of the nitty-gritty details of submarines remain inaccessible.”
Isenberg is appreciative of the grant, thanking teacher and mentor Ramsey Westgate, Susan Smith, library director and history department chair Donna Gilbert for their help. “I don’t think there are very many schools of any sort that offer such a rare opportunity to do history research specifically and then give the leeway to explore the topic in such a thorough manner,” he said. “I would like to thank the Near and the Mitra families for creating this opportunity, this really unique chance for all of us to look at the world in a new way.”
Getting there included old-fashioned library research. “I had the great opportunity to visit the [Ronald] Reagan [Presidential] Library [in Simi Valley, Calif.], Isenberg said. “I got to look at a lot of first person documents – some of Burke’s own writings from the 1950s. This is where I really thank the Near family, for providing the opportunity to go down there.”
The voyage of discovery ranged throughout his subject. “I read that during the Cuban missile crisis, we had around 30 or 40 times as many bombs as the Soviets, so our misinformation definitely caused an overreaction,” Isenberg said. That mistaken belief “most definitely convinced people like [then-Secretary of Defense Robert] McNamara and [President John F.] Kennedy to counter aggressively against Khrushchev’s overtures, who definitely portrayed a very strong Soviet nuclear arsenal when in fact it was very much inferior to the United States’,” said Isenberg.
Scholar Dwight Payne, grade 12, chose a current social topic and, as he was out of town during the reception, delivered his address via video. His work, “Can Charter Schools Close the Achievement Gap?” was mentored by teacher Kelly Horan, who noted Payne “wanted to undertake this huge statistical analysis and we quickly realized that was a dissertation and not a high school research paper. This was a great scope for him and he learned an immense amount from the process. He is quite inspired by all of it.”
Payne’s closely researched paper delved into the arcane world of evaluating charter school results. He located a number of studies which threw light on a portion of the process of evaluation, and allowed limited conclusions to be drawn on the efficacy of the charter schools studied. Payne identified some commonalities within the studies and used them for his next step, interviewing charter school administrators and examining the records of their schools.
The schools examined in this portion of the project had a spectrum of student results and, although Payne found and used common criteria for eliminating or at least accounting for bias, the differences between schools, including stability, age of students (one was high school, the others lower and middle schools), location, teaching methods and teacher evaluation and training methods made drawing firm conclusions problematic. Payne was comfortable, however, generally endorsing charter schools as an option for helping those desirous of helping themselves, feeling that time will only improve the system as learning processes are refined and expanded.
He agreed with Howell and Isenberg that finalizing his topic was a major challenge, “one that lasted nearly the entire research and writing process,” he noted. Other steps were hard, but the payoff is clear to Payne. “I absolutely love the research process,” he said. “I learned so much about the difficulties of social science research (and) the intricacies of education reform in general.”
When it came time to write the paper, “sifting through the breadth of literature was a difficult task,” added Payne, who will attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, majoring in business administration with a possible second major in either economics or psychology.
Another hurdle was maintaining objectivity. “It was difficult to swallow my own biases going in to the process and accept that most of the literature I read presented inconclusive or conflicting data,” Payne said. “From that knowledge, however, it was rewarding to conduct interviews that examined specific examples of successes or challenges that were illuminating despite an overall conclusion regarding the effectiveness of charter schools in closing the achievement gap. I particularly enjoyed meeting with school leaders and I was very inspired by their dedication. The administrators who I interviewed were incredibly helpful and eager to share their work; I am immensely grateful to them.”
Payne knows he had a rare opportunity. “I’ve learned a lot particularly from my advisor Mrs. Horan, who I would like to wholeheartedly thank for her wisdom and patience as she helped me through this long process. I would also like to thank the entire history department for its commitment to us as young researchers – myself and the other scholars – and the Near and Mitra families for allowing us to pursue this remarkably high-level research in a high school setting.”
Senior Cole Manaster, like Howells and Isenberg, chose a military topic with political ramifications. His effort, “The Changing Dynamic of Unconventional Warfare: The U.S. Special Forces in Vietnam and Their Impact on Modern War,” traced the development of Special Forces first as trainers of villagers in war zones to strengthen them against enemy efforts, then in their roles as covert, uniformed operators behind enemy lines. Manaster documented the status of Special Forces as, following WWII, they grew from a compound of various forces – Army, Navy, Marine and CIA – to the ultimate acceptance of these forces and their integration in the overall military effort.
Today, we are all familiar with the effort to capture the “hearts and minds” of non-combatants in military zones, and Manaster illustrated how that effort grew from early efforts to keep South Vietnamese and other indigenous groups in Vietnam from falling, or being forced, under the influence of North Vietnamese communists, while noting that Special Forces mandate also puts them in the most dangerous situations a soldier is likely to face, i.e., behind enemy lines.
“I was fascinated by this facet of the war – how special forces were used, he said, “so I looked at how they were used in the Vietnam War and somewhat how they have been used since.” Manaster, who will be going to the University of Southern California next year as a business administration major, said he “wanted to be able to use the things I have learned in my history classes and all my classes, “ but noted “the toughest part of writing such an extensive paper was keeping myself on track time-wise,” leading to a great truth of human nature. “I’m not a procrastinator, but when you have a year to do something it isn’t usually the top priority until it’s too late, if that makes sense.”
His topic firm, Manaster found the next step a challenge. “If I could do it all again, I would probably have spent more time solidifying my outline before writing the paper itself. What I had in my outline made the writing process itself immensely easier, but I think I probably could have done even more, looking back on it now.
“In terms of the process, this was very exciting for me,” he continued. “It’s the first yearlong paper I’ve ever written and there is something completely different about that from a normal classroom paper.”
“I was really happy to be Cole’s mentor,” said Carol Zink, history teacher. “I’ve seen his intellectual growth and development over the years and it’s always tremendously rewarding for a teacher to get to see that.”
Zink noted one of the challenges Manaster had in pursuing his research is that is it difficult to find unbiased sources on this topic. “There are a lot of books that are ‘Yay-rah, Green Berets!'” she said, “and then there are other books that say the United States should never have gone into Vietnam in the first place and they (the Green Berets) were the dirty dogs in the deal. It is very difficult to try to walk the middle line and I know that was a struggle for Cole, but I know he persevered.”
Pam Dickinson, John Near’s widow and director of Harker’s Office of Communication, again represented the Near family. “Like last year, I felt very much as though Mr. Near was channeled with the presentations,” Dickinson said. “The research about charter schools and public education, how fabulous is that? And the submarines: John’s father was in the Navy so we talked a lot about that. And Churchill, he loved Churchill. And he would always talk about how in the AP curriculum there is never enough time to examine the Vietnam period. He would be incredibly proud. I’m honored to be here on behalf of his parents and it is a wonderful thing what the Mitras have done. Congratulations – you all have done a wonderful job.”
Manaster echoed the thanks of the other scholars, adding, “All of us have put in a lot of work and it is exciting to see our papers truly come to fruition and to have this at the close of our senior year, as well. I’m very honored to have been a part of this program and it is something I’m going to remember for a long time.”
This article originally appeared in the summer 2011 Harker Quarterly.
The inaugural John Near Scholar Grant cycle is complete, and the first three reports were filed this spring for public access in the John Near Resource Center. Four new Near Grant winners were named in May, and a new endowment has been established by the Mitra family; the first grant winner from that endowment has also been named.
Harker parents Samir and Sundari Mitra (Shivani, grade 10) have established The Mitra Family Endowment for the Humanities, which will match gifts for the Annual Giving Campaign up to a total of $100,000.
“The subject matters taught under humanities such as history, languages, communications and philosophy are critical skills and knowledge that develop well-rounded Harker students,” said Samir Mitra. “Humanities is the bedrock of a superior education and will enable our students to stand out as recognized contributors in their future professions.”
“The Mitra family’s endowment offer, and every matching gift from others, will benefit our students every year, for years and years to come,” said Melinda Gonzales, director of development.
Justine Liu, Tyler Koteskey and Olivia Zhu, all 2011 graduates, were celebrated in the Near Center in Shah Hall by mentors, administrators, parents, history department members, Samir and Sundari Mitra and by Near’s wife, Pam Dickinson, director of the Office of Communication. The center reflects the late teacher’s love of American history. Near taught at Harker’s middle and upper schools for 31 years prior to his passing in 2009, and his legacy includes many hundreds of students left with a love of learning and history.
The John Near U.S. History Endowment, established by Near’s parents, Jim and Pat Near, was the first of its kind at Harker and funds grants to students or teachers each year for research on history projects and history-related databases for the school, as Near wished.
Liu first got interested in her topic, “The China Card versus the China Trade: Sino-American Economic Relations, 1972-1989,” covering the relationship between China and the U.S. from President Richard Nixon’s 1972 visit to the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, while reading about it in class. In a different class Liu was writing a paper on the currency devaluation in modern China and mentally began tracing the historical line between the two events, focusing on the economic aspects.
“What I was really interested in was why Nixon thought that it was in the interest of U.S. foreign policy for Kissinger to make a secret visit to China,” said Liu. “I was interested in the economic background of that decision.”
Liu, who will attend Harvard in the fall, used grant funds to go to the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, Calif. “I was able to go into the archives room to read and handle the original documents, letters and memos relating and leading up to his 1972 trip to the PRC,” she said. “I think without the grant I would not have had the incentive to go out there and really write a comprehensive paper. That was the first time I got to be that close to documents that were that important to history, so that is something that I really valued that I couldn’t have done without the grant.”
Koteskey’s project, “High Water Mark: Discussing the Impacts of National Power on Confederate Military Strategy through the Lens of the Gettysburg Campaign,” analyzes the elements of national power as they applied to the Confederate States of America in 1863.
“It was the middle of the Civil War, and a crucial moment for the South,” Koteskey said. “They could reinforce the western half of the country,” but decided to make an offensive move against the North instead to try to force a call for peace. Koteskey used his grant to travel to the Gettysburg region.
“What I think was most valuable to me in this project was going to Pennsylvania last summer to do the research,” Koteskey said. “I was able to visit Harper’s Ferry and the Antietam and Gettysburg battlefields which, apart from being really awesome for a history buff, helped me form a better appreciation of some of the geographical factors constraining Civil War generals in their campaign planning,” said Koteskey, noting that he probably wouldn’t have done the research without the grant.
“My most defining memory, though, was probably my interview with Dr. Richard J. Sommers, the senior historian at the U.S. Army Military Heritage and Education Center in Carlisle. He embraced his time with me, turning our ‘interview’ into a Socratic discussion on Civil War strategy; it completely changed my mind, and the ultimate course of my paper, on many of the preconceived notions I had about General Lee’s best strategic option in the summer of 1863.” Koteskey, who will attend UCLA in the fall, noted the whole package, winning the grant and doing the research, “was really a rewarding experience.”
Zhu’s paper, “The UCMJ and Insubordination: Suitability of Military Judicial Responses during the Vietnam War,” was perhaps an outgrowth of her work on the school’s honor council but grew to explore the history of military justice. “I decided, ultimately, to settle on insubordination during the Vietnam War and how the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) addressed insubordination among soldiers,” Zhu said.
“I really enjoyed this entire research process – it’s been so much fun,” she added. “I think the most important part of this grant was coming to realize that all my teachers helped me so much. It was just very much a community effort going into this paper.” Zhu, who will also attend Harvard in the fall, noted, “Without the grant there is not that impetus to pursue (a topic), and there is not the support system.”
Five more students will walk the path of discovery next year. Sarah Howells, grade 11, is the first Mitra Family Scholar and will join the four Near Grant recipients, Max Isenberg, Cole Manaster, Dwight Payne and Laura Yau, also all rising seniors, in pursuing a chosen historical topic they are passionate about.
“We had 11 applicants this year, and it was not an easy decision to choose from them — we were so impressed with the quality and variety of applications,” said Donna Gilbert, chair of the history and social science department.
As the ceremony wrapped up at the Near Center reception, the students received resounding applause for their presentations. “You three – and your work – perfectly embody what Mr. Near intended with this grant,” commented Dickinson. “He would be so incredibly proud of all of you.”
Read the full story of the Near Grant reception at news.harker.org. Search on “Near Grant.” Those interested in contributing to either endowment can contact Melinda Gonzales, director of development, at melindag@harker.org.
Harker parents Samir and Sundari Mitra (Shivani, grade 10) have established The Mitra Family Endowment for the Humanities which will match gifts for the Annual Giving Campaign up to a total of $100,000.
“The subject matters taught under humanities such as history, languages, communications and philosophy are critical skills and knowledge that develop well-rounded Harker students,” said Samir Mitra. “Humanities is the bedrock of a superior education and will enable our students to stand out as recognized contributors in their future professions.”
Those interested in helping the Mitras’ effort can contribute online at www.harker.org/onlinegiving or send a check to Harker Advancement Office, 3800 Blackford Ave., San Jose, CA 95117, or drop off a check at any campus front office.
“The Mitra family’s endowment offer, and every matching give from others, will benefit our students every year, for years and years to come,” said Melinda Gonzales, director of development.
The inaugural John Near Scholar Grant cycle is complete and the first three reports, on military insubordination during the Vietnam War, U.S.-China relations between 1972-1986 and the impact of the Gettysburg campaign on the Civil War, have been filed in the John Near Resource Center for public access.
Olivia Zhu, Justine Liu and Tyler Koteskey, all graduating this year, were celebrated by mentors, administrators, parents and history department members and by Near’s wife, Pam Dickinson, director of the Office of Communication.
The gathering filled the Near Center in Shah Hall and the recipients summed up their experiences researching their papers and thanked mentors and others who assisted their endeavors. The center, adjacent to Near’s former classroom, reflects the late teacher’s love of American history. Near taught at Harker’s middle and upper schools for 31 years prior to his passing in 2009 and his legacy includes many hundreds of students left with a love of learning and history.
The John Near U.S. History Endowment, the first of its kind at Harker, includes the funding of grants to students or teachers each year for research on history projects of their choice along with access for the entire campus for history-related databases. Near’s parents, Jim and Pat Near, established the endowment based on his wishes prior to his passing.
When Zhu started her project last year, “The UCMJ and Insubordination: Suitability of Military Judicial Responses during the Vietnam War,” she just knew she wanted it to be about insubordination. “I work on the Honor Council here at school and maybe that’s where my interest in rules and rule breaking came from,” Zhu said. “I decided, ultimately, to settle on insubordination during the Vietnam War and how the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) addressed insubordination among soldiers.
“Essentially, I explored the origins of the code of law, tracked its development and attempted to analyze its efficacy; additionally, I looked at some specific incidents and individuals (like Howard Levy, Bruce Petersen and the Presidio Mutiny) in the context of larger trends.
“As I learned more about my topic, I started figuring out why it appealed to me so much in the first place. Insubordination is something that’s very hard to perfectly define or understand, especially in the context of such a controversial role, and I was really interested in the clash between law and disobedience. I liked seeing why people tried to test the UCMJ and whether their actions were justified or not – there’s a bit of a blurry line there.
“I really enjoyed this entire research process – it’s been so much fun. I think the most important part of this grant was coming to realize that all my teachers helped me so much. For example Ms. [Julie] Wheeler and Mr. [Ray] Fowler lent me DVDs, Ms. [Carol] Zink and Dr. Erin Redfern [of the English department] lent me their own books to use, and the librarians were always so warm and so accommodating – it was just very much a community effort going into this paper,” she said.
Zhu, who will attend Harvard University, found that resources at hand were plentiful and travel to Vietnam was beyond the scope of her work. “I considered going to the Presidio but very little of the military infrastructure or records remain there,” Zhu said. “I watched a documentary with several interviews done there, so had a feel for the inside of the Presidio.”
Zhu said she probably would have not done the research without having been awarded the grant. “This is something where you are sitting in class and you think, ‘Oh, this is cool,’” Zhu said, “but without the grant there is not that impetus to pursue it and there is not the support system there. When you write the paper the most important thing is having an advisor.”
Zhu’s advice to future Near scholars: “I would suggest trying to get more access to primary sources. Also, don’t be afraid of library fines – the renewal cycle can take a week and it is way more efficient to pay the fines!”
Wheeler mentored Zhu throughout the research. “I had Olivia last year as a student and to get to work with her this year was such a pleasure,” she said. “This is quite a topic. Every time you peel back a layer you get 18 fascinating things that are tied together. Olivia managed to wade through the legalese and make it understandable.”
Liu first got interested in her topic, “The China Card versus the China Trade: Sino-American Economic Relations, 1972-1989,” covering the relationship between China and the U.S from President Richard Nixon’s 1972 visit to the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, while in class. In mentor Ramsay Westgate’s AP U.S. History class, Liu found the text devoted only two lines to Nixon’s 1972 ground-breaking visit to China. Meanwhile, for another class, Liu was writing a paper on the currency devaluation in modern China and mentally began tracing the historical line between the two events, focusing on the economic aspects.
“What I was really interested in was why Nixon thought that it was in the interest of U.S. foreign policy for Kissinger to make a secret visit to China,” said Liu. “I was interested in the economic background of that decision. I used some of the grant funds to go to the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, Calif. I was able to go into the archives room to read and handle the original documents, letters and memos relating and leading up to his 1972 trip to the PRC. What was great was that some of the documents had only really been declassified in July 2010, so that was pretty exciting. It was a really amazing opportunity and my first time ever being in close contact with documents of such historical importance.
“I think without the grant I would not have had the incentive to go out there and really write a comprehensive paper. That was the first time I got to be that close to documents that were that important to history, so that is something that I really valued that I couldn’t have done without the grant and the guidance of my mentors.” she said.
Liu will also attend Harvard in the fall and had a few words of advice, as well, for future Near scholars. “I would recommend they do their research the summer beforehand so they can figure out when a good time is to plan the trip. You have to have your entire bibliography done, you have to know where your paper is going – you have to have that outline structured for it to be a really productive trip. I outlined where I wanted my paper to go with questions I wanted to answer so I could track down exactly which archives, which boxes, of the thousands that are in the library, that I wanted to look at.”
Westgate was appreciative of the depth Liu went to in her researches. “The opportunity to explore such an important topic that is not only so relevant to our community and to our government but to go beneath the rhetoric and go to a deeper level was just phenomenal,” he said. “Every time I mentioned one or two things, I felt as if she came back with three or four answers, and that is just a testament to her, her tremendous work ethic and her intellectual curiosity.”
Koteskey’s project, “High Water Mark: Discussing the Impacts of National Power on Confederate Military Strategy through the Lens of the Gettysburg Campaign,” has been in development since the second grade when he was photographed wearing the uniform of a Union officer, said Koteskey, tongue-in-cheek. His paper analyzes the elements of national power as they applied to the Confederate States of America in 1863.
“It was the middle of the Civil War, and a crucial moment for the South,” he said. “They could reinforce the western half of the country,” but decided to make an offensive move against the North instead to try to force a call for peace.” Koteskey used his grant to travel to the Gettysburg region over the summer where he stayed with a family friend who is a Gettysburg battlefield guide for the Army War College.
“My host in Pennsylvania, Captain Bill Tyson, was instrumental in showing me around battlefields, helping to arrange interviews and providing valuable historical insight, which really complemented the guidance of my faculty advisor, Mr. Fowler.”
“What I think was most valuable to me in this project was going to Pennsylvania last summer to do the research,” Koteskey said. “It was a really different experience than I would have had getting information from books. I was able to visit Harper’s Ferry, and the Antietam and Gettysburg battlefields which, apart from being really awesome for a history buff, helped me form a better appreciation of some of the geographical factors constraining Civil War generals in their campaign planning,” said Koteskey, noting that he probably wouldn’t have done the research without the grant.
“My most defining memory though was probably my interview with Dr. Richard J. Sommers, the senior historian at the U.S. Army Military Heritage and Education Center in Carlisle. He is a published author on the Civil War who really embraced his time with me, turning our ‘interview’ into a Socratic discussion on Civil War strategy; it completely changed my mind, and the ultimate course of my paper, on many of the preconceived notions I had about General Lee’s best strategic option in the summer of 1863. He also gave me a tour of the Institute and its Civil War resources, and I got to go into a special library that’s normally restricted to the public.”
“It was really a rewarding experience,” Koteskey said of the entire project. “Mr. Fowler was extremely helpful because not only did we have just a ton of fun talking about civil wars, what-ifs and the ultimate outcome of the confederacy, but he really helped me focus my topic. All in all, it was a great experience and I want to thank the endowment fund for the opportunity.” Koteskey will attend UCLA in the fall and plans to major in political science, which “draws a lot on historical foundations,” so feeding his appetite for history.
Koteskey’s passion for the Civil War led him to enter and be named a finalist in the History Channel’s National Civil War Student Challenge, one of only 30 out of the thousands who took the challenge. The final test was the weekend of April 30-May 1 and final results will be announced by mid-May.
Koteskey’s words of advice to the next John Near scholars? “Have fun with your topic. Pick something you are interested in, that you really love, that you can picture yourself slaving over.”
“I really enjoyed working with Tyler,” said Fowler. “His passion and enthusiasm are easy to see and he picked a really challenging topic. He went to all the great extremes he described to set up his premise and argue that convincingly.”
The students received resounding applause for their presentations. “You three – and your work – perfectly embody what Mr. Near intended with this grant,” commented Dickinson. “He would be so incredibly proud of all of you.”
This story first appeared in the Winter edition of the Harker Quarterly.
The official opening of the John Near Resource Center took place in early November, attended by a score or more family, students, staff, alumni and friends.
The center, located in Shah Hall, adjacent to Near’s former classroom, reflects the late teacher’s love of American history. Near taught at Harker’s middle and upper schools for 31 years prior to his passing in 2009. His legacy includes many hundreds of students left with a love of learning and history and, now, the John Near Excellence in History Education Endowment Fund.
The Near endowment, the first of its kind at Harker, funds robust online research databases for students and provides grants to students or teachers each year for research on history projects of their choice. The first three recipients of John Near Scholar Grants have already received their funding and are listed in a display alongside photos of Near and a plaque commemorating both his contribution to Harker and his philosophy for the fund’s use.
As only interest from the endowment will be spent, and none has yet accumulated, the center, the first grant recipients and initial databases were funded by special contributions from the Class of 2010 (with 100 percent participation!), a John Near Fun Run, a benefit poker game and special contributions from alumni.
Those attending the reception included history department faculty members, administrators, advancement office staff, longtime employees, John’s wife, Pam Dickinson, director of Harker’s office of communication, and daughter Casey Near ’06. Key members of the John Near Resource Center planning committee were also present, including Jennifer Gargano, assistant head of school for academic affairs; Donna Gilbert, history department chair; Susan Smith, head librarian; Mike Bassoni, facility manager; and Sarah Covey ’91, a former student of Near’s and interior designer who donated her expertise to the project. All were instrumental in making the room come to life.
Once the gathering was underway, Dickinson acknowledged John’s parents, Jim and Pat Near, who established the endowment fund in their son’s honor – and based on John’s own wishes – just months before he passed away. She also recognized the special role so many played in achieving the final outcome. “We all agreed this space needed to be inspirational, warm and comfortable,” she said. “Each person involved just intuitively knew the right thing to do and did it. It’s an amazing space, and John would have loved both the space and the process.”
The room features media and periodical libraries that will each expand over time, a flat screen and DVD/VHS player, a collaborative work table, comfortable sofa seating and bookcases of Near’s books from his personal library. Poster- sized, framed black and white photos decorate the walls – from singer Billie Holiday to President John F. Kennedy – each representing iconic facets of American history and culture that had resonated with Near.
Gilbert noted that the room has already been used by both students and teachers in various ways and has become a bit of a sanctuary for teachers to enjoy a few moments away from the bustle of the hallways. Each year the room will also host a reception for the John Near grant scholars when they receive their awards, but from day to day, Near’s scholarly soul, represented by the photos and books he loved, fills the room, providing a lasting memory of one of Harker’s finest teachers.
This article originally appeared in the winter 2009 Harker Quarterly.
In a culture of philanthropy, constituents support an organization’s mission and recognize the need for charitable contributions to help achieve that mission. In recent years we have seen Harker’s culture of philanthropy take root and flourish within our school community.
This past fall we have been the fortunate recipients of three types of charitable gifts that are new to the school.
1. Endowed Gifts
The John Near Excellence in History Education Endowment Fund
Harker received its first endowment in memory of a 31-year veteran of Harker’s teaching staff, John Near, who passed away in late September. Near’s parents, James and Patricia Near, are funding the $300,000 endowment by taking advantage of the IRA Charitable Rollover Extension, which they learned about in the November 2008 issue of the Harker News. This rollover extension allows them to contribute funds from their IRA without having to pay the tax on the appreciation. The proceeds will be used to “help develop the history department, both through the acquisition of resources and providing growth opportunities for both faculty and students,” as John Near articulated in August of this year as he and his parents planned this gift.
To create an endowed fund at Harker, a donor makes a gift or series of gifts, which make up a principal amount. That principal is permanently restricted and will only be used to generate interest income. A pre-set amount of the annual interest is used each year to support the purpose for which the endowed fund was established or the general fund, depending on the donor’s wishes. Endowed funds can continue to grow over time if the interest earned on the principal exceeds the set amount used for the annual payout, and the excess is added the principal. The pre-set interest on endowed funds will support the purpose for which they are created year after year in perpetuity.
2. Privately Held Stock Gifts
Harker parents Selvaraj Venugopal and Sumathi Selvaraj (Raghav, Gr. 9; Anu, Gr. 2), Raj and Shailaja Velagapudi (Anish, Gr. 6; Anmol, Gr. 1) and Michel and Sudha Susai (Kevin, Gr. 9; Jessica, Gr. 4) are transferring shares of privately-held stock in their companies to the school.
Given Harker’s location in the Silicon Valley, it is not surprising that a large number of our constituents are entrepreneurs. Making a gift of privately-held stock is a way for some of our parents who have funds tied up in their start-up companies to share their entrepreneurial successes with the school.
3. Private Equity Fund Gifts
Current Harker parents Srini and Durga Madala (Samantha, Gr. 7; Ajay, Gr. 1) became Visionary Benefactors during Phase 3 of the school’s capital campaign two years ago, and they are leading the way again by introducing a new type of charitable gift. The Madalas are contributing an Endowment Management Account, the funds of which are invested primarily in private equity.
Returns from private equity investments usually pay out over several years. With the gift structured to ensure that the school has no liability for capital calls, and assuming the fund continues to grow, the school will eventually receive not only the current value of the fund, but any growth the fund achieves as well.
Those wishing to contribute to the John Near endowment fund or to discuss these or other gift types should contact Joe Rosenthal, executive director of advancement, at joer@harker.org.
Harker has received its first endowment, The John Near Excellence in History Education Endowment Fund, in memory of the 31-year veteran of Harker’s teaching staff, John Near, who passed away in late September.
Donors of the $300,000 endowment are James and Patricia Near, John’s parents, and in John’s own words, the proceeds will be used “to help develop the history department, both through the acquisition of resources and providing growth opportunities for both faculty and students.”
John Near had much to do with the endowment’s establishment. “I wanted him to be the lead guy in this and I wanted him to set it up the way he wanted it done,” said James Near.
“I first approached John when we knew what was going to happen and said we wanted to do something in his name for the school, and that we wanted his input as to how he would like to see (the donation) established,” said Near. “Although we had some conversations about it, the main one was when he said, ‘Dad, after discussing it with Joe (Rosenthal), I think the thing that would be most meaningful to me would be something for the history department.’”
“We are grateful and honored with the news of the endowed gift in John’s memory,” said history department chair Donna Gilbert. One idea for use of the fund is to create a history resource center. “We hope this space will be just the kind of space that honors John and where his memory lives on,” Gilbert said.
Gilbert noted funds will be used for enduring programs with a special emphasis on things Near valued including a passion for history and politics, building collegiality among history teachers, nurturing the development of student skills geared especially for history and social science, encouraging creativity and integrity in the classroom and giving students who love history and politics resources that complement their studies.
Head of School Chris Nikoloff expressed his thanks for the gift and noted the value to establishing Harker’s endowment program. “John Near has always been committed to pedagogical excellence and student scholarship in history education at The Harker School,” said Nikoloff. “This endowment helps ensure that Harker’s history department will meet these two goals for generations to come.
“As we look to the future, the establishment of an endowment at Harker will increasingly become central to the long-term sustainability of critical programs and services. We are thrilled that the first material endowment gift to the school is in memory of John Near, whose extraordinary example set the bar for educational excellence and care for students,” said Nikoloff.
Those wishing to contribute to this endowed fund, or create their own, should contact Joe Rosenthal, executive director of advancement, at joer@harker.org. To create an endowed fund at Harker, a donor would make a gift, or series of gifts, that make up a principle amount and that principle is permanently restricted and will only be used to generate interest income. Then a pre-set amount of the annual interest is used each year to support the purpose for which the endowed fund was established. Endowed funds can continue to grow over time if the interest earned on the principal exceeds the set amount used for the annual payout, and the excess is added the principal. The pre-set interest on endowed funds will support the purpose for which they are created year after year in perpetuity.
Universities have long used endowments to enhance funding to programs – Harvard has several thousand endowed funds – and private schools are finding them one of the best tools to ensure academic standards and facilities are well-funded.