Rutgers School of Law-Newark, Miller International Initiative and Miller Family Endowment, Partners With Israel’s Arava Institute for Environmental Studies
The Miller Family Endowment and The Paul S. Miller International Initiative at Rutgers School of Law-Newark will sponsor the Arava Alumni Peace and Environmental Network Annual Conference on May 9-11, 2013 in Beit Jalla, West Bank Palestine.
The Arava Institute is a research and educational center located in the Negev Desert that conducts research concerning desert environmental and water issues. Through its affiliation with Ben Gurion University, it grants graduate degrees to students from Israel, Palestine, Jordan and other nations who study and work together in the Negev.
Dr. Robert L. Barchi, President of Rutgers University, announced the creation of the Initiative last month at the Paul S. Miller Distinguished Lecture, which took place on the Rutgers-Newark campus. The Initiative was established to support international opportunities and policy research at Rutgers School of Law-Newark, to support faculty and student exchanges and enhance legal knowledge. The programs of the Initiative will enhance the ability of Rutgers Law graduates to practice on a global scale.
Paul Miller, Rutgers Law School Dean John Farmer, and law professor and former dean Stuart Deutsch traveled to Israel earlier this month to meet with Israeli university and law school counterparts to explore their initial partnerships. They are seeking relationships with law schools and other institutions in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the former Soviet Union as well.
Paul Miller said, “Our sponsorship for the Arava Institute Alumni Annual Conference will provide $25,000 to support the work of Arava graduates from many nations who show that Jews and Muslims and people of other religions can effectively work together in peace to conquer important environmental and water problems.”
“Given the unhealthy efforts on American campuses today to boycott or divest from Israel, including its academic institutions, we believe it is urgent to begin and announce this partnership today,” Miller said.
Dean Farmer said, “The Arava Institute’s commitment to the constructive engagement of Israeli, Jordanian, Palestinian, and international students in order to address regional environmental challenges is a model for progress in a troubled region. Rutgers Law School shares this commitment, and will seek to bring its environmental law expertise to bear on the trans-border water rights and pollution remediation issues identified in the science conducted by Arava.”
David Lehrer, Director of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, said, “The vision of the institute is that some day, the Ministers of the Environment from Israel, Palestine and Jordan will all be graduates of the Arava Institute and will be able to build a more sustainable and peaceful Middle East. This new partnership with The Miller Initiative at Rutgers Law School will enhance our work by offering a global perspective on the issues we study that reach well beyond our own region.”
The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies conference is held for and by alumni. The annual conference takes place as part of the Arava Institute’s Alumni Programs Department which supports networking, job opportunities, academic opportunities, internships, alumni projects and any other way to empower our alum and to enable them to maintain ties with the institute and with each other.
The Miller Family Endowment is established to provide philanthropic support to causes and organizations that serve the interests of creating a brighter, more hopeful future for today’s children, the influencers of tomorrow.
