Lesley University to expand in Cambridge

March 7, 2008 08:27 PM Email| Comments (0)| Text size – +

By Jillian Jorgensen, Globe Correspondent

Lesley University has reached a $33.5 million deal to purchase buildings on the Cambridge campus of the Episcopal Divinity School, officials from the schools announced today.

Lesley will own seven buildings on the divinity school's 8-acre campus near Harvard Square, and the divinity school will own 13. The two schools will share ownership of a library and collaborate on services there.

The two schools will enter into a condominium association to govern much of the campus, but each school will maintain its institutional autonomy.

The buildings Lesley will purchase include residence halls and a dining facility. Lesley will also provide the smaller divinity school with some student services, which Lesley President Joseph B. Moore said would be determined by committees and would mostly be administrative, such as class registration and course scheduling.

The divinity school has 97 students, according to spokeswoman Nancy Davidge.

Moore said the deal would allow Lesley, which has 12,000 students, four schools, and multiple campuses, including two in Cambridge, to expand its presence in the area. Lesley, founded in 1909 to teach women to become kindergarten teachers, grew into a liberal arts university with multiple career tracks, two doctorate programs, and an arts school.

"Obviously, it's a wonderful neighborhood for us," Moore said in a telephone interview yesterday. "It frankly makes good use of institutional facilities over at EDS rather than going further into the neighborhood."