Scene on Campus

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In the late 1960s, naturalist Ed Migdalski, director of club sports at the athletics department, persuaded the university to turn 1,500 acres in East Lyme, Connecticut, into the Yale Outdoor Education Center. The land, with frontage along Powers Lake, had been purchased in 1913 by Yale's Sheffield Scientific School. In the 1920s, Yale used the area as an engineering summer field camp to teach surveying and drafting. The camp had been abandoned when Migdalski visited on a fishing trip and hatched his plan for a recreational facility for the Yale community.

“It's a wonderful opportunity to experience a clean, safe, fun natural environment,” says Ed's son Tom, who now directs the facility, which is open all summer to staff, students, and their families for a fee. “You can hike, fish, kayak, picnic, and stay overnight in the cabins or at a campsite.” And, of course, you can swim.  

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