Dear Sir,

I WAS saddened last week to hear about the proposed closure of Memorial universities Harlow campus based in Old Harlow through articles I read on both CBC and the Muse [MUN student union paper].

As a teacher of some twenty plus years, I have never known a Harlow without MUN and from the start of my career in teaching in 2004 we would enjoy welcoming teaching students to Burnt Mill for the performing arts course under the expert guidance of Mr Pat Walker who was the head the faculty at Burnt Mill.

There would often be upwards of 6 interns, every summer, who would enjoy teaching at schools across the town and becoming part of the fabric of Harlow.

At the Crown in Old Harlow, the impact of Newfoundland and Memorial university is prominently displayed by the owners George and Hayley who have the bar adorned with the flags of Newfoundland and Labrador, such is the legacy of the campus.

In my time as a Head I have had the absolute privilege of welcoming some wonderful young Primary/elementary teachers into our schools, some of whom have made a life for themselves in our town, thus cementing the relationship that has lasted since 1969 between the oldest town in the new world and one of the newest in the old world.

It would appear that, as is the case globally, there is a cost cutting exercise taking place and that the University is having to make tough decisions about its expenditure and that rightly must include a conversation about the Harlow campus as a venue for it’s students.

However, the relationship between Harlow and Newfoundland through memorial university, as much as it often catches some by surprise, is one of the jewels in the crown of Harlow as we present an international destination for our friends from Canada and in a time where Harlow Council is quite rightly devoted to progression and future planning, we must not forget more historic links, especially those which present us with such a wealth of talent from Canada in education, the arts and business.

I hope that the council and our local MP will engage with the University around their continued presence in the town because if we were to lose Memorial University, I’m not sure the town would be quite the same anymore.

Mr N M Coster