Worcester Academy Gets $20 Million Gift From Alum

WORCESTER, MA — A Florida businessman has donated $20 million to Worcester Academy, and most of the money will go toward renovating the Megaron building. Ron Capozzoli Sr., a Medford native, graduated from Worcester Academy in 1949.

Here's more from a Worcester Academy news release:

Worcester Academy Head of School Kevin Breen today announced that Worcester Academy, one of the country’s oldest independent schools, has received a $20 million transformative gift from commercial real estate developer and businessman Ron Capozzoli Sr. (Worcester Academy Class of 1949) of Jupiter, Fla.

Capozzoli says he made his gift in recognition for the memorable and formative experience he received at Worcester Academy as a young man. The $20 million gift — among the largest in the academy’s 188-year history — fuels Worcester Academy’s efforts to revitalize facilities and provide buildings designed to take the Academy into its third century as a leading American independent school. As a result of Capozzoli’s generosity, the academy has been inspired to begin renovations on The Megaron, an iconic and beloved campus building dedicated at the turn of the last century.

The naming of a new state-of-the-art recreation and athletic complex, plans for which are underway, will also honor Capozzoli in recognition for his tremendous generosity. News about the new complex, which will be located at the academy’s South Campus — the former St. Vincent Hospital property on Providence Street — will be forthcoming in fall 2022. Additionally, $1 million in funds are directed to the Capozzoli family endowed scholarship fund at Worcester Academy.

Worcester Academy’s investment in its historic Worcester campus additionally increases its impact as a partner in the city of Worcester’s renaissance, which is reinvigorating many quarters of the city, including the Canal District, just a short walk from WA. The Canal District is home to Polar Park and the Triple A Red Sox. Worcester Academy is the official independent school partner of the Worcester Red Sox, known locally as the WooSox. The Academy is also a founding tenant of nearby Fidelity Worcester Ice Center, the home ice for Worcester Academy’s boys and girls ice hockey programs.

In appreciation for the generous gift, and for Capozzoli’s commitment to providing a lifechanging experience for Worcester Academy students, The Megaron is being renamed “The Capozzoli Family Megaron.” Renovations on the red-bricked building, which are underway, will return the Megaron to its original splendor as a gathering space for students to socialize, bond, and grow—a precursor to today’s teaching methodologies emphasizing social emotional learning, which WA embraces. A new patio space for students to gather outdoors is also to be created.

The Megaron, still widely used today, is closely tied to the history and mission of Worcester
Academy. Named by Greek scholar and 18 th Head of School Daniel W. Abercrombie
(1882–1918), it is modeled after the classical living rooms and temples of ancient Greece, and
it takes its name from the Greek word for “great room” or “open space.” Its dedication on Dec.
2, 1905, was attended by the presidents of Dartmouth and Brown as well as by representatives
of Harvard College and Yale, who saw the building as an innovation and as a one-of-a-kind
structure in this part of the world.

As with megarons of old, the Worcester Academy Megaron is rectangular in shape and is accessed through a portico with two columns. The Academy motto, “Achieve the Honorable,” a phrase coined by Dr. Abercrombie, appears in Greek above the mantle of an imposing fireplace, the central focus of the building. Nearby, a ceiling beam bears a second phrase in Greek, “Let No Evil Enter.”

Also found in The Megaron is a dugout canoe used by Arctic explorer Donald Baxter MacMillan, a WA faculty member, during explorations of the North Pole with Admiral Robert E. Peary in 1909.

American songwriter and composer Cole Porter (Class of 1909), one of many notable alums who spent time socializing in this building, frequently played the school’s Chickering grand piano then located in The Megaron. Porter’s formal performances were with the school band, then called the Mandolin Club, which often performed in The Megaron, but he was known to depict Academy faculty comically in compositions that he would write and perform on The Megaron piano.

According to Breen, the impact of Capozzoli’s giving to Worcester Academy is pivotal and timely. In 2034, the Academy will continue into its third century as a leading American independent school and a storied Worcester institution. Gifts from Capozzoli and other loyal Worcester Academy alumni and friends continue to ensure the school delivers a life-changing educational experience to students, who will tackle the important issues of their day, he says.

“Ron attributes many of his successes in business to specific lessons learned at Worcester Academy,” Head of School Breen says. “His story is one I hear with increasing familiarity. In a short period of time—just two years in this case—his life was forever changed. While stories such as these are unusual elsewhere, they are quintessential to Worcester Academy and speak to WA’s deep commitment to quality mentoring.”

“Just think of it,” he says, “The Capozzoli Megaron will now stand at Worcester Academy for
generations to come in tribute to Ron, his family, and those teachers who impacted him in that
short window of time.”

Capozzoli, who is patriarch of a Worcester Academy legacy family that spans three generations of graduates, is a Medford native and member of the Academy’s Class of 1949. A son and a grandson also graduated from the Academy. In 2019, Ron Capozzoli and his wife, Markay, also endowed The Capozzoli Family Scholarship, which is awarded annually to a WA student who demonstrates friendliness and contributes to school life through involvement in athletics, clubs, or other activities.

In speaking about his $20M gift, Capozzoli cited memorable times spent at the Academy, especially The Megaron, as the most important years of his life. “I experienced the best days of my life at Worcester Academy,” he says.