Applications set a new record
The College established a record in applications this year-3,547-and saw a dramatic increase in the number of applications from students in the top ten percent of their secondary school class.
The previous high in applications (3,495) came two years ago. The total this year is a twenty-four percent increase since 1991.
The number of applications from those in the top ten percent of their class was up by 300 over last year.
In April, the College held two open houses for accepted candidates, and the total number of visitors was up fifteen percent over last year (310 prospective students and 386 parents and siblings).
A series of student-faculty phonathons reached nearly all of the 1,770 accepted candidates, and a postcard campaign, in which current students send postcards to accepted students in their hometowns, reached about 300 individuals.
The College received 400 requests for alumni interviews (up from 325 last year), and alumni represented Union at 256 college fairs.
Campus ministry planning new strategies
The Louisville Institute for the Study of Protestantism and American Culture has awarded $25,000 to the College to conduct a study of campus ministry and to develop strategies to become more meaningful for the coming generation of students.
The study will involve campus ministries at seven other colleges and universities-the University at Albany, the State University College at Oneonta, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Hartwick College, Russell Sage College, Skidmore College, and Williams College.
The grant will support consultation with authorities in the field, with a special emphasis on a two-day conference to be held this fall at Union. A key part of the study will be an exploration of collaboration between and among various religious communities.
Trustees set costs
Tuition and other costs
for the 1995-96 academic year will be $26,206. The total includes $19,782 for tuition, $3,396 for room, $2,838 for board, and $190 for the student activity fee.
The costs represent an increase of 4.3 percent over 199495, the lowest percentage increase in more than twenty years.
The Board of Trustees has approved a number of faculty promotions:
Six named professors
Named professors were Janet Anderson of chemistry, Martin Benjamin of visual arts, Kenneth DeBono of psychology, Faye Dudden of history, Adrian Frazier of English, and Martin
Strosberg of the Graduate Management Institute.
Promoted to associate professor, with recommendation for tenurability, were Leo Fleishman of biology, John Garver of geology, David Hemmendinger and John Spinelli of electrical engineering and computer science, Mark Walker of history, and Richard Wilk of mechanical engineering.
Delta Upsilon loses College recognition
Delta Upsilon fraternity will lose recognition by the College and its housing space on campus next fall as the result of hazing a pledge.
The fraternity was found guilty by the Student Conduct Committee of five violations of the Student Conduct Code. The committee said it felt that the student's health had been placed in “serious danger” as the result of the fraternity's actions. The committee comprises seven students, six of whom are fraternity members.
The incident involved a freshman, who was hazed over the course of two nights. He was forced to drink and, at one point, slipped and fell, resulting in eight stitches in his chin.
The College's rules about hazing are contained in several publications, including the Student Handbook, and are distributed to every student. The College's lawyer also meets with the leaders of the Greek organizations and pledges.
Delta Upsilon had thirty-seven beds in Raymond House.
Student Affairs Council establishes meal plan
A meal plan designed to encourage community dining will be put into effect over the next two academic years.
The plan was devised by the Student Affairs Council, comprising five students (three of them fraternity members) and four administrators and faculty.
The council's decision was based on two principles-that eating together as the larger Union community is important, and that members of fraternities and sororities should be able to eat together some of the time.
The plan is designed to encourage upper-class students who live in the fourteen fraternities and sororities that have private meal plans to take the majority of their meals in College facilities.
The plan, which uses a system of meal-plan credits, will take full effect in 1996-97. Because the council's deliberations went well into the spring, next year will be a transitional year that will allow most fraternities to maintain a full meal plan.
The College's Planning and Priorities Committee decided early this year that every student on campus should be on the College's meal plan, with the actual design of the plan left to the Student Affairs Council.