Posted on Jul 1, 1996

Confessing that he couldn't remember any details from the commencement speech delivered when he graduated, Phil Robinson '71 told this year's
graduates that he wanted to say something they would remember.

“This is an awesome responsibility,” he said. “A few wrong words from me, and you could all be doomed.”

Robinson, the creator of the movies Field of Dreams and Sneakers, was back in his
twenty-fifth ReUnion year to speak at commencement. On a beautiful Sunday morning, Robinson delighted the 650
graduates and their guests with his humor.

He also surprised the audience with a confession. While poring through old books looking for words of inspiration, he discovered that two of them-one about the American Revolution, the other about the Declaration of Independence-were due in Schaffer Library in June, 1970.

“Please don't applaud, I feel
terrible about this,” he said, returning the books with the hope that President Hull will accept them as his contribution to the new library.

Robinson received an honorary doctor of letters degree from the College. His citation noted that creating Field of Dreams was not simply a matter
of “if you make this movie, the audience will come.” Robinson spent six grueling years transforming the printed page into a screenplay and persuading movie executives to take a chance. More recently, he gave an illustration of his
range by producing a fascinating documentary about Sarajevo.

“Your dreams of bringing information and entertainment to audiences began
here at Union, and we greet you at your twenty-fifth ReUnion with pride and affection,” said his citation.

Andrea Barrett '74, the author of several books including the recently-published Ship Fever and Other Stories, received a doctor of letters degree, and Tom Brokaw, the anchor of the NBC Nightly News, received a doctor of laws degree.

Barrett was cited for a career
that is “bringing distinction to the world of letters.” A biology major at Union, she came to writing because, as she once said, it is “the only work that truly makes me happy with myself.” Her citation noted, “In Ezra Pound's memorable phrase, you create `language charged with meaning,' and we are proud to welcome you into our society of scholars.”

Brokaw was cited for the “grace and enterprise” he displays at bringing the “hodge-podge”
of the news into focus each day. The occasion was Brokaw's third
appearance at the College in a year; last May he interviewed students on the fiftieth
annivesary of VE Day, and last fall he spoke to college presidents at a symposium to discuss issues in higher education. “Today, you can simply relax and leave the talking to others. We are delighted to welcome you back and to
honor you as one of journalism's most distinguished practitioners.”

Robinson, clearly enjoying the day, noted that it was traditional at such ceremonies for the speaker to offer some specific and carefully-fashioned advice.

“So I diligently toiled to come up with the perfect advice for you,” he said. “I worked really hard at this, and after much consideration, I came up empty. I even concluded, in fact, that it doesn't exist. Advice is not a `one- size- fits- all' garment.”

Instead, he said, he wanted to talk from one generation to another.

Look twenty-five years down the road, he said. As you look at your years at Union, you will recall some, but certainly not most of, what you learned in these classrooms,
he said. But you will also understand that you have been shaped more profoundly than you could imagine by the things you learned here about life and about yourself.

“And that was the real education. That's why they don't give you a reading list and lectures on tape and then a diploma. You had to be here. You had to live through this.”

Looking back at his time at Union, Robinson said the sixties was a thrilling and formidable time to be in college.

“We majored in making sure our reach truly exceeded our grasp. We set terribly ambitious goals for ourselves. We were going to bring the troops home from Vietnam, we were going to end inequality, we were going to ban the bomb, make love not war, impeach Nixon …we were going to change this country. We were going to change the world.

“History records that we did not accomplish all we set out to, but you know what? We did pretty well. We did change the world. And you will too. Whether you want to or not, just by passing through it, you'll change it.”

All of which brought him to the advice he wanted to offer
“Do whatever the hell you want.

“Dream your dreams, trust your instincts, listen to your heart. Surprise us, annoy us, confound us, ignore us. Believe in yourself, do your thing. And once you decide what that is, don't give up, don't let them discourage you, don't take no for an answer, take chances, risk failure, kick out the jams, break the damn rules, question authority, step on the grass, go for it, change the world, and have a great time doing it.”

There were words of advice from others.

From Carolyn Miller, of Aurora, Ohio, the senior class speaker:

“I leave you this morning with the words of my wise grandmother: `The clock is wound at once/No one knows for how long or when it will stop/So live each moment to the fullest/For tomorrow the hands maybe still.”'

And from President Hull:

“Whatever you choose to do from this day forward, wherever you choose to do it, I hope that you will remember (or develop) the obligation to contribute. And the sooner you begin to fulfill that obligation, the sooner you will have the pleasure that the students at Union who have invested their time in a variety of activities have already enjoyed.

“Be an author, Be a journalist. Be a film maker. Be whatever
you want to be-but be involved and be concerned. Stand for something.”

The co-valedictorians of the senior class were two mathematics majors-Erica
DeCarlo, of Endwell, N.Y., and Melanie Rinaldi, of Mansfield, Mass. DeCarlo, who won the Frank Bailey Prize for outstanding service to the College, will pursue her master of arts in teaching at Union and plans to teach high school mathematics. Rinaldi, who received her M.A.T. in addition to her bachelor's degree, will teach math at Mansfield (Conn.) Middle School.

Three physicians whose years at Union were interrupted also received their bachelor's degrees-Christopher Demos, of Venice, Fla., Leonard Levine, of Alexandria, Va., and Lloyd Mayer, of Kings Point, N.Y. Each received his degree based on the following criteria: completing at least two years at Union, not receiving a bachelor's degree elsewhere, earning a
higher degree, and distinguishing himself in a field requiring continuing education.

All told, the College awarded 509 bachelor's degree, 128 master's degree, and one Ph.D.

Posted on Jul 1, 1996

No one who has ever set foot on the Union campus-at least no one I have ever met during the course of my six years at the College-has had anything but positive things to say about the beauty of Union. They talk about the perfection of Joseph Jacques Ramee's plan; they comment (now) about how a facility like the Nott Memorial can be located at the center of a college campus; they admire the tranquillity of Jackson's Garden; and they rave about the number and
variety of trees.

The passing of Bill Huntley this spring brought the “campus trees” to center stage. As I commented in my remarks during the memorial service for Bill, he and Gil Harlow are largely responsible for the Union trees. During the 1940s, as many alumni will remember, the Union campus was populated largely by elm trees. Then elm disease struck, and by the middle 1950s most of the 600 elms were gone.

Messrs. Huntley and Harlow went to work. After much effort and some persuasion at the administrative and trustee level, the Union campus was “repopulated.” Now, Union is home to more than 1,300 major shade trees, 650 flowering trees, and 5,000 shrubs and smaller trees. As a result, too, of the policy now in place, a new tree is planted whenever an old one dies. What a legacy!

Not surprisingly, the policy comes with a cost. Yet, we have an obligation to maintain the beauty of the campus. Although Socrates may only have needed a spreading chestnut tree to conduct classes, an historic institution like Union has an obligation to maintain its plant and its beauty.

The obligation was also driven home when we turned our attention to the Nott Memorial. Although some might question (and a Wall Street Journal reporter did) how we could justify spending $11 million in this day and age on a single facility with such limited use, historic obligations and a sense of responsibility were grounds sufficient to bring the Nott Memorial back to its historic splendor. By the way, the Wall Street journal reporter, who came to Schenectady for the rededication of the Nott Memorial, agreed after having seen the building in its refurbished state.

The same sense of obligation and responsibility is underscored with Jackson's Garden. Which college today would choose to have a formal garden on its campus? None that I
know. However, Jackson's Garden is part of historic Union, and it must be maintained and enhanced. In that connection, I am pleased to say that, as a result of the reshuffling of various maintenance facilities, we now are in a position to extend the garden to Nott Street, as was the case in decades past. More work, of course, needs to be done on Jackson's Garden. Given our priorities, the garden will have to await the special interests of donors. In the meantime, though, obligation and responsibility require that nothing encroach on Jackson's Garden.

If Joseph Jacques Ramee were to revisit this campus 180 years after drawing his initial plan, I think that he would be pleased. While available space outside of the center of the campus has been developed, the integrity of the Ramee
plan the center of the campus-remains intact. So, does the Nott Memorial; so will Jack
son's Garden; and, thanks to Bill and Gil, so, too, does the arboretum-type atmosphere of Union.

ROGER H. HULL