Regular readers will know that I feel strongly about service, with a special emphasis on Union students and the many ways they contribute to the community-both the Union community and the community beyond our gates.
The most recent example, as this issue of the magazine notes, came this fall, when the entire Class of 2000 pitched in to help paint, pick up, and plant throughout the City of Schenectady. It was a wonderful introduction to the local community and to a practice that I hope they will engage in throughout their lives.
It was also the latest in a series of efforts undertaken by the College this past year. This fall, in
a report to the community, we discussed those efforts, and I'd like to share them with a broader audience-you.
They include:
- Ninety Union students participated in Big Brothers/ Big Sisters, sixty-five percent of the total number of volunteers.
- We Care About U Schenectady involved more than forty students in restoring houses on Hamilton Hill. (Six homes have been rehabilitated since 1991.)
- More than 100 Union students hosted the Youth Olympics on our Frank Bailey Field.
- The College received the “Golden Broom” award from the Schenectady County Chamber of Commerce for its involvement in cleaning Pleasant Valley along Interstate 890 in downtown Schenectady.
- Girl Scout Troop 436 was begun at Union, and its members met weekly with Union scout leaders.
- The mostly-volunteer Rotterdam Ambulance squad relied on 10 Union students, most of whom belong to the campus club known as UMED, which provides emergency medical support for campus events.
Perhaps the most sustained efforts have come in our relationships with local schools. For example:
- The Educational Studies Program provided professional development for 160 Schenectady city and county teachers that will directly affect their work with students in their classrooms. Elementary and middle school teachers were oriented to new methods of teaching math, science, and technology.
- Our STEP program, an after-school program during the regular school year, served seventy students at Central Park Middle School, Mont Pleasant Middle School, and Schenectady High School. Next year the number of Saturday sessions will be increased to attract more high school students.
- Ten students interned in Schenectady High School, and over the years we have had interns at all the middle schools.
- Twenty-five students enrolled in a summer math, science, and computer science enrichment program for seventh and eighth graders.
- Our COMPASS program had another successful year. Begun by GE's Elfun Society, the program now is coordinated by the Schenectady Chamber of Commerce and the Union College Religious Programs office. Fifty Union students act as mentors for children in grades two through five at Zoller Elementary school. Expansion to Schenectady High School is under consideration.
- Professor of Chemistry Les Hull continued his CABBS program (Capital Area Bulletin Board System), a regional bulletin board for science teachers. About 450 teachers used the system. Classes to teach teachers how to use the system are held on Saturdays in our computer labs.
- Professor of Chemistry Charles Scaife continued the “science roadshows” that have made him popular in elementary schools and the subject of a feature article in The Wall Street Journal. Charlie is developing a training program for Union students that will bring his popular science event into even more schools.
- A special diversity summer camp for young people was held this summer. Twenty-three white and students of color from Schenectady High School spent two weeks on campus in a residential learning program. The camp created an environment in which youngsters grew to understand and respect one another. Students wrote a script and made a film while developing their writing, public-speaking, computer, and problem-solving skills.
We're very proud of the College's leadership in this very important area-and we look forward to adding to the list next year. More importantly, we look forward to ever increasing numbers of students learning the joy of contributing back to the community of which they are an important part.