The Annual Giving and
Alumni Programs Office
has introduced a new look for alumni club events – Garnet Gatherings.
Watch for the “dancing U's” in your mailbox. Hayl Kephart, director of the office, says, “All of our fun-filled event information, and only the event information, is enclosed. We hope that you'll check us out and get involved.”
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An Alumnae Leadership Round Table, intended to encourage active involvement by women of all ages in the life of the College, had its first meeting last fall in New York City.
The event was hosted by Kate White '72, editor-in-chief of Redbook magazine. The Round Table will meet twice each year, with the next gathering planned for the spring in Manhattan. If you're interested, contact Hayl Kephart, director of annual giving and alumni programs, at (518) 388-6168.
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Members of the new Eliphalet Nott Society, a group for Union entrepreneurs and business owners, met in Manhattan recently and heard from James Spanfeller '79, publisher of Yahoo Internet Life magazine.
Spanfeller discussed interesting entrepreneurs and their ventures and the latest in technology and Internet businesses (a profile of Spanfeller appears in “The Classes” section in this issue).
Members of the Eliphalet Nott Society agree to contribute to the College at least two percent of their equity in an enterprise in which they are the founder, principal, lender, or investor. There will be a spring meeting of the society in New York City, and anyone interested in attending may call Dan West, vice president for college relations, at (518) 388-6180, or visit the alumni page at the College's World Wide Web site
(http://www.union.edu).
The College has received several major gifts and bequests in recent months from long-time friends. The gifts include:
The College received $1,060,000 as a partial distribution from the estate and trusts of Agnes Macdonald, of Niskayuna, N.Y.
The bequest was given in memory of her father, Christian Steenstrup, a friend of the College, and will be used to support mechanical engineering. The trust remainder is unrestricted.
Mrs. Macdonald, who died in March, 1996, was a philanthropist who supported numerous local organizations. In 1990, she received the Lifetime Achievement for Philanthropy Award from the
Hudson/Mohawk chapter of the National Society of Fund Raising Executives.
Kenneth T. and Thelma P. Lally, of Niskayuna, N.Y., have made a gift of $1 million to establish a reading room in the renovated and expanded Schaffer Library.
President Roger Hull said the reading room will be “a key element of the library that is the intellectual hub of the campus, and it will make valuable resources more accessible to the Schenectady community.”
The Lallys have been longtime benefactors to a number of organizations in the Capital District. Lally began his career as an engineer at the General Electric Co. and went on to become president of a number of technology companies, including Gurley-Teledyne, Coradian Corp., and Testamatic Corp.
Mrs. Lally, who retired as a teacher in the Niskayuna (N.Y.) School District, is on a number of community boards.
Philip R. Beuth '54 has donated $1 million to support the expansion and renovation of Schaffer Library. His gift will name the atrium in the new facility.
“I feel a special affinity to people who encouraged me-people like the late Bill Huntley '34,” Beuth said. “And I give my gift in memory of Harold Olsen, Sr., who was the father of my best friend a Union, Hal Olsen, Jr., '54. Mr. Olsen wouldn't let me consider another college, although I couldn't afford Union. He introduced me to Frank Bailey (longtime Union treasurer), who provided me with a scholarship.”
Beuth is the retired president of Capital Cities Communications/ABC's “Good Morning America” and now operates Broadcast Consultants International. He is a trustee of Union.
Report of Gifts corrections In the 1995-96 Report of Gifts (November issue of Union College), Richard Angle '38 should have been acknowledged as a member of the Terrace Council's Society of the Idol. Also, the gift of Theodore Colangelo '64 was matched by his employer.
Read MoreFundraising for the $17,650,000 renovation and expansion of Schaffer Library has been completed, and the College went to bid on the project in mid-November.
“Once again, Union's dedicated alumni and friends enable us to build upon the College's tradition of academic excellence,” said Dan West, vice president for college relations.
The funding goal included monies for construction and endowment funds to maintain the facility and for educational technology.
At press time more than 600 alumni and friends had contributed to the project, with gifts ranging from one dollar to $2 million. Six donors contributed $1 million or more each, while 447 donors contributed up to $1,000 each.
Challenges from both the Kresge Foundation and the Emerson Foundation were met, resulting in a combined $1.5 million from the foundations.
The Kresge Challenge was to raise $12,650,000 for the renovation and expansion and an additional $2 million for an endowment to maintain and operate the new facility. Both conditions were met, releasing an $800,000 gift from the foundation.
The $250,000 in Emerson Foundation challenge funds are directed to endowment to support the continuous improvement of instructional technology and electronic research resources.
A challenge from the National Endowment for the Humanities is still in effect. Contributions for the project received through July 31, 1998, will be used to claim the NEH challenge grant, which is worth $574,750.
The renovated and expanded library is scheduled for completion in the fall of 1998.
A complete list of donors to the Schaffer Library project will be included in a future issue of Union College.
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