Posted on Nov 1, 1999

Union joined a list that includes Stanford, the U.S. Capitol, and Disneyland this summer, when the American Society of Landscape Architects presented 362 medallion awards to some of the nation's most aesthetically-pleasing sites.

Union was one of twenty-two college campuses to make the list (which included Duke, Berkeley, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). Barry W. Starke, president of the architects' group, said, “These landscapes have inspired communities, increased serenity, contributed to mental and physical health, and given unique character to our land.”

The campus, officially known as the College grounds, occupies 100 acres. French architect and landscape planner Joseph Ramee designed the campus — the first unified campus plan in America. He designed a great general court, flanked on three sides by buildings and open to the west, with a round pantheon as the focus of the court.

The first buildings, begun in 1813, are now known as South and North Colleges. The distinctive Ramee style, with its arches and pilasters in white, remains the dominant motif. At the center of campus, of course, is the Nott Memorial, the sixteen-sided National Historic Landmark widely hailed by architectural historians.

Other recognition of note includes:

Union was one of eleven colleges nationally to be recognized for its social outreach efforts by The Best College for You, a joint publication of Time magazine and The Princeton Review.

Hot Bot, a search engine on the World Wide Web, ranked Union third among the nation's most-searched-for college sites. By early September, the College's Web site had more than 7.5 million visits this year.

Posted on Nov 1, 1999

In addition to the renovation of homes in the College Park neighborhood (see separate story), the campus saw a number of other projects during the summer:

The Nott-Seward parking lot was paved with space for 200 cars; it also has walkways, lights, and emergency phones.

The two tennis courts closest to the Humanities Building and Schaffer Library were returned to green space (two new courts were added near Lamont House).

Offices and classrooms in Humanities were remodeled, moving modern languages faculty offices from 36 Union Ave., and a classroom in the Social Sciences building was converted to four offices.

The guest house at 1294 Lenox Rd. was renovated for Thurston House (the East Asian Studies theme house) with occupancy for sixteen students.

Fero House was renovated to house fourteen independent students.

The Office of Communications moved to 69 Union Ave, the former Dudley Observatory.

Posted on Nov 1, 1999

Fourteen members of the Class of 2003 were drum majors in high school, two were Eagle Scouts, 413 worked part-time jobs, and one owned a business.

Those were a few of the statistics gathered by the Gatekeepers, the Admissions Office's student assistants. Also among the findings for this year's freshman class:

377 of the 541 members of the class played varsity sports in high school, and 128 of them were team captains;

Twenty-one percent reported playing a musical instrument, and eight percent were in vocal music.

An estimated sixty percent did some form of community service, and 194 were in student government, including ten class presidents.

Two hundred were members of the National Honor Society, 149 were on honor roll, and one was a National Merit Scholar.

Thirty-seven are international students.

Two reported perfect attendance.

Posted on Nov 1, 1999

In recent months the College has received a number of grants from foundations, including two challenge grants:

The Fred Emerson Foundation, of Auburn, N.Y., awarded the College a $500,000 challenge grant to support the Union-Schenectady Initiative, a broad-based plan to revitalize the neighborhood to the immediate west of campus. The gift will support the purchase, renovation, and furnishing of one building; network communications wiring; and creation of an endowment to be used for wiring upgrade and maintenance. The College needs to raise $1.5 million by November 2001 to satisfy the challenge.

The Kresge Foundation of Michigan made a $500,000 Kresge Science Initiative grant for science and engineering equipment and for the establishment of an endowment to maintain, upgrade, and replace equipment. The grant includes a challenge to raise $1 million by December 2000, for a total equipment endowment of $1.25 million. Equipment to be acquired includes an open circuit wind tunnel, fog generator, and processor for use in civil and mechanical engineering programs; fluorescent and inverted microscopes for biology; and six computer-based oscilloscopes for electrical engineering.

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, of New York City, made a $400,000 grant (jointly with Hobart and William Smith Colleges) to support a cooperative international studies program. The grant will be administered over a four-year period and will support fifteen to twenty collaborative, off-campus programs. The two colleges also will develop two new programs. The International Cultural Assistance program will enlist students from both colleges who have international study experience to serve as mentors to other students; the program also will set up orientation and “reentry” programs. The Student International Initiatives Fund will provide support for students to develop projects that will build upon their international experiences; initiatives might include a joint student association or collaborative research projects. The grant also will fund the development of technologies to support interactive broadcast instruction between the two colleges (e.g., instruction in program languages not otherwise offered on either campus).

The Sherman Fairchild Foundation of Maryland made a $500,000 grant over five years for introductory and first-level science course laboratory equipment. The College will replace, upgrade, and add equipment in its four laboratory-based science departments — biology, chemistry, geology, and physics.

The Henry Luce Foundation, of New York City, awarded the College $271,104 in support of the East Asian Studies program. The grant will support a new tenure-line position in Chinese language, literature, and culture. Funds also will help expand the activities of Thurston House, a residence for students who have an interest in East Asian studies, and will support the development of Asia-based modules for existing courses such as music, classics, and art history.

Posted on Nov 1, 1999

The Board of Trustees has approved a resolution saying that no student may be a member of a fraternal or social organization that is not recognized by the College.

The resolution, adopted by the board at its June meeting, says that rushing, pledging, perpetuating, and initiating activities by non-recognized fraternal or social organizations are prohibited. Anyone engaged in those activities — either as a member, recruiter, or potential pledge — will be suspended for a minimum of one year and may be subject to additional penalties that could include expulsion.

Dean of Students Fred Alford, in a letter to students and their families over the summer, emphasized that the policy is not intended to discourage students from joining civic organizations or beginning new clubs or organizations.

It is intended, he said, to prevent underground social groups in general, and to put an end to the activities of two fraternities (Delta Upsilon and Beta Theta Pi) that have operated underground since losing their charters and recognition in 1995 and 1997. Those groups' activities have included hazing and vandalism, he said.

“There are other groups on campus which have had social and/or residential privileges withdrawn, but they are still recognized and not subject to the terms of the Trustee resolution,” Alford said. “Similarly, new social, artistic, political, literary, athletic, and recreational groups form on a regular basis, and we do not want to place limits on these new endeavors.”

Alford said students who have joined Delta Upsilon or Beta Theta Pi should sever those bonds or run the risk of suspension or expulsion should they be involved in any activity that perpetuates or promotes the unrecognized groups.

He said that leaders of recognized Greek organizations on campus supported the new policy because they are aware “that the system needs to dissociate itself from regressive traditions like hazing and alcohol abuse if it is to survive.”