It is hard to believe our children are studying for finals and the first term is almost over.
First of all, we would like to extend a thank you to the 12 families who hosted our freshman sendoffs this year. These events brought together members of the Class of '06, their families, prospective students, current students, and alumni
to meet and celebrate their Union connections.
Homecoming and Family Weekend (HFW) was a tremendous success with many families and alumni making the journey back to a beautiful fall campus. The weekend was filled with opportunities-faculty presentations, class visits, the President's Reception, our Parents Council Steering Committee meeting, picnics, receptions, student talent shows, and the 100th annual Union vs. RPI football game.
We even had our first HFW parent presentation/discussion featuring
David Fogelson, M.D., clinical professor
of psychiatry at UCLA. There was definitely something for everyone!
We would like to welcome the incoming Parents Fund Chair, Bill Gottdenker (Suzanne '05). Bill is proud to announce that we ended our 2001-2002 year with 2,296 gifts from parents totaling $886,171. Thank you! We have already jumped into this year's fund, working at this moment with parent volunteers and student affiliates. We hope that you will participate to the best of your ability-it is a very meaningful gesture of support for our students' education.
We are also pleased that 18 percent of our parents took the time to fill out last year's Parents Questionnaire. The results were recently presented at a President's Cabinet meeting to the College administrators, and we also sent a letter to parents recapping the findings. Please take advantage of the opportunity to offer your own feedback when the 2003 questionnaires are sent out in the Spring. We can assure
you that the College listens very intently
to our parent community point of view.
To reiterate, there are plenty of ways
to get involved with Union, many of which are based in your own hometown. If you
are interested, be sure to take a look at
the “Union Parents” web page-http://www.union.edu/Parents. And remember, if you have any questions
about the Parents Council and its activities, you can get a rapid response by e-mailing
Parents_Council@union.edu.
Finally, in a continued effort to enhance communication between parents and the College, all parents can receive About U-an online newsletter with lots of updates and information from the Union campus. But you won't receive it unless we have your
e-mail address!
Sincerely:
Sally and Tom Simons (Emily '03)