Posted on Apr 2, 2003

It began with the success of the fall teams. It has continued with the success of the winter teams. Now it is up to the spring teams to uphold and finish off what could be one of the best intercollegiate athletic seasons ever at Union.

The six winter term teams produced an overall record of 67-62-5 (a winning percentage of .519). Women's basketball, which ended at 22-5, and women's hockey (11-14-1) enjoyed the best seasons in their history. Men's basketball (17-12) completed its fifth consecutive winning season for the first time in over 24 years. The 14 wins compiled by the men's ice hockey team was the Garnet's third-best showing since joining the ECAC Division I league 12 years ago. The Dutchmen finished with an overall record of 14-18-4 while their league standard of 10-10-2 earned Union the right to host its first-ever ECAC Division I playoff game.

The men's swim team, which ended its dual meet season at 3-5, peaked at the right time as the Dutchmen took third (of 14 teams) in the New York State Meet and placed 14th (out of 46 teams) in the NCAA Division III championship meet. While the women were winless in their eight dual meet contests, they did come back to finish sixth (of 15 teams) in the New York State meet.

In the classroom, Union placed 15 of its winter student-athletes on the UCAA All-Academic team (which requires a cumulative grade point average of 3.2). Women's hockey topped the 11-team ECAC circuit by placing 10 of its players on the conference's All-Academic team (with a grade point average of at least 3.0), while five men were named the the ECAC Division I All-Academic team.

As for Union's winter coaches, February 28, 2003 proved to be a milestone for head basketball coach
Mary Ellen Burt, head basketball coach Bob Montana, and head hockey coach
Kevin Sneddon. All three coached their teams to victory that day giving Burt her 95th career victory, Montana his 100th, and Sneddon his 50th. All three of them got their first head coaching jobs at Union. On top of that, Burt and her assistant, Jamie Seward, were named “Coaching Staff of the Year” by their UCAA peers.

With two terms in the history book, Union has compiled an overall record of 126-116-8, a winning percentage of .520. Three teams qualified for their respective NCAA championship tournaments (volleyball, women's soccer, men's swimming and men's track), four teams were selected to participate in their respective ECAC tournaments (men and women's basketball as well as men and women's ice hockey), and one, women's soccer, won its UCAA regular-season and tournament championship (as head coach
Brian Speck, who also got his first head coaching job at Union, picked up his 100th career victory). Volleyball coach
Sandy Collins earned career victory No. 75 while guiding the Dutchwomen to their first NCAA tournament and head football coach
John Audino tied the College's all-time football record with his 86th career victory.

A total of 41 student-athletes have been named Academic All-Stars while a good number of student-athletes have been rewarded for excellent seasons by being selected to their respective UCAA, ECAC and New York State teams.

The fall and winter term student-athletes and coaches have certainly done their part to make the 2002-03 season one of the best in Union's long and proud history. Now it is up to the spring teams to try and make this year truly unforgettable.

A LOT TO BE PROUD OF!

• 61 Student-Athletes Named All-Academic
• Two-Term Overall Record of 126-118-8 (.520)
• Four NCAA Qualifiers:
  (women's soccer, volleyball,
  men's swimming, men's track)
• Four ECAC Postseason Qualifiers:
  (women's basketball, men's basketball,
  men's ice hockey, women's ice hockey)
• Six Coaching Milestones:
  (Bob Montana, 100; Brian Speck, 100;
  Mary Ellen Burt, 95; John Audino, 86;
  Sandy Collins, 75; Kevin Sneddon, 50)
• One UCAA Championship:
  (women's soccer)
• Three UCAA Runners-up:
  (women and men's basketball,
  men's swimming)
• Five National All-Americans
• Track:
  Sean Washington
• Swimming:
  Elliot Seguin, Ridgley Harrison,
  DJ Hogenkamp, Matt Acciani
• Numerous Union Student-Athletes Named
  All-Conference, All-ECAC, All-New York State

Posted on Apr 1, 2003

It was a lot to ask of one woman, even a goddess.

Minerva, the Greek goddess of wisdom who since 1795 has
shouldered the brunt of the College's graphic identity, is finally getting some
help: a new logo that features an image of the centerpiece Nott Memorial.

“The new logo is a distinctive branding of the College's most
recognizable symbol,” said Dan Lundquist, vice
president for admissions and financial aid, during the first of a series of
meetings this week to unveil and discuss the logo with members of the College
community.

“Union has never had a logo, per se,”
said Lundquist, “and we wanted to move toward a distinctive and coherent look
in our presentation. The venerable college seal is an important part of
the school's heritage but it is not suitable for a range of print and
internet-based applications.

“The new graphic identity system built around this logo has
been designed to reflect the mission and vision of the College,” he said. “Its
distinctive treatment of the Nott Memorial acknowledges our proud history of
achievement while conveying a sense of progress and innovation.”

The graphic was the result of months of work by a campus committee
that worked with a graphic design firm, GCF of Baltimore,
which assisted in a one-year re-do of the College's admissions publications and
web site. A number of alumni, faculty, students, and staff were interviewed as
the project moved from concept to implementation. “No college has the great
good fortune to have such an outstanding – and unique – opportunity for a
logo-image,” said Brenda Foster of GCF. “The Nott Memorial is the
emotional and architectural center of Union's campus –
and many peoples' experience of the College – and it was 'the natural' for a
logo.”

“Nowadays, images of the Nott effectively say 'Union
College,' without the words,” said
Lundquist. “Guided by our traditions, we wanted to find a crisp rendering
of that image that would be effective in a wide variety of applications and say
'Union College.'” 

One of the committee's main goals was to develop a design
that conveys the College's distinctive centerpiece in a clean, elegant graphic
that would be easy to reproduce, said Tom Smith,
the College's web site director.

The committee considered a number of images ranging from
stark negative renderings of the Nott to highly detailed ones that resembled
woodcuts. Lundquist related that one committee member, Trustee Mark Walsh '76,
observed that U.S.
currency was designed with great detail to discourage counterfeits. Similarly,
a highly detailed logo would be difficult to reproduce in a variety of media –
print and electronic.

The new image will be phased in over time, so offices and
programs need not waste stationery, for example. “We are not saying that by noon tomorrow everyone must use the new logo,”
said Smith. “This will be rolled out over time and you will be seeing it more
and more.”

The seal of Minerva will continue to be used for official
College documents – like diplomas, transcripts and program covers. The adoption
of the Minerva seal at the College's founding was a radical innovation in that
it incorporated a French motto: “Sous le
lois de Minerve nous devenons tous fréres” (“We all become brothers under
the laws of Minerva”).

The launch of the new logo is accompanied by a “Graphic
Identity Style Guide” that explains the various uses. The style guide and
various versions of the logo and typography are available at the following web
site: http://www.union.edu/logo/