Posted on May 27, 2003

Traditions…

The article “The tradition of traditions” brought back many fond memories of my undergraduate days. There are, however, some random comments:

  • In listing the various names the alumni magazine has had, you include the
    Union College Symposium. My recollection is that the Symposium began around 1960 and was a sister publication to the alumni magazine but was not another name for it.

  • In discussing hazing you did not include the Sophomore Discipline Comittee. This was the most feared (and hated) group every freshman class was to encounter.
  • Later in the issue you mention the Betty Wemple Scholarship. Betty was well known to students as she worked with Bill Ketz as coordinator of student activities. He had his office in Washburn Hall. I was disappointed that no mention was made of Bill nor Betty, since the two of them had an impact on just about every student and are remembered with a great deal of fondness.

Ed O'Meally '54
Westminster, Md.

The Symposium began in 1962 and was published four times a year until 1970. It contained little news about the College, but was more an attempt at a literary magazine. For part of the 60s the alumni news appeared in the Review, an eight-page combination of campus news and class notes. In the late 60s, those items moved to the Chronicle, a tabloid-sized
publication that also seemed
to serve as an on-campus newspaper. In 1974, everything moved again, this time to the magazine still called Union
College.-Editor

More traditions
AFROTC Military Ball

Your feature on Union traditions was most interesting, but there are a couple of
references to photos that need correction.

The first concerns the photo on page five which you call the 1915 Prom. This is the same photo, somewhat differently cropped, that appears on page 134 of the 1955 Garnet, where it is described as the AFROTC Military Ball, which took place on November 5, 1954. Having attended that dance and knowing some of the people in the picture, I can assure you that it is not 1915. The photo on page
nine shows Carter Davidson awarding a prize “circa 1950.” I believe the recipient is Chauncey Wood '57, in which case the photo dates from the spring of that year.

Ted Smith '57
Reston, Va.

Patterson was next to last

There is a minor error on page five of the Garnet and Gray section of the winter issue. Kenneth C. Royall, rather than Robert Porter Patterson '12, was the last secretary of war. Patterson served in that office from Sept. 7, 1945 until July 18, 1947. Royall's tenure was from July 19, 1947 until Sept. 17, 1947, when he became the first secretary of the Army.

William B. Fisher '47
Washington, D.C.

Remembering
Betty Wemple

I noticed the announcement on the next to last page of the Winter 2003 issue of Union College of a Mary E. “Betty” Wemple Memorial Scholarship Fund.

I wish to remind alumni/alumnae that after a first few years as a secretary in the Admissions Office, Betty moved in the mid-1940s to the newly created Office of Student Activities and Veterans Affairs. There she had contact with numerous students who were participating in out-of-class activities as well, of course, with veterans of World War II. I am certain Betty will be well remembered by those who came by the office.

After some fifteen years,
Betty was appointed assistant registrar on July 1, 1960,
succeeding Frances Travis, who had had the title recorder. From then until her retirement in 1985, Betty was responsible for student permanent records. Again, an untold number of students, including foreign students,
for Betty handled INS matters, were in contact with her as they checked their progress toward a degree and processed transcript requests. Betty was always helpful and concerned.

I encourage alumni/ alumnae to assist in the establishment of this lasting memorial.

Calvin G. Schmidt '51
Amsterdam, N.Y.

The writer is Registrar Emeritus of the College.-Editor