Posted on Aug 25, 2003

This year is the 175th anniversary of the graduation of Union's “other” secretary of state, Robert Augustus Toombs, who held that post for the Confederacy at the start of the Civil War. A brief biography of Toombs was written in 1960 by Fred C. Cole, president of Washington and Lee University and former editor of The Journal of Southern
History. The following is adapted from his article.

Among all the colleges of America, Union is unique. No other college can boast of two alumni who served concurrently as Secretary of State-William H. Seward [Class of 1820], who served the North under Lincoln, and Robert Toombs, who served the Confederacy under Jefferson Davis.

Toombs took office on Feb. 27, 1861, amid an atmosphere of excitement and apprehension that surrounded the State House at Montgomery, Ala. Like the office of secretary of state in the now alien government of the United States, the position was considered one of honor and distinction, in effect, the “premiership” of Jefferson Davis's cabinet. Southerners generally agreed that Davis had done well in his choice of top government officials; all knew the excellent qualities of leadership and statesmanship of Robert Toombs.

Unfortunately, the office that Toombs assumed was not destined to be one of power and influence. The Confederacy was to exist as a nation at war. The continuous crises involved in meeting the impossible demands of the armies in the field were to take precedence over long-term plans and efforts towards establishing the Confederacy among the great nations of the world. Toombs found himself virtually a chief clerk for the Davis administration, handling mainly the infrequent correspondence and instructions between the government and its agents abroad and those active n the still uncommitted states of the Upper South.

He resigned his office in July of 1861, just a few days after his commission as a brigadier-general in the Confederate Army became effective.

Thus the South lost one of its ablest civilian leaders from the political arena. The problems which the South faced demanded wisdom, persuasiveness, insight, eloquence, reason, the ability to get things done-in short, the qualities Robert Toombs possessed. At the age of 51, in the prime of his intellectual capacities, he ceased to be an important force in Southern statesmanship.

Toombs and Seward did not attend Union together but less than a decade separated their undergraduate careers, and both were in large measure exposed to the same influences, chief among them, perhaps, that of Eliphalet

Nott, the distinguished scholar and academician who served as president from 1804 to 1866.

Toombs was one of 28 transfer students among the 83 members of Union's Class of 1828. He came to Union from Franklin College in Athens, Ga., an institution that was to evolve into the University of Georgia. Toombs's biographer, Professor Ulrich B. Phillips, suggests that Franklin College at that time was deficient in most areas of collegiate excellence. But what the institution lacked in academic rigor, it made up for in disciplinary stringency, and a hard and fast rule concerning card-playing by students proved Toombs's downfall-or so the story goes. Apparently, Toombs at Union was a model student in deportment.

Union had a number of Southern students, and it is not too difficult to draw a parallel between what happened at Union among men of different sectional heritages and that which occurred on the national scene. At first, there was the mingling of factions, the realization that there were differences of attitudes and beliefs, but a general acceptance of things as they were. Then the differences grew in importance, and the lines of debate and argument were drawn. And, finally, the secession itself, if you will, of the groups to their special areas of the graduation stage occurred.

From Union, Toombs went to the University of Virginia to prepare for a career in law, and in this career, begun at the age of 20, he found wealth, prestige, and, characteristically then as today, a stepping stone to public service. At age 27, he became a member of the Georgia state legislature. In 1844, he was elected to Congress, where he won many friends and worked to avoid sectional friction wherever possible. Throughout the decade of the 1850s, and through 1860, Toombs remained, in the final test, a compromiser, a politician in the best sense of the term. He labored long in behalf of the Compromise of 1850, supported the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and in 1856 he sought to halt bloodshed in Kansas through a bill of his own that would provide quick admission of the suffering
territory as a state on the terms of any properly conceived republican constitution.

Toombs was one of a Senate Committee of Thirteen which made a last effort to seek areas of compromise, and this failing, he reluctantly gave up his hopes of keeping Georgia within the Union and of
preserving the Union itself. On Jan. 7, 1861, he made his farewell speech in the Senate, and several days later journeyed south.

After the war, Toombs retired to his home at Washington, Ga. He renewed his law practice with great success, and within the borders of Georgia he again exercised strong influence. His last great act of service to Georgia was his work with the convention of 1877, which framed a new state constitution and wisely heeded Toombs's counsel to “establish a few fundamental principles and leave these other matters to the legislature and the people, in order to meet the ever varying affairs of human life.” He died in 1885.

Posted on Aug 25, 2003

It was, everyone agreed, a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

On one of the few Sundays all spring that was filled with sunshine, Commencement 2003 honored Fred McFeeley Rogers-better known
as Mr. Rogers.

The host of “Mister Rogers' Neighborhood”, the longest-running show
on PBS, had agreed to be the speaker and accept an honorary degree from the College. He died on Feb. 27 at the age of seventy-four after a brief battle with stomach cancer.

“To honor the life and work of a man who has meant so much to so many is the right thing to do,” said President Roger Hull. “I felt strongly-and our students agreed-that while we could not enjoy the company of Fred Rogers at Commencement, we could use his words to convey his meaningful messages about kindness, compassion, and learning. All the things that Fred Rogers stood for-especially his strong advocacy for children and his passionate belief that television can be an instrument of nurture-will long be remembered.”

Instead of the usual commencement address, Dean of Students Fred Alford and seniors Pooja Kothari and Katrina Tentor read a tribute that included some of Rogers's words. Mrs. Rogers accepted his degree, an honorary doctor of humane letters, and changed the lyrics of one of her husband's signature songs to remind the graduates-as her husband would have-that what makes them special is what's inside.

Quoting from “It's You I Like,” Joanne Rogers added, “It's not your diplomas, they're just beside you.”

She also quoted from one of her husband's favorite phrases, a line from The Little Prince: “What is essential is invisible to the eyes.”

“What is invisible about you?” she asked the graduates. “There is at least one person… who believed in you. We don't get to be confident human beings without someone investing in us.”

Mrs. Rogers closed her remarks with a story her husband liked to tell about himself and a case of mistaken identity: Once, while boarding a plane, Mr. Rogers saw a flight attendant carefully watching him. When he approached, she excitedly remarked, “Oh, I just love your popcorn.”

“We called him 'Orville' for quite some time,” Mrs. Rogers said, referring to popcorn magnate Orville Redenbacher. “Now they're both in heaven having a good laugh over it.”

The citation for Mr. Rogers noted: “The dictionary offers a half-dozen definitions of the word 'neighborhood,' but to children of all ages, the word neighborhood means Mister Rogers. When he invited us to be his neighbor, promising us a beautiful day, we happily left our living rooms to join him in his. His compassion and commitment to all that is best in us led to an astonishing range of honors, from the Presidential Medal of Freedom to being called a 'hero' by Esquire magazine. We eagerly looked forward to having him to our neighborhood, and we add our voice to the many who mourn his passing. For his unceasing efforts to teach our children to love themselves and each other, we are proud to make him an honorary alumnus of this College.”

In his charge to the graduates, President Hull said, “While you were here we came together as a country better than we had in sixty years. However, that unity was all too fleeting. Some rightly focused on matters of national import; others were focused on themselves and taking unsavory shortcuts.

“Indeed, hardly a day goes by when one does not read of a scandal of some sort. Hardly a day goes by when I don't think that we should be handing out lanterns and, like
Diogenes, looking for an
honest man or woman.

“Yes, the pressures upon you are great, and the temptations for shortcuts great, too. You want to be happy and successful, and I wish you happiness and success. More than that, though, I want you to live honestly and compassionately. Take a page, take several pages, from Fred Rogers. At the beginning and at the end of the day, and at any other time that you look in the mirror, you will then like what you see. Live your life so that, if Diogenes saw you, he could stop his search for an honest man or woman. In that way, you will always feel that your best days lie ahead.”

Jeffrey Silver, a theater major, was selected to give the student address. In his remarks, he said, “I very much wish Mr. Rogers could be here with us today, because he is the godfather of friendship. But if he were here, I'm sure he would agree with me-the most important lessons learned in college, exceeding any engineering design or history thesis, are friendship and care towards one another. In that regard,
I think we have all succeeded.

As Mr. Rogers would say, we turned Union into our own 'land of make-believe.'”

The College awarded 123 master's degrees, 249 bachelor of arts degrees, 171 bachelor of science degrees, and 68 bachelor of science in engineering degrees. Two students earned two degrees each.

Christopher Roblee, of Waltham, Mass., was valedictorian. The computer engineering major and mathematics minor plans to pursue a master's degree and perhaps a Ph.D. in computer engineering at Dartmouth College's Thayer School of Engineering. Dmitry Abramov, a biology and political science major from Guilderland, N.Y., and Richard Misiaszek, a biochemistry major from Marcy, N.Y., were co-salutatorians. Abramov is enrolled in the eight-year Leadership in Medicine Program, a joint degree program with Albany Medical College. Misiaszek will work on cancer research with the chemistry department at New York University.

As part of the festivities, the Office of College Relations invited graduating seniors and their families to attend the Garnet Gala on the evening before Commencement. More than 1,300 guests celebrated the accomplishments of the Class of 2003 with food, a band, and dancing beside the Nott Memorial-a fitting way to celebrate four years of work and to bid good-bye to Union
-at least until ReUnion.

For more information and Commencement photographs, see www.union.edu.

Posted on Aug 25, 2003

Thanks to two alumni, the College is about to make major improvements to its athletic facilities.

The Viniar Family Foundation and David Viniar '76 are
supporting the construction of a multi-use sports facility, and Frank Messa' 73, and his wife, Colleen, are supporting the
renovation of the Achilles Center.

The Viniar gift

The Viniar Family Foundation has made a grant of $2 million to build a multi-use sports facility that will become home to the College's men's and women's basketball teams. The foundation grant follows a personal gift of $1.2 million made earlier by David Viniar '76, which will also be used for this purpose.

“Through the generosity of David Viniar and his family, the College will have a facility
-long overdue-that will be commensurate with the level of our men's and women's basketball programs,” said President Roger Hull. “We are grateful that David chose to honor his own experiences as an exceptional student-
athlete this way.”

Viniar graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in economics. He was a member of the varsity basketball team, which in 1974-75 compiled a 20-4 record and won an ECAC Upstate New York title. He serves today as a member of the College's Board of Trustees.

After Union, Viniar went
to graduate school at Harvard University, where he received his M.B.A. in 1980. He joined the investment banking firm of Goldman Sachs & Co., where he became a partner in 1992 and chief financial officer in 1999.

An active alumnus, he has volunteered with the Career Development Center, served as an admissions representative, and participated as a member of Friends of Union Athletics. In 1997, he established the Leo and Evelyn Viniar Scholarship at Union in honor of his parents.

“David Viniar understands the importance of athletics in a young person's education,” said Bob Montana, coach of men's basketball. “He is one of the finest examples of a student-athlete.” Mary Ellen Burt, head coach of women's basketball, said, “Through the Viniar family's support, we will have a facility that will raise the visibility of women's basketball at Union and provide an important tool in our efforts to recruit new talent.”

The multi-use building will include two basketball practice courts and one performance court, with spectator seating for 1,000. It will be located southeast of Memorial Field House, with connections to the field house's locker rooms and equipment facilities. The new facility will be used for practices, games, and intramurals. It will relieve congestion in Memorial Field House, the practice site for a number of winter and spring teams. Construction of the facility should begin this fall, with completion by the fall of 2004.

The Messa gift

Frank Messa '73, senior vice president of Ayco Co., and his wife, Colleen, have donated $1.5 million for the renovation of the Achilles Center.

The project will include the replacement of the ice refrigeration system, expansion of the ice surface, enhanced seating, new boards and glass, and renovations to the lobby and locker rooms. The renovated rink will provide a year-round ice surface.

The rink is the home of Union's two ice hockey programs-the men's team, hich plays in the ECAC Division I league, and the women's team, which this year moves to ECAC Division I. The rink is also used by the intramural programs and by a number of hockey and figure skating programs from the local community.

“Frank Messa's support of Union runs long and deep,” said President Hull. “In every way, Frank has been available when Union has called. His recent gift makes possible a significant enhancement for both our student-athletes and the many members of the local community who support them. The rink enhancements also make possible the year-round development of athletes from both the College and community.”

Val Belmonte, director of athletics, said the renovations “will create one of the finest venues in the ECAC and enhance our ability to compete and recruit.”

“Union College has been an important part of my life since I first came to the campus,” said Messa. “I am proud to be able to contribute to this project.”

Messa received his bachelor's degree magna cum laude in political science and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. After earning a J.D. degree from Albany Law School in 1976, he joined Ayco, the largest fee-based financial counseling firm in the nation. He was named senior vice president in 1996. He is also chief executive officer of estate financial services for the company.

Among his many community service activities, he has been a member of the Board of Directors for United Way of Northeastern New York, a trustee of the Albany Academy for Girls, and a trustee of St. Gregory's School for Boys. He has served on the Parents Committee of the Hotchkiss School and Duke University.

As a Union alumnus, he is a member of the College's Board of Trustees, a former member of the Trustee Board of Advisors, class president, Alumni Council representative, and national chairman of the Annual Fund. He created the Frank Messa '73 Endowed Scholarship and recently received the Alumni Gold Medal from the Alumni Council for service to the College.

Posted on Aug 25, 2003

When George H. Williams '65 returned to the College to teach
computer science in 1970, the department hadn't even been born. Until that time, he admits, “I had given no thought to teaching. It was fortuitous the opening was here. I looked at the approved curriculum and thought, 'What a wonderful program! I should find out who's teaching all these great courses.' What I found out was, it was me!”

Williams, now professor
of computer science and department chair, was the first faculty member hired at Union to teach what would later become computer science. Over the years, he's offered courses in operating systems, advanced programming
techniques, program design, systems programming, and information retrieval. Not surprisingly, he is also “the number-cruncher in the
family,” says his wife, Research Associate Professor of Biology Karen Williams.

The Williamses began collaborating following the completion of Karen's doctoral research on postpartum depression. Their goal was to develop a questionnaire that would help identify pregnant women at risk for this form of depression. The project was unusual in its emphasis on anticipating and preventing emotional and mental problems. Explains Karen, “These women tend to get lost in the system because sometimes the depression develops weeks or months after the birth of their babies. And pediatricians don't usually ask the mothers, 'And how are you doing?' There's a lot of guilt associated with postpartum depression, yet it's common-about 15 percent of women experience it.”

Karen and George co-authored (with their collaborators) an article in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine in 1998, as the culmination of two decades of research.

The two met on the Union campus in fall of 1963. “In those days, they were importing females from local colleges,” she says. “I was a student at Russell Sage. And this was a blind date.”

At the time, George was taking the five-year program in electrical engineering and economics. They married not long after graduation, and following George's graduation from Yale and the birth of their son in 1970, all three attended George's fifth reunion. While George went off to his job interview, Karen marched in the alumni parade. “I carried Chris in a backpack with a banner that read 'Union College Class of '92'-and indeed, the backpack message came true.” Christopher Williams '92 majored in political science and went on to Albany Law School; he's now a financial adviser with Ernst & Young.

Karen started teaching at Union in 1972, and has taught genetics, introductory biology, human heredity, human anatomy and physiology, comparative anatomy of the vertebrates, and topics in contemporary biology. She's also served as counselor in the Health Professions Programs and has taught the Hospital Health Care Practicum for students who are planning to go into the health professions. For the past eight years, she has coordinated the Summer Science Workshop, which brings talented minority high school students to campus.

The Williamses' most
recent collaborative effort was the establishment of a biotechnology mini-term abroad in Scotland. In the summers of 2001 and 2002, they led groups of students, looking
at ways in which the health care problems of the Scottish people are being addressed
by medical research and computer technology.

After retirement, they plan to stay in the Schenectady area for a few years before moving to Santa Cruz, Calif., where they have a home. Not people to remain idle, they plan to explore opportunities at the University of Santa Cruz. George also plans to continue his amateur radio activities, which he started at Union's W2UC.

Posted on Aug 25, 2003

The list of retirements this year included a number of staff members:

Alice Marocco, director of gift planning: Recalling a trip to visit Jim Corbin '34 in Swansboro, N.C., she described how she and colleague Sally Webster accompanied Corbin as he drove his Jeep over the storm-washed beach. “Suddenly, Jim stopped, put the Jeep in reverse, opened the driver's door, and leaned out to pick up something that was lying on the beach. He turned and handed me a large, nearly perfect, conch shell-the most beautiful I had ever seen.” Corbin died in 1999. “I like to think that if I hold that shell to my ears, I might hear pieces of the conversations I've had over the years with Jim and the countless other wonderful Union alumni and friends I have had the privilege and the honor to know.”

Sandy Marshall, secretary, Admissions: “I started working in West College as line server. One of the students who worked with me handing out food to the students is now handling my money.” The student has also become a financial consultant to a number of Marshall's family members. “Thanks to a Union graduate who handed out food, we are able to retire with financial security.”

Marianne Moore, secretary, political science: Recalling when she applied for her job, she described the conversations she had with the late Prof. Charlie Tidmarch and emeritus Prof. Joe Board. “To tell the truth, if it weren't for Charlie and Joe,
I don't know if I would have decided to work for Union. They both helped me through the years. It has been one of the most comfortable positions I have ever had, mainly because of those two wonderful people.”

Sandy Mosher, director of Health Services: Announcing her retirement, Dean of Students Fred Alford paid tribute to her “eternal calm and good-natured approach.” He took special note of her work “shepherding us through numerous health emergencies, not the least of which was a measles scare that required immunizing everyone on campus born after the Eisenhower administration and that called for the tactical skills of a battalion commander.”

Jeane Sinnenberg, assistant registrar: “My most memorable moment was the first day I went to the engineering office
in Carnegie Hall [now Reamer Campus Center]. There stood Carm St. George with a wonderful smile to greet me. Of course, there have been other special moments, but this
particular one always comes to mind. Union has been a
part of my life for a very long time. I have enjoyed working with faculty, staff, and students too numerous to mention. Working in the dean's office and my tenure as assistant
registrar for twelve years has been especially challenging and rewarding.”