Posted on Sep 9, 2003

FAQs | Photos

Schenectady, N.Y. (Sept. 9, 2003) –
Union College has purchased the Ramada Inn at 450 Nott Street to be renovated
for student housing and has purchase contracts for two adjoining parcels on
which it plans to construct soccer fields for college and community use, it was
announced today by Union College President Roger H. Hull. The College will
spend $15 million on the project, bringing Union's total investment in the
neighborhood west of campus to $26 million.

 “The acquisition of the Ramada
Inn and the adjoining land is a key element in our commitment to our students
and our continued support and investment in Schenectady,” said Hull. “It addresses the needs of the
college and at the same time contributes to the revitalization of Schenectady. Just as I believe we all, as
individuals, have an obligation to contribute to the community of which we are
a part, I also feel strongly that institutions, whether for-profit or
not-for-profit like Union, have an obligation to play a role in the
revitalization of this city. The future of Schenectady and Union College are inextricably linked, and I feel
this project enhances both the city and the College.”

Another housing option for students

This project comes at a key time, as
the College is embarking on major changes in its social and residential system for
students. A new House System, designed to better integrate social, residential
and intellectual life on campus, is well underway. In fact, the first building,
a renovated South College dorm, opened this week. The addition
of this building will further expand the variety of residential life
experiences Union offers its students at a time when
more students want to live in college-owned housing. Students will be able to
choose from several housing options, including traditional residence halls,
theme houses and fraternities and sororities.

The Union-Schenectady Initiative (USI),
a broad-based plan to revitalize and stimulate home ownership in the College Park neighborhood, also created new
residential opportunities for students. The USI was introduced in 1998, and to
date, the college has invested about $11 million in that project.

“The Union-Schenectady Initiative was
a major first step,” Hull said. “It has contributed significantly to the
transformation of the College Park neighborhood – and added an exciting
new dimension to student and residential life. The investment in the Ramada
property and the adjoining land continues that important effort, and we look
forward to creating an even better campus and a strengthened community.”

Bonds to be sold through City IDA

The College plans to sell $15 million
in bonds through the Schenectady Industrial Development Authority for the new
project. Among the renovations will be replacement and reconstruction of the
roof, repairing and repainting the building's exterior, installation of new and
updated heat and air conditioning systems, increased fire protection,
construction of a new entryway, creation of study areas and meeting rooms,
creation of a fitness center by filling in the swimming pool, and general
interior renovations such as painting, new carpeting and new window treatments.

The College has invited five firms to
submit designs and budgets for the project, with a completion date for the
renovation of fall of 2004. Plans call for the creation of 110 single rooms and
60 doubles to house a total of 230 students. The construction of a lighted and
security-patrolled walkway from Huron Street, adjacent to the main campus, to the
new residence hall is also planned.

The athletic field complex will bring
the college and community together on what used to be vacant industrial land.
Plans call for the construction of artificial turf soccer fields for use by
college teams. When college is not in session, the fields will be available for
community use. A $450,000 federal appropriation from Senators Charles Schumer
and Hillary Clinton and Congressman Michael McNulty will help fund part of the
playing fields project.

Remediation will return land to safe use

The property, once the site of the
American Locomotive Company, will require environmental remediation. The parcel
contains some residual levels of aged petroleum products that were used in the
manufacturing of locomotives, tanks and other vehicles. The college has been
working with state officials to ensure that the property is properly remediated
and safe for future use. Staff from the Oil Spill Fund, which is managed by the
State Comptroller and oversees the State's oil spill program, negotiated
protections for both Union College and the environment.    
 

“The college has worked closely with
the Department of Environmental Conservation and the state Comptroller's Office
to ensure that all procedures for remediation have been followed,” Hull said. “We hope

this project is a model for the effective use of brownfields
and that it will be replicated elsewhere in this city and state.”

State Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi,
whose participation has been essential to the College's plan for the Ramada Inn
property, said “Brownfields redevelopment is a critical component for
revitalizing communities and creating jobs and economic development throughout New York State. We are pleased to have facilitated
this important effort by Union in Schenectady, and I want to commend President
Hull for his vision and dedication.”

DEC Commissioner Erin M. Crotty said:
“Governor Pataki is committed to the revitalization of urban centers across New
York State, and by participating in the State's cleanup programs, communities
can enjoy remarkable environmental and economic benefits. This cleanup
agreement is an important initiative for Union College and the City of Schenectady and illustrates the value of
partnerships in reaping rewards for our environment and our communities.”

Posted on Sep 5, 2003

Schenectady, N.Y. (Sept. 5, 2003) – Upon their arrival in Schenectady, hundreds of Union College freshmen will carry more
than boxes of books and furniture to their dorm rooms. They will wield brooms,
paintbrushes, and shovels as they take to the streets on Saturday, September 6,
for the ninth annual John Calvin Toll Day.

The College's annual community service day is named
for one of the College's first graduates in 1799. John Calvin
Toll Day is supported by Al Hill, a 1946 Union graduate and his wife, Perrie. Toll was the great-great-grandfather of
Hill, a retired attorney from Buffalo. The Hills created the
fund to encourage Union students to undertake volunteer service.

Students from the Class of 2007, upperclassmen, College staff and
faculty, city leaders and residents, and business owners alike will participate
in the volunteer cleanup from 10 a.m. to 1
p.m. A number of parks, city-owned properties, and not-for-profit facilities
are on the list to be spruced up. Among those are the Amtrak bridge over Union Street at Erie Boulevard, Steinmetz Park, Bethesda House, the Amtrak
parking lots, and outdoor areas around the public library and police station.

From 1 to 4
p.m. following the clean-up, a block party featuring live music on Jay Street will conclude the day.
Local leaders will thank students for their community service and present them
with a bag containing discounts and offers from area businesses and activities.

“Toll's Day is a great collaborative effort between the College and the
entire Schenectady community that benefits everyone involved,”
said Gretchel Tyson, Union's community outreach director.
“Students new to Schenectady get to know the city
better, meet new people, and have a good time while providing a valuable
service to the city.”

Posted on Sep 3, 2003

The work of nearly 40 women
printers from around the nation will be showcased through Sunday, Dec. 7, at Union College's Mandeville Gallery in the Nott Memorial.

An
artists' reception and talk by the curator, Carol J. Blinn, will be on Thursday,
Sept. 18, 4:30 to 6 p.m. in the Nott Memorial.

Girl Printers: Talented Women Strut Their Stuff is an invitational show highlighting a sampling of
women printers' ephemera, printing, and book arts.

Gallery hours are Monday to Thursday 9
a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday noon to 5
p.m.; and Sunday noon to 10
p.m.

Women have been working
with moveable type practically since its invention – a fact that may disabuse
the likely stereotyping of printing or typesetting as male-dominated fields. The
exhibit centers on interviews with women printers that were conducted by Blinn.
For nearly 20 years, she has been proprietor of the Warwick Press in Easthampton, Mass.

Blinn invites women
printers and exhibit visitors alike to “celebrate what we do best … make things
by hand and machine, needle and thread, computer and lead.”

The women discuss their love
for their art; their favorite tools; their individual methodology; the mentors
who have guided them; and their down-and-dirty, ink-under-the-fingernails,
ultimately triumphant mastery of often-recalcitrant shop machinery.

For more, visit: http://www.union.edu/gallery/Current.htm

Posted on Sep 3, 2003

An
exhibition of paintings and works on paper by Barbara Grossman will open the
academic year at Union College's Arts Atrium Gallery.

The show,
which opens on Friday, Sept. 12, and runs through Oct. 17, is sponsored by Union's Department of Visual Arts.

The
artist will give a public slide talk on Thursday, Oct. 16, from 3:30
to 4:30 p.m. in
Arts 215. A reception will follow.

The gallery is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Grossman is a figurative painter whose
vivid depictions of interiors have appeared widely in publications including Art in America, the New York Times, and the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Linda Konheim Kramer, executive director of
the Nancy Graves Foundation, has said that in Grossman's work “…song is
implied through visual means: gestures expressed in line, harmonious color
relationships, and the movements of form and pattern. The chords of the music,
reflected in the basic structure of the composition, are ornamented with the
lively patterns of the singer's clothing, the kilim rug, and the small vases of
flowers and teacups.”

Grossman received her formal training at
Academie der Kunst, Munich,
Germany;
Cooper Union, and the High School of Music & Art, New
York City. She has been awarded
the Grumbacher Gold Medal by the National Academy of Design, an Ingram Merrill
Foundation Fellowship for painting, and a Fulbright Grant to Germany.
Her many solo exhibitions includes those at Hollins University, Roanoke, Va.;
Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H.; and the Bowery Gallery, New York City, of
which she was a founding member. Her work has been represented in numerous
group exhibitions including the National Academy of Design, N.Y.; the College
of William
& Mary; New York Studio School; University of Pennsylvania; Gross McCleaf
Gallery, Philadelphia; and the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Conn.

For further information, phone (518) 388-6714.

Posted on Sep 1, 2003

It seems only last week that I opened the mailbox. Inside was perhaps the most important letter I ever received. It was from Union College, Schenectady, New York. The letter informed my parents that I had been awarded a full tuition scholarship. The year was 1956. While hardly destitute, my parents were by no means wealthy. That scholarship enabled me to attend Union. In four years my life changed forever. Within the span of a single Olympiad I was exposed to differential and integral calculus, atomic physics and quantum mechanics, celestial mechanics, heat transfer, fluid mechanics, philosophy, literature, classical music, impressionist painting, and myriad other wonderful ideas. Many of these reside somewhere within me, perhaps modified with the passage of time and new ideas; they form the stuff of my career, my beliefs, and indeed my entire life.

Union was the first place I ever saw an orrery. Union was also the first place I ever heard Schubert's “Trout Quintet.” Union College opened my mind to Henry David Thoreau, to Kepler's Laws and elliptical planetary orbits, to Gaussian distribution functions, to Fourier analysis, to Beethoven string quartets, to the paintings of J.M.W. Turner, to digging deeper for the “understanding beneath the information,” and to the world of ideas. The education provided at Union College enabled me to get a Ph.D. at Princeton, and jump-started my entire career. It seems only yesterday that I walked from West College to Memorial Chapel, and browsed within Nott Memorial. It was wonderful!

I owe much of that to some unknown benefactor who came before me, who also grew to love “the college on the hill,” and who dug a bit deeper to assure that others would have a similar opportunity long after he or she was gone. From the moment I got that letter I made a silent vow to do the same for others as had been done for me. Yes, it would be nice if I had accumulated great wealth during my lifetime and could, with a single check, assure scholarships for thousands. Since that is not to be…perhaps I can try to help assure at least one scholarship for one deserving student whom I may never meet, but who hopefully will become a better person and help make the world a better place. I invite you to consider what your education at Union was really worth. I doubt there are many things in your life that could possibly stand as a more enduring mark of your time on this planet than a gift to help secure the future of minds yet unborn.

Paul Jacobs '60 has always displayed a love for Union-as an eager student anxious to take full advantage of his time spent on campus, as a loyal supporter of the College's Annual Fund, as a dedicated alumnus sharing his experiences with current students, and as a philanthropist with the foresight to include Union in his estate plans through a provision in his will. When Paul came back to campus in June to speak to a group of students, he joined the Ramée Circle and also made a gift to establish a Charitable Gift Annuity at Union-a gift that will provide a stream of fixed income to Paul for life and future financial support for the College. When we asked Paul what motivated him to make this gift, he sent us the following letter, which speaks for itself.