Jeremy Dibbell, a native of Bainbridge, Chenango County, was
co-salutatorian of Union College's Class of 2004 at Commencement
ceremonies today.
He is a 2000 graduate of Gilbertsville-Mount Upton High School.
Dibbell, active in a number of College organizations,
received the Frank Bailey Prize, awarded to the senior who has rendered the greatest
service to the College.
“The atmosphere of this place, the beauty of the
campus, draws you in,” explained Dibbell. “And I have a feeling it
probably never lets go.
“Union gives so many opportunities, I've just jumped at a few of
them,” he says. “It's a matter of taking those opportunities and
making of them what you will.”
Dibbell, a fixture at most campus events, is perhaps best
known as past editor-in-chief of Concordiensis, the student newspaper.
“It's hard for me to imagine how anyone did this before
we had computers to do everything for us,” he said recently at the end of
his term. Some of his predecessors, he noted, produced Concordy twice weekly.
“One of the things I've really liked is that you can
tell people are reading and that [the paper] is sparking debate. That's what we
all need to be going for.”
He also has served on a number of committees including
Planning and Priorities, which gave him “the ability to have a voice for
students and to be involved in the nitty-gritty of the College's budgeting
process.”
A political science major, Dibbell recently completed his
thesis on the origins of the Electoral College with Prof. Clifford Brown.
He also held various positions with the Office of Residence
Life and has been on the Writing Board, Minerva Committee and Commencement
Committee.
Union proved to be a wonderful case study for the young history
buff. “Every aspect of American history is somehow encompassed at Union College,” he said, “The
institution is so rich in history.”
Dibbell has worked in the College's Special Collections,
showing a special interest in Eliphalet Nott, president of the College from
1804 to 1866; and William Henry Seward (Class of 1820), Lincoln's secretary of state and the driver
behind the purchase of Alaska, known at the time as
“Seward's Folly.”
Dibbell, who spent much of the past year researching Nott's
speeches and letters will continue next year in the archives planning the
commemoration of the bicentennial of Nott's inauguration this fall and
assisting with other projects.
Last summer, he joined a dozen college journalists in the
11th annual Anti-Defamation League Albert Finkelstein Memorial Study Mission to
Israel, Poland and Bulgaria.
His plans include graduate school in history and teaching at
a liberal arts college, perhaps Union, he says.