THAT LOVING FEELING: Jason Oshins '87
Jason Oshins '87, Alumni Council president, attorney and Court TV pundit, is frequently in a hurry – but never, he says, when leaving the Union College campus, which he does reluctantly and only after driving completely around it. He does the same thing on arriving, as if reclaiming it.
“The first day I saw Union – October 25, 1982 – I knew,” said the early decision applicant. “It seemed like a 'central casting' idea for what a college should look like, and I knew I would thrive in a smaller environment.”
While at Union, Oshins founded Union's Alpha Epsilon Pi chapter, volunteered with the United Jewish Appeal, spent a term abroad and immersed himself in the community, working on political campaigns. As the Admissions Office's “Volunteer of the Year,” he searched in interviews for “self-confident people looking to make a difference, people who care about the community around them and fancy themselves as leaders and doers.”
After finishing his academic requirements early, he worked in a Manhattan law firm until graduation, but found himself returning to campus on weekends. Today, Oshins has law offices in Brooklyn and Fort Lee, N.J., but he continues to feel the pull and the allure of Union.
“Being Alumni Council president is incredibly fulfilling. When you care about something passionately, you want to spread the gospel,” he says. “I enjoy being part of that, of staying connected to the College to give back something and make it better. It's showing love to something that shows me love back.”
TAPPING INTO UNION'S TECH NETWORK: Nish Nadaraja '94
“We were right in the eye of the storm,” says Nish Nadaraja '94, recalling his experiences during the height of the late '90s economic boom.
“It was a crazed and exciting time, and we'll always look back on it and feel fortunate that we did well when so many other companies didn't.”
The “we” in that high-tech whirl includes two other Union alumni – Jason Epstein '95 and Greg Monahan '95. Together, the three built Bind Networks Inc. into a highly successful IT solutions company, with such clients as Walmart.com, Hummer Winblad and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
“When we moved to San Francisco in 1998, we knew two people,” Nadaraja says. “Ned Walley ('93), my predecessor as chapter president, helped get us started by introducing us to other Union alums.”
Though they've since sold the company and pursued separate opportunities, the alumni attraction remains strong. Nadaraja has enthusiastically embraced his role as president of the 452-member Northern California Alumni Club. This thriving group sponsors about four events each year, such as a private tour of California wineries arranged by wine industry insider Aaron Blum '80.
“It's a great thrill to hook up total strangers for the first time and watch the magic happen,” Nadaraja says.
The Meaning of Union: Jessica Adelson-Alton '89
While working in New York City in magazines and online publishing, it became exceedingly clear to Jessica Adelson-Alton '89 that “Union had nurtured my liberal arts fundamentals and values – my communication skills, writing and interacting.”
Now, in marketing and business development for a catering firm, this volunteer is dedicated to sharing the meaning of Union with her fellow alumni.
She recently hosted a unique event in her Manhattan loft for Union graduates from the classes of 1987-1991, featuring William Thomas, professor of French and International Programs director. Complete with suggested readings, the evening evolved as a wide-ranging conversation about internationalism.
“Professor Thomas touched so many people through the term abroad program, bringing lasting effects into their lives,” said Adelson-Alton, who also holds a master's degree in international affairs from Columbia University. “I decided to leverage this Union asset, to bring him here to New York and get people engaged.
“We immediately connected through the shared experience of the College,” she said. “People need to be reached in a personal way, and this event really tied in with what the College does. People didn't want to leave.”
While at Union, Adelson-Alton won the Daniel F. Pullman Prize for classical scholarship, spent her junior year in Japan and joined Sigma Delta Tau and the student-run theater group, Mountebanks. “Professor Barry Smith's improv class was great for me,” she recalled.
In all of her activities, she said, “The size of the college and the intimacy of it made it feel like you were important, that you didn't dissolve into the crowd.”