My favorite moments
Four times a year for the past 15 years, I have enjoyed writing about different aspects of life at Union. In doing so, I have felt that, by giving my perspective on the academic and social issues at the College, I was keeping alumni and parents fully apprised of what was happening at their alma mater.
When I thought about what I wanted my final column to be, I realized that, rather than focusing on an academic or social issue, I wanted instead to mention some of my favorite moments. At first, I thought I might focus on half-a-dozen events. The list quickly grew to ten items, and then the number -which I'll simply refer to in unranked order-kept growing and growing. So, I decided to stop before I recounted the last 15 years at Union.
- Having Mike ('36) and Helen Yulman pave the way for the renovation of the Nott Memorial by agreeing to provide the lead gift for a new theater. Since theater had long been located in the Nott, it had to be relocated before the renovation could begin.
- Kicking off the bicentennial year by canoeing to New York City down the Mohawk and Hudson rivers with then students Tracy Bush '96, Kate Durocher '95, Jenn Evans '96 and John Kronholm '97, alumnus John Rockwell '69, and Professor Peter Tobiessen. The 180-mile trip over six days was great fun for the eight of us, in large part because of the alumni with whom we stayed on our way to New York.
- Being approached by Professor Steve Berk and told that he had run into Czeslaw Mordowicz, an Auschwitz survivor, whose escape led to the world learning of the gassing of Hungarian Jews. Steve suggested bringing him to campus, and we did so, giving him an Honorary Degree in 1995 on the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
- Solving Title IX issues regarding the funding of women's athletics and then watching women's athletics achieve national prominence. Although women had done well before, as evidenced by Julie Benker '93 winning a national championship in swimming, equity in funding resources triggered a surge in the success of women's athletics.
- Bringing Nazi hunters Serge and Beate Klarsfeld to Union for an incredible discussion and an equally incredible exhibit in the Nott Memorial. The round table discussion with the Klarsfelds and Steve Berk will long be emblazoned in my mind.
- Having Pulitzer Prize winning author David McCullough turn to me at graduation, after his wonderful talk, and say, with scaffolds all around the Nott, that he would like to come back to see the building some day. I said that could be arranged. At the rededication of the Nott, David said that “there's nothing like it anywhere in the world.” However, I still marvel at the fact that, were this building located in Paris or Rome, people would fly over the Atlantic to see it, but there are still people-many people-in the Capital District who have never seen it.
- Having Bob Balmer, Union's retiring Dean of Engineering, come to me after I challenged him to find a way to bridge the liberal arts and engineering, something that every president since Eliphalet Nott brought engineering to Union in 1845 had sought to do. After Bob described Converging Technologies to me, I realized that, if ever there was a “eureka moment,” this was it and that he had just solved a long-standing dilemma.
- Getting a call from Tom Brokaw saying he and David McCullough wanted to have a group of students, on the 50th anniversary of VE Day, engage in a conversation with them in the Nott Memorial for a segment on NBC Nightly News.
- Capping our liability to the State of New York on the polluted lands west of the College that we wanted to acquire (the site of the former ALCO plant) and having the Board of Trustees agree that the investment in that property and the former Ramada Inn should be made.
- Watching RPI fans leave the Achilles Center with Union trailing 2-0 with two minutes to go, and then having the Dutchmen score twice to tie the game and win it in overtime.
- Having John Wold '38 tell me that he and Jane wanted to make a $20 million commitment to Union, a magnificent gift from two magnificent people, and a gift that will truly keep on giving, since much of it is earmarked for the College's endowment.
- Founding Schenectady 2000 with Neil Golub and convincing the Schenectady County Legislature to create the Metroplex Development Authority, the vehicle that is being used to revitalize downtown Schenectady, with $100 million having been invested to date.
- Having the parents of Jeff Gower '92 come to me after a speech in Boston in which I spoke of community service and say that their son might well be interested in doing something along those lines. Then having Jeff approach me with the idea of rebuilding houses on Hamilton Hill (eight of them have since been rebuilt by students). And having Jeff recognized for his efforts as one of President Bush's Points of Light.
- Watching the courage of Frank Federici '98 who withstood peer pressure, reported a hazing incident, and held his ground throughout the process. For his courage, Frank was awarded the Bailey Cup.
- Having Larry Milas, the President of the F.W. Olin Foundation, call me to say that we were going to receive $9 million. This grant was the last one the foundation made before earmarking its remaining funds for the creation of a new engineering school, and it had taken 25 years of working with Larry (at three institutions) to obtain.
- Being approached by Professor Tom Werner and former Professor Dave Peak to provide funding for students to go to the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (and which we hosted for the second time in 1995) and agreeing to do so, on the condition that Tom and Dave create a campus version of NCUR. The result was the Charles Steinmetz Symposium, the best day on campus each year, for it validates, better than anything else, what our faculty does so well with our students.
- Seeing the steadfastness and courage of Noah Trueger '01 and Kate Stefanik '01, as Presidents of the Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Society, in supporting strongly the U2K plan which resulted in the creation of the Minerva Houses. Of all the efforts that Union has been engaged in over the years, none has the potential to transform the academic, residential, and social life at the College as well as the Minervas can and, I believe, will.
- Cheering Nikki Stone '97 on as she won her Olympic gold in aerial skiing.
- Having Jason Fishner '05, Marissa Post '04 and Adam Retersdorf '04 win Robot Rivals, a national competition in which students from different institutions had to construct a robot to perform a specific task. In the process, they knocked off Dartmouth, Princeton, Rochester, and Pittsburgh.
- Having Union topple RPI three times in a 24-hour period-in football and twice in hockey.
- Meeting so many great alumni from whom I learned a great deal. From Armand ('42) and Donald ('46) Feigenbaum, the recognized world leaders in quality management and leadership, to Gordon Gould '41, the inventor of the laser, to Mike Yulman, my source for much that occurred in the last half of the 20th century at Union, to the hundreds and hundreds of loyal Union alumni and friends, I was helped immensely in my efforts over the years.
- Moving Union forward steadily over the years and doing so without having any layoffs. While people lost their jobs for not doing them well, I felt that a “no-layoff” policy was the fairest way-and the best way-to run the College. Loyalty is, in my view, of great import in personal and professional relationships, and I wanted, and I was lucky that I was able to, be loyal to those who did their best for Union.
- Raising two great sons on this beautiful campus.
The list could go on and on, and the memories certainly do-and will. Ultimately, the measure of a job is whether you look forward each day, week after week, month after month, year after year to the challenges that await you. I certainly did, and I leave this job feeling as good about it as the day I began work at Union in 1990.
Roger H. Hull