Posted on Jan 26, 2006

For years, Urania Sheldon Nott was an afterthought.

She was aging none so gracefully. Hanging around Union College, but not too visible.

“I never noticed” her, said James Underwood, the school's interim president.

Urania, see, is a portrait of the third wife of Eliphalet Nott, one of the school's first leaders. Her visage was on display, unappreciated, in the President's House.

But when Nott finally caught Underwood's eye, he knew at once: She had to come out of hiding.

And she's getting one of the most prime pieces of real estate at the school. Her uncompromising visage, put on canvas by the renowned portraitist Thomas Sully, now hangs behind Chester A. Arthur's desk in the president's office. As far as anybody at the campus knows, it's the first time a woman's portrait has been displayed there. The painting was unveiled last week.

Urania's perch behind the president is an appropriate spot for her. When she married Eliphalet Nott in 1842, he was 69 and she 35. By 1860, Nott began to suffer a series of strokes and his wife took more and more control of the school.

Details of her role are scanty. Jonathan Pearson, a Union professor and treasurer, wrote in an 1860 diary entry that Eliphalet Nott “is completely under 'Uranie's' thumb now, and has to do just as she says.”

Not everybody was thrilled about that. Some thought she had too much influence over the school's coffers, and that she should step aside for the official second-in-command.

After Nott died, Urania continued living in the president's house, doing community service, and was given a glowing tribute upon her death in 1886.

Union archivist Ellen Fladger said the lack of information about Urania isn't unusual. “I think the kinds of things that were left behind about women were not necessarily the same things that were left behind about men,” she said.

Nothing about their May-December courtship has been found, nor about their life together.

Yet even though she didn't leave a long paper trail, when people see her, they're taken.

Her skin has a rosy luminescence. Her gaze is piercing. You can just feel the softness of her fur stole, the delicacy of her lace collar and cuffs.

Underwood said he's been asking people to give their impressions of her in one word. His choice: Striking. Others he's collected are “formidable,” “judgmental,” “sorrowful.”

Cynthia Luk, the conservationist who restored the painting at the Williamstown Art Conservation Center, was taken as well.

“I loved this portrait,” she said. “I work on many, and very few of them really catch my interest in a big way. And this one did.”

Problems with the painting added to the allure. The varnish on top had gone dull, and old retouchings weren't up to snuff. “Even through all those layers, you could tell what a striking and important picture” it was, Luk said.

Posted on Jan 26, 2006

Pilar Moyano, professor of Spanish, recently presented a paper, “Hacia la recuperación de la poesía del exilio español de 1939: Juan Rejano,” at the Congreso Internacional 'Burgos, Corazón de Castilla of the Instituto de la Lengua Castellano y Leones, Burgos, Spain.

The paper is a reconsideration of the costs of political exile for Spanish intellectuals in Mexico in 1939, including journalist-poet Juan Rejano. It examines how the exiles' work was affected by their complex relationships to both the Francoist Spain they fled and the Mexico that welcomed them.

Posted on Jan 25, 2006

U are halfway there.

More than halfway, actually. The College recently passed the midpoint of “You Are Union,” the $200 million fundraising campaign, well ahead of schedule.

The effort has raised $106 million for use in student scholarships, endowed faculty chairs, building and other projects that will boost Union's excellence in this new century.

With plenty to feel good about, the Office of College Relations is hosting a number of campaign celebrations, attracting alumni from classes dating as far back as the 1930s.

Festivities have been held in the Capital Region, Washington, D.C., and New York City, with Boston set for May 10 and more events scheduled around the country.

“Our regional celebrations have been extremely well attended, drawing more than 210 people in New York City alone,” says Tom Gutenberger, vice president for College Relations.  

“You are Union” kicked off on Oct. 1, 2004 and runs through June 30, 2009.

Highlights include major gifts by Jim Taylor '66 and John Taylor '74, funding renovation of North Colonnade into a first-class music building; Frank Messa '73, funding Messa Rink; David Viniar '76, the Viniar Athletic Center; and David Henle '75, the Henle Merit Scholarships. Five endowed faculty chairs have been created.

Minerva Houses were funded by John Wold '38 and Jane Wold, Neil and Jane Golub, the family of Christie Sorum and members of the Board of Trustees and Phil Beuth '54. An anonymous donor provided funding for a Minerva as well as creation of the fitness center.

For the complete set of campaign priorities, go to http://www.union.edu/youareunion/endowments/index.php.

Posted on Jan 25, 2006

Let the season begin.

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As application reading and selection get under way, admissions staffers are tackling challenges with their usual high level of energy and enlisting faculty help in yielding a quality class.

“We have more than enough quality candidates to fill the College more than twice over, and we admit them,” said Dan Lundquist, vice president for admissions, in his remarks to faculty Tuesday. “Our challenge is to enroll them. Good news is that we've passed the 4,000 mark and are tracking on last year's record number of 4,300 applicants.”

Lundquist said robust on-campus programming continued to focus on showcasing the campus to hundreds of families, individual students and guidance counselors.

Off-campus, there were big strides, too. In December, the admissions team visited Boston to select the first group of “Posse” students. The much-lauded Posse Foundation trains student leaders from public high schools to form multicultural teams for enrollment at top colleges. Union will welcome its first posse of 10 students, plus two candidates admitted on their own, next fall. 

While Lundquist voiced concern about “sobering” challenges involving, among other things, selectivity, quality and financial aid in the increasingly competitive higher ed marketplace, he was “more committed than ever to realizing success on all fronts.”

His staff continues to build and nurture recruiting partnerships with students, coaches, alumni, current parents and especially faculty for the post-admission enrollment process.

Faculty who would like to contact students – student survey data and anecdotes from both faculty and students have shown it's the difference that can make the difference – may reach Lundquist at lunquid@union.edu or ext. 6112.

Posted on Jan 25, 2006

Burton B. Delack, distinguished Union College alumnus (Class of 1936), has endowed a scholarship fund, the Burton and Violet Delack Scholarship at Union College. The fund was created from gifts of the Delack family.

First preference for the awards will go to Union College undergraduates from Schenectady or Niskayuna.

Violet Delack died in 2003. Delack, of Niskayuna, retired from General Electric in 1973 after 37 years with the company and has long supported the College and the local community. In 2004, he endowed Delack House, a student residence that is part of Union's Schenectady initiative in College Park Neighborhood.