Last weekend, Union officially welcomed the Class of 2012, one of the largest in recent years. The 581 members of the class, who moved into their residence halls Saturday, enjoyed a packed orientation schedule that included everything from tours of the Minerva Houses and downtown Schenectady to a talk by noted political blogger Joshua Micah Marshall.
“We are excited to have this impressive group of students join the Union community,” said Matthew Malatesta, vice president for Admissions, Financial Aid and Enrollment. “Our incoming students should be proud of their accomplishments, gaining admittance to Union during our most competitive admissions year in 20 years.”
The students in the Class of 2012, chosen from a record 5,271 applications last year, received an official welcome from President Stephen C. Ainlay and other College leaders in Memorial Chapel Saturday afternoon. Later that day, they joined together for a Union tradition, singing the College’s alma mater, “Ode to Old Union,” at the President’s House.
In the evening, popular national alcohol awareness speaker Mike Green addressed “The Four Stages of Drinking,” an interactive program designed to make students think about the role alcohol plays in their lives. Green, a recovering alcoholic, has addressed legions of young people at more than 1,000 campuses nationwide to promote responsible college living.
Marshall, the founder of Talking Points Memo and the sole Internet journalist to win the prestigious Polk award for legal journalism, spoke Sunday at the Nott Memorial. His visit tied in with the incoming class’s assigned readings of books by the presidential candidates, John McCain and Barack Obama.