Posted on May 19, 2009

The Union College Model United Nations team recently won three awards at the National Model United Nations conference in New York City.

The group came away with an Honorable Mention and an Outstanding Position Paper award. Christina Cerqueira ’10 was recognized for her exemplary contributions to the UNIFEM committee, which addresses international women’s rights.

The event, held last month, is considered the most prestigious collegiate political simulation in the world. In 2008, the first time the College participated, the team also clinched an Honorable Mention.

The Union team represented the United Republic of Tanzania.

“This was one of the most successful conferences I have been a part of, particularly because the position paper award recognizes the quality of our preparation,” said Visiting Political Science Professor Darius Watson, the team’s advisor. “Generally, there are about 15 Outstanding Position Paper accolades given.”

Union is one of 300 colleges from across the globe that took part in the conference. Participants discuss real-life issues ranging from economic development and nuclear nonproliferation to the environment and women’s rights.

“Model UN helps students gain an international perspective, public speaking skills and research abilities,” Cerqueira said. “You also learn how hard it is to be diplomatic and get everyone onboard with your ideas when they’re trying to promote their own. It’s a valuable life skill to be able to make people understand a situation as you do.”

Cerquera, who did extensive research for her UNIFEM committee, was pleased to be voted for by her peers. “I gained their trust and proved I was knowledgeable and creative,” she said.

Joining Cerqueira at the event last month were Tom Ames ’09, Maeghan Buckley ’11, Courtney Coffin ’09, Deb Estes ’09, Mitchell Lee ’11, Tamara Linde ’10, Jamie Luguri ’10, Nathalie Marte ’12, Brittany Miller ’09, Sean Mulkerne ’09, Maggie Nivison ’09, Ashlyn Pendleton ’09, Ernest Pough ’12, Katherine Rodman ’10, Lea Tessitore ’12, Matthew Thomas ’12, Ryan Vineyard ’12 and Bradley Wilhelm ’10.

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Posted on May 19, 2009

 

 

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Posted on May 18, 2009

 

Union’s Founders Day 2009 was one of the most inspiring days in my nearly 30 years working in higher education. Memorial Chapel was packed when James M. McPherson, professor emeritus at Princeton University and author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Battle Cry of Freedom, took the stage and described in rich detail the impressive role that Union played in the abolitionist movement. He described the early abolitionist sermon preached by Union’s second president, Jonathan Edwards, Jr. He talked in detail of President Eliphalet Nott’s abolitionist sympathies and his influence on the likes of William Seward. In turn, he talked about Seward’s influence on Lincoln’s views of slavery. McPherson concluded by noting, Union can be “rightfully proud” of its record of service.

Founders Day also provided a venue for the unveiling of a portrait of Moses Viney. Viney was an escaped slave who fled from Maryland and found a new life at Union, working for President Nott and his wife, Urania. In his Founders Day talk, McPherson described Viney and Nott as having a relationship more like a son and father than an employee and employer. Indeed it was Nott who secured Viney’s freedom and it was Viney who carried Nott – incapacitated in his later years by strokes – in his arms. The portrait was painted by renowned artist Simmie Knox and adds to the College’s collection of works by distinguished artists, including works by Henry Inman, Ezra James and Thomas Sully. When the portrait was unveiled, Knox received a spontaneous and sustained standing ovation. So moving and inspiring was the entire event that faculty, staff, and students as well as our guest speakers clustered around the portrait of Viney long after the ceremony had ended to share feelings that the talks and portrait had evoked.

In his remarks at Founders Day, Jared Gourrier, Class of 2012, said that his efforts to recover the history of Nott and Viney had been a source of inspiration. He noted that “every day that we roam this campus we are walking in history” and spoke of how “making history” should be part of every Union student’s future.

There is little doubt that members of the Union family have heeded this call. We recently held the inaugural celebration of volunteer activities, sponsored by the Union’s Kenney Center. From tutoring to after-school programs for Schenectady school children, from maintaining historic Vale Cemetery to helping build Habitat for Humanity homes, from preparing free tax returns to improving literacy, the Union campus community has committed thousands of hours of community service over the past year.

Union students have also made a difference around the world. Our returning Minerva Fellows spent the better part of the last year working with nonprofit organizations in areas of the world where needs are acute. Our Engineers Without Borders chapter spent spring break assessing the water needs of an Ethiopian village and are currently making plans to return and help the village reclaim their well.

This issue of the magazine is filled with other examples of Union making a difference and changing the course of history: The Karp family’s support of the Posse students ensures that these remarkable young men and women will continue to enrich our campus life; The Lippman family’s support of the renovation of our Social Science building ensures that they and others will have the facilities in which they will grow and thrive; And the obituaries of those departed members of our Union family – such as Rear Admiral Stevenson and his efforts to improve the lives of Native American and Alaska Native people – remind us of the character of the Union graduate and the difference people committed to service can make.

I am reminded every day of Union’s remarkable contributions. In celebrating accomplishments, service, and generous gifts of Union family members, this issue of Union College magazine makes it clear that we are still leaving our mark. James M. McPherson is undoubtedly right: Union can be rightfully proud of its record of service. Jared Gourrier is undoubtedly right: Union’s record of service should spur all of us to make a difference and to make history.

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Posted on May 18, 2009

 

A TIME OF PROTEST REMEMBERED

As one of the roughly 350 student protesters, I remember that warm spring day in May 1970 (“A time of protest,” p. 4). Two of the many rallying cries from the bullhorn were, “What do we want?” and “When do we want it?” The chanted response from the crowd was, “Peace” and “Now” respectively.

I too remember the intensity of the students and our wish to make a beneficial change in the direction the U.S. government was taking.

Whilst Union did not cancel classes or go on strike, as some other institutions did, it is worth expanding on the flexibility and opportunities that the College did offer the student body. Normal classes continued for those who wished to go on as is. Alternatively, with the agreement of the professor, a student could take his grade up to that point as his final grade for a course. A student could also drop any course without penalty. And a student could create his own course (obviously related to the times we were living) as long as there was a professor willing to approve and grade it.

These alternatives enabled many students, including myself, to be active in the anti-war movement whilst ensuring the academic integrity of the Union family.

Howard J. Blank ’70

Howard is a commodities trader based in Brussels, Belgium.

I missed that spring in Schenectady because I was in Sweden on a Fulbright, but I saw news clips of the Union student march to General Electric on Swedish TV.

I supported the war, believing that, even though our involvement had been a mistake from the start, we were in too deep to walk out. Withdrawal, I thought, would have grave consequences. (I acknowledge that events have proved me wrong.)

I was by no means in the minority in the Union faculty. The heavyweights in the Political Science Department, for example, were much more stridently pro-war than I. Opinion soon shifted, but what surprised me was the extent to which even the most vociferous hawks developed amnesia and claimed that they had been anti-war from the start.

Some students against the war were idealists, but we should also recognize that avoidance of military service motivated at least as many. (Once Nixon got rid of the draft, student protest died down. National fatigue and the realization that blood and treasure were being recklessly spent in a questionable cause changed our course, not strikes on campus. Walter Cronkite had a much greater effect than Mario Savio.)

George Bain ’73 writes that Union, unlike other colleges, did not cancel classes, but that is not quite true. Students were given an option of getting a “pass” in their courses, receiving credit, and not continuing their participation. The reason given, by the faculty and the administration, was to permit Union students to coordinate anti-war efforts in the Northeast. In fact, reflecting something less than idealistic commitment, most students simply went home.

Frank Gado

Frank was a professor of English at Union from 1963 to 1995.

ROUNDUP MISSED FIELD HOCKEY

As a parent of a junior at Union, I was happy to see the Winter issue of Union Collegemagazine recently arrive at my home. However, I was dismayed that the fall athletics roundup on page 21 did not mention the accomplishments of the women’s field hockey team (for full disclosure, my daughter is a member of the team).

The 2008 squad had an outstanding year. They went 14-3 during the regular season and 14-4 overall, with two heart-wrenching overtime losses in Liberty League play. Despite those setbacks, and fighting hard in each game, the team kept piling up the wins and quite deservedly landed a spot in the highly competitive Liberty League playoffs.

During the season, the team notched dramatic wins over four teams that had appeared in the top 20 in national polls. That included the first win over perennial powerhouse William Smith College since 1980 and a thrilling overtime victory at Williams College.

Union also came tantalizingly close to cracking the national ranking itself, reaching 21 in a national computer poll. The team placed seven players on the All-League and Honorable Mention teams, led by senior team captain Anne Hanson, who also collected regional honors.

The field hockey program has made impressive progress in the last six years under the steady guidance of head coach Lacey French and her able assistants. The staff and departing seniors Anne Hanson and Liz Stanford, in particular, should be recognized for their efforts.

Don Ryan

Don Ryan lives in Westborough, Mass. and is the father of Allie Ryan ’10.

HEALTH CARE SOLUTIONS

I am sorry to have missed the health care symposium at Union last October (“Seeking solutions to America’s health care crisis,” p. 10). I owned a small business that paid most medical insurance coverage fees for its employees and I am now a retiree covered by a private fee-for-service plan. I have been involved with and concerned about this issue for quite some time.

My former employees did not have to be employed by my company to be covered. The policies were portable. I do agree that major medical insurance should connect individuals directly with medical providers and insurance companies. However, if an employer wishes to contribute all or some of the cost of premiums and deductibles, that should be allowed.

There should be a wide variety of insurance policies from which an individual can choose. Everything from basic minimum coverage to a full-blown deluxe model should be offered. A plan with government mandates could be one of the plans offered.

The universal system should be based on health savings accounts. Such plans would allow individuals to build up tax-exempt, interest-earning health savings accounts. For those individuals who could not afford the premiums or the deductibles, the government could subsidize these costs. This would be similar to what the government does now in financing almost 50 percent of the deductible for Medicare health savings accounts. I plan on subscribing to one of these plans this year.

The health care savings account system could also be the basis for replacing Medicare after age 65.

Bob Dorse ’53

Bob is the former owner of Dorse & Company, Inc. in Seattle.

MORE THAN A PIONEER?

In “A pioneering sociologist” (p. 48), the following sentence appears: “Yet in much of his scholarly work, Giddings was a calm analyst who laid a foundation for his predecessors.” This must have been an ambitious undertaking for Giddings, involving metaphysics, and perhaps, reincarnation.

Robert J. Galvin ’61

Robert is an attorney based in Jamaica Plain, Mass.

WEB VIDEO FEEDBACK ON RAMEE’S CAMPUS PLAN

A recent Alumni Newsletter sent via e-mail included a link to a new video about the seminal campus landscape that French architect Joseph Jacques Ramée’s created for Union in 1813. Below are some responses to the video. Visit www.union.edu to view the video.

The video on the history of the campus is excellent. It builds student understanding and appreciation for the heritage of our College. I, for one, am most happy that construction over the past 50 years has respected Ramée's plan as well as prior building designs. Some colleges did not adhere to a plan and today bear the burden of a hodge-podge of conflicting architectures and poor space utilization. Well done Union College.

Richard Nicholas ’58

Richard is retired from IBM and lives in Glastonbury, Conn.

Thanks for the nice video on the Ramée plan for the College. As a practicing landscape architect, I've worked on a number of college campuses, and I often wondered whether Union’s setting had some influence over my eventual career choice. An architect colleague once showed me a copy of an illustration of a campus that he thought would be a great model for a headquarters plan we were collaborating on. What he showed me was Ramée’s plan.

Mark Gionet ’77

Mark is a principal with LSG Landscape Architecture and lives in Alexandria, Va.

What a wonderful film. I recalled so vividly how I too loved the campus when I attended Union from 1978 to 1982. I cannot wait to send my children there as well.

William A. DiConza ’82

William is a lawyer based in Oyster Bay, N.Y.

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Posted on May 18, 2009

Reporter Sara Foss of the Gazette recently visited campus to profile Taif Jany, an Iraqi refugee in his first year at Union.

Jany, a biology major who hopes to be a cardiologist, is finishing up his first year at Union after arriving on campus as part of the Iraqi Student Project. The College is among the first 14 schools to participate in the project, which helps refugees attend U.S. colleges.

To read the article, click here (registration may be required).

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