Posted on Oct 22, 2009

Posted on Oct 21, 2009

The Athletics Department has introduced a new Web site, whose sleek look and newest features – including social media options, increased live video footage and a history and heritage section – make it easy to stay connected to Union teams and athletes.

The address remains the same: www.UnionAthletics.com

“Our site enhances the UnionAthletics.com experience for our student-athletes, alumni, parents and fans,” said Eric McDowell, assistant athletic director, Sports Information. “Thanks to the people at Internet Consulting Services, we are providing several new ways to follow, see and listen to Union teams.”

Fans will also have a choice of how to receive their news about the Dutchmen and Dutchwomen from UnionAthletics.com – as a Facebook fan, on Twitter, or, as with the old site, through text message alerts on breaking news and final scores to mobile devices. 

The ticket page has information on how to pick and purchase seats for events, as well as ways to sign up for special events such as golf tournaments and the Union Athletics Hall of Fame Induction Dinner.

Fans can also sign up for the weekly e-newsletter and catch photos of the action with the photo gallery. Several sports will continue to have live stats and video for home contests.

Posted on Oct 21, 2009

A new full-length CD by Hilary Tann, the John Howard Payne Professor of Music, offers a cross-section of two decades of her chamber music. “Songs of the Cotton Grass,” from the British label Deux-Elles, features six chamber and solo works performed by violinist and violist Matthew Jones with soprano Elizabeth Donovan and other artists. Most of the compositions are homages to nature. A recent review in MusicWeb International calls the work “beautifully melodic and warmly lyrical.”

Sarayfah Bolling ’11 has been accepted into the NASPA Undergraduate Fellows Program (NUFP) for students seeking to better understand the field of student affairs and/or higher education. Students and mentors apply as a pair; Bolling is working with Karen Ferrer-Muñiz, director of Multicultural Affairs. The fellowship program is designed to increase the number of historically disenfranchised and underrepresented professionals in student affairs and/or higher education. Fellows are given an opportunity to attend a national conference and participate in paid internships and a summer leadership institute. With more than 11,000 members at 1,400 campuses in 29 countries, NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education is the leading voice for student affairs administration, policy and practice.

Interfaith Chaplain Viki Brooks, DMin, has been awarded the 2009 Leadership Council on Inclusion Award (LCI) for her dedication to the Union College mission and her work on diversity and inclusion with students, faculty, staff and administrators. LCI enhances and promotes diversity and multicultural programs at educational institutions and agencies in New York’s Capital Region. In his award nomination, President Stephen C. Ainlay said Brooks “provides a gentle but consistent message about the ways in which our society has preconceived notions about religion, culture, and race that are harmful to individuals and to the community. She takes on difficult situations and topics as part of her mission to educate the campus community.”  

Posted on Oct 21, 2009

Inspired by the difference they were making when they worked closely with Schenectady’s Habitat for Humanity chapter, Union students have started their own.

“It’s exciting,” said Ellen Blanchard ’12, an Electoral Board member of the College’s fledgling chapter. “We started the club last spring – it branched out from the Kenney Community Center. And we recently submitted our constitution.”

Throughout the process of creating their own chapter, students have continued to uphold Union’s long tradition of supporting the local group’s efforts.

“For the first Habitat build of the term, a group of 13 Union students went into the city to help finish two new, low-income homes near Foster Avenue,” said Blanchard, whose responsibility on the chapter board is public relations. “Half the group worked on siding, while the rest helped prepare rooms for caulking spaces between the floors and walls to provide better insulation. This was especially important because one of the homes is an Energy Star home.”

Joining Blanchard on the chapter’s board are President Cybil Tribie ’11, Vice Presidents Reshad Muhmad ’11 and Jordana Kozupsky ’12, Secretary Nathalie Marte ’12 and Treasurer Erin Osgood ’12. Santos Avila, community outreach coordinator with the Kenney Center, sits on the board as an advisor.

A nonprofit, nondenominational housing organization, Habitat for Humanity International has built more than 300,000 houses around the world since 1976, providing more than 1.5 million people with safe, decent, affordable shelter.

“We have a great group of individuals who will lay the foundation for the first campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity,” said Angela Tatem, Kenney Center director. “They should be commended for their hard work and their commitment to making the chapter a success for years to come at Union College.”

To volunteer for Habitat builds by the new Union chapter, contact Sarah Gagnon ’12 (gagnons2@union.edu) or Nathalie Marte ’12 (marten@union.edu).

Posted on Oct 21, 2009

Through Nov. 8
Wikoff Student Gallery, Third Floor
Nott Memorial
Creatures in Stone and Steel by Claire Hendry Foster ’08

A biology and classics major, this recent alumna also pursued steel and stone sculpture at Union. Her work in this exhibition draws from all of her studies, merging science, art and craft to produce elegant and powerful organic works in steel. Featured are six sketches and four sculpture works. She has said she creates sculptures as “a way to make the images and creatures of my imagination into a reality."  A closing reception is set for Thursday Nov. 5, 4:30–6 p.m. in the Wikoff Student Gallery, sponsored by the Visual Arts Department.

Through Nov. 14
Visual Arts Building
Arts Atrium
Greg Eltringham, Paintings and Drawings

This exhibit features the work of Greg Eltringham, professor of painting at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Ga.

Through Dec. 20
Nott Memorial
Mandeville Gallery
“Reimagining the Distaff Toolkit”

This traveling exhibit curated by New Paltz, N.Y., independent curator and historian Rickie Solinger, featuring 36 works by 28 contemporary artists. Each work incorporates a tool that was important for women’s domestic labor in the past.

Through March 14
Schaffer Library Atrium
Union Notables

Union Notables celebrates the great men and women who have studied and worked at the College from its founding in 1795 to the present day. Every six months, a new group of three notables is featured. Currently featured are assistant professor and janitor Charles Frederick Chandler (1836-1925);  actor, playwright,  journalist and producer John Howard Payne (1791-1852); and College Librarian Ruth Anne Evans (1924-2001).