Posted on Oct 19, 1999

Schenectady, N.Y. (Oct. 19, 1999) – Union College and the City of Schenectady announced today plans to allocate the majority of a $1 million gift from a local College alumnus toward the establishment of a community center within the College Park neighborhood at 257 Park Place.

The facility will be called the Ralph and Marjorie Kenney Center, in memory of Ralph Kenney, a 1929 Union graduate. In June, Marjorie Kenney of Delmar donated $1 million to the College, with the understanding that the funds benefit Union and the City of Schenectady. The donation was presented to Union President Roger H. Hull during the 1999 Schenectady 2000 annual gala.

“The Ralph and Marjorie Kenney Center will play a vital role in the revitalization of the College Park neighborhood,” Hull said. “It's wonderful to have the spouse of a Union alum who shares my view that, whether individually or institutionally, we all have an obligation to contribute to make Schenectady a better place to live. This facility, and in a much broader sense, the US Initiative, are tremendous assets for both the City and Union.”

The Kenney Center, which is scheduled for completion by January 2000, will feature health and wellness workshops sponsored by Ellis and St. Clare's hospitals; Schenectady-based Girls Inc. of the Greater Capital Region will provide programs for young women.

A primary feature of the new facility will be the Homework Center and Skills Development Program. Staffed by Union students, staff and GE Elfun Society volunteers, the homework program links Union student mentors with children from the Van Corlaer Elementary School to help them prepare for the New York State Pupil Assessment Tests, and encourage them to development solid study and learning skills. To date, about 20 Union students have completed a mentor-training program; they will begin working with children from the College Park neighborhood next week at a temporary location at Union. The Center has received an $8,200 grant from Campus Compact, which is funded by the GE Fund, to support the mentoring program.

Of the $1 million gift, about $600,000 will be used to renovate, furnish and equip, as well as to establish a maintenance endowment for the facility. Remaining funds will offset costs of renovations to and the purchase of office equipment and furnishings for the Union satellite Safety and Security Office at 712 Huron St.

The satellite office, which will also be completed in January, will serve as a post for the College's safety program and recently implemented bike patrol. Officers from the City of Schenectady's bike patrol will also use the facility during neighborhood patrols. Finally, the office will also be a “safe space” for students waiting to board the Union College shuttle service.

The Kenney gift adds to donations from Fleet Financial Group to the Community Center; Fleet gifts to the Center currently total $35,000.

The US Initiative, announced last October, is the College's $10 million community revitalization effort for the College Park neighborhood. The initiative is designed to both address the College's needs for housing and to stimulate homeownership in the area. The Initiative includes a number of incentives for both homeowners and College employees, such as $1 million annually in tuition scholarships at Union for children of eligible homeowners, special mortgage programs, and the establishment of a neighborhood association.

Since October 1998, Union has acquired 40 homes in the US Initiative area, most of which are being renovated for use as student and faculty residences. The US Initiative area is defined by Seward Place, Union Street, and Nott Street.

Posted on Oct 15, 1999

Schenectady, N.Y. – (October 15, 1999) – Emmanuel Pahud, a world-renowned flutist, will perform with pianist Eric Le Sage in their Capital District debut in the fourth concert of the Schenectady Museum Union College Concert Series on Friday, Oct. 29, at 8 p.m. in Union College's Memorial Chapel.

The performance will include Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, Syrinx, Chansons de Bilites, L'Isle Joyeuse (piano solo), Poulenc's Flute Sonata, Toccata (piano solo), Pierre Sancan's (b.1916) Sonatine, and Frank's Sonata in A.

Beginning music lessons at the age of six in Rome, the Swiss-born Pahud has quickly gained international attention, winning eight out of the twelve available prizes at the international music competitions of Geneva in 1992. At twenty two, he was appointed to First Flute of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and is now Principal Flute. (Interestingly, the same seat of the Philharmonic was previously held by James Galway, whose sound is closely compared to that of Pahud's.) Critics say, “He identifies himself so with the piece that he continually seems to create it, thus giving a natural and living breath.” He was chosen as 'Instrumentalist of the Year' in 1997 by the prestigious Victoire de la Musique in Paris. A laureate of the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation and of the International Tribune for Musicians of UNESCO, he lives in Berlin with his wife and two sons.

Pahud has an exclusive seven CD contract with EMI Classics. His first releases received the Diapason d'Or “CD of the Year,” a Fonno-Forum award, and the “Gaijitsu” award from the Japanese recording industry. They were also voted the favorite recording in France in a radio listeners poll.

Accompanist Eric Le Sage, regarded as one of the most original young representatives of the French school of pianism and a noted performer of chamber music, is the founder of the Salon-de-Provence Chamber Music Festival. His recordings, which have been received with enthusiastic acclaim by critics, have also won prizes including the Choc de Monde de la Musique, the Diapason D'Or, the Grand Prix du Disque and Recording of the Month honors in Fono Forum and Gramophone.

On the Sunday following their concert at Union, the pair will go on to be part of the Bank/Boston Celebrity Series, joining such illustrious names as Yo-Yo Ma and Anne-Sophie Mutter. The pair's appearances in this area are part of a whirlwind tour, with performances in Japan, France, Germany, Paris, the United States, Mexico, Amsterdam, Hungary, Vienna and Zurich. Highlights of Pahud's recent tours include his New York debut at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall in March of 1998, and appearances as a soloist with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra on extensive European and Asian tours led by Claudio Abbado and Daniel Barenboim.

Memorial Chapel is located near the center of the Union campus. Parking is available on campus and on nearby side streets. Tickets cost $20, $8 for students, and are available in advance at the Schenectady Museum (518) 382-7890 and at the door at 7 p.m. The performances of the Series are made possible, in part, with public funds from the New York State Council of the Arts and the Schenectady County Initiative Program. For ticket information, call 372-3651.

Posted on Oct 15, 1999

The critically acclaimed Borromeo String Quartet will perform the third program in a six-part series of the complete Beethoven String Quartets Friday, Oct. 15, at 8 p.m. in Union College's Memorial Chapel.

The Borromeo Quartet, in its first performance of the season at Union, will perform their All-Beethoven Program III which includes Op. 18, No. 5 in A; Op. 18, No. 4 in c; and Op 131 in c-sharp.

Following their performance at Union, the Quartet will go on to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston to perform the same program as part of the complete Beethoven cycle for the Sunday Concert Series at the Gardner.

The Borromeo will complete the cycle during the 1999-2000 season at Union with three other concerts on Friday, Dec. 10, at 8 p.m., Friday, Feb. 11, at 8 p.m., and Friday, April 7 at 8 p.m.

The Quartet, formed in 1989 by four young musicians from the Curtis Institute of Music, has risen quickly to international prominence. Members include Nicholas Kitchen, violin; Ruggero Allifranchini, violin; Hsin-Yun Huang, viola; and Yeesun Kim, cello. All are faculty members at the New England Conservatory.

Internationally, they have held performances in Moscow, Montevideo, Uruguay, Tokyo, Amsterdam, and Wigmore Hall in London. American performances include Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, the Corcoran Gallery in Washington and Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. The Boston Globe wrote: “Above all, the Borromeo players seem to enjoy their work and each other. They are like actors entering into the emotion, or the complex of emotions, of the moment; they are emotional and communicative musicians.”

Tickets, at $15 ($7 for students), are available in advance at the Schenectady Museum (518) 382-7890 and at the door at 7 p.m. For more information, call 372-3651.

Posted on Oct 15, 1999

Visual artist Peter Jogo will give a slide lecture on

his work on Tuesday, Oct. 19, at 11:30 a.m. in Arts 215.

The talk is in conjunction with an exhibition of his

mezzotint prints and pastels, “Fields and Streets,” in the Arts

Atrium through Dec. 3.

Jogo will be at the opening reception Tuesday, Oct. 19,

from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Jogo's works depict moments in everyday life, mostly

evening scenes illuminated by street lights, which give a shadowy views of

lawns, streets and driveways in mainstream America.

Posted on Oct 15, 1999

Oct. 4, 1999

1. The minutes of Sept. 27 meeting were approved.

2. Linda Stanhope met with the AAC to discuss the Report

of the AAC Subcouncil on Tenure Line Allocation.

3. The Committee began discussion on Tenure Line

Allocation.

4. The AAC will draft a response to the Sociology

External Review.

5. Danette Slevinski gave the Student Forum report and

indicated that she is chairing an Ad Hoc committee to organize a cross

talk on academic honesty.