Board Report: May 2008
By Frank L. Messa '73, Chairman, Board of Trustees
Dear Friends of Union:
The College’s Board of Trustees met on a ReUnion Weekend that rewrote the record books. More than 1,500 alumni and guests enjoyed the largest ReUnion program ever. There are plenty of reasons to celebrate, as I did with my classmates from 1973 at our 35th ReUnion.
The College, with DoubleJay Creative, the Knoxville, Tenn.-based firm of Larsen Jay and Trustee Adrian Maclean Jay ’98, produced a 14-minute video that truly captures the spirit of ReUnion ’08. (Yes, that is me in the wig; I lost a bet.) To see the video, and other coverage of ReUnion, please visit here.
Among the myriad activities, the weekend featured tributes to John Wold ’38 and the groundbreaking for an interdisciplinary science building made possible by the generosity of John and his wife, Jane. A trustee emeritus, John also received an honorary Doctor of Science degree. President Ainlay, in presenting the degree, said, "We honor you today as a man of science, but you are much more. You have an appreciation for the value of teaching and learning science in a liberal arts setting." Celebrating his 70th ReUnion, John received an Alumni Gold Medal from the Alumni Council at Saturday’s convocation. The trustees attended the inaugural Wold Lecture on Religion and Violence and the investiture of Peter Ross Bedford as the John and Jane Wold Professor of Religious Studies. We are deeply indebted to John and Jane for their commitment to Union, and it was wonderful to honor them.
The College dedicated the Breazzano Fitness Center made possible by a gift from Trustee David Breazzano ’78. Dave’s gift has transformed the former basketball court in Alumni Gymnasium to a state-of-the-art fitness center that has become one of the most popular places on campus. President Ainlay praised Dave for his "commitment to the whole person." As you may recall, Dave last year made an important contribution to the intellectual and social life of campus by endowing the Minerva House that bears his family’s name. Now, he has made an important contribution to the physical well being of students, faculty and staff.
I was pleased to see that among the celebrants at ReUnion was Sally Van Schaik ’58, the first woman to complete her undergraduate studies at the College. Hal Wieler ’58 was honored for traveling the furthest to attend ReUnion, coming from Germany. The Anable Cup for the greatest number of classmates in the parade and The McClellan Cup for the highest percentage of class attendees both went to the Class of 1958. The Van Voast/Class of 1941 Cup for best costume went to the Class of 1998 (yellow ponchos; it rained at their graduation.). The Class of 1943 ReUnion Award for overall effort went to the Class of 1943.
The weekend also included the recognition of alumni, faculty and staff for service to the College, the Alumni Engineering Awards, the parade, spectacular fireworks (courtesy of Steve Ente ’75), Alumni Convocation and countless other events.
Academic Affairs
The Board was pleased to learn that the College has received an $800,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation in support of "bridge hires" in Anthropology, English and Philosophy. This will provide stability to these departments by providing training of a new faculty member who in advance of another member’s retirement.
The College in May hosted a very successful two-day conference, "Engineering and the Liberal Arts," also supported by the Mellon Foundation, that brought together academic leaders throughout the country who share our interest in integrating engineering and the liberal arts. The conference was a reminder that Union is a national leader in this increasingly important field of higher education.
The Minerva Houses hosted a very successful inaugural event, the Minerva Games. The brainchild of Selin Whitham ’09, the event brought to campus some 75 Schenectady middle schoolers for a day of competition modeled on the Olympics.
Women’s ice hockey recently hosted "Pink at the Rink," an event that raised awareness and about $10,000 to support the American Cancer Society’s breast cancer research, education and service efforts.
Union Notables, a celebration of outstanding Union men and women, has unveiled its latest exhibit, which features Gordon Gould ’41, the inventor of the laser; Lewis Henry Morgan, Class of 1840, a pioneer in the field of anthropology; and Phil Alden Robinson ’71, filmmaker and writer.
We were proud of three students who have received prestigious honors. Andrew Krauss ’08 has received a Watson Fellowship in which he will study his lifelong passion for optimizing boat performance. Not surprisingly, Andrew is a member of the College’s crew team. He is also a double major in philosophy and mechanical engineering.
Michael Bono ’09, a mechanical engineering major and visual arts minor, has received a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship to support his study at Union and beyond. Michael is a member of the College’s Aerogel Research Team, an interdisciplinary group of chemists and mechanical engineers that investigates the ultralight materials that are used as insulators, catalysts and sensors.
Michelle Koo ’08 has been awarded a Fulbright Teaching Assistantship in Spain, where she will teach English and a variety of other subjects. She also will be researching the issue of hunger in Spain, and help develop a project to prepare and delivery food to the hungry.
The board was pleased to approve the tenure and promotion to associate professor of eight dedicated faculty members. They are Bradford Bruno, Mechanical Engineering; Jay Carlson, Union Graduate College; Lorraine Cox, Visual Arts; Joanne Kehlbeck, Chemistry; Kathleen LoGiudice, Biology; Cheikh Ndaiye, Modern Languages; Andrew Rapoff, Mechanical Engineering; and Younghwan Song, Economics. Stephen Schmidt of Economics was promoted to professor. We congratulate these fine faculty members.
In athletics, the 2008 Union Athletics Senior Appreciation Dinner recognized the achievements of 87 seniors and other individuals. It was another outstanding year that featured five teams represented in NCAA team or individual postseason events, five teams in ECAC tournaments (including a championship), six All-Americans, six Liberty League Players of the Year and five league Coaching Staffs of the Year. Union also produced 164 all-league academic performers, three Academic All-District selections, a Watson Fellow, 64 league all stars, 15 region all-stars, a New York State Women’s Collegiate Scholar Athlete, and the first female two-time All-American in Union's track and field history.
If I may be permitted some fatherly pride, a certain senior midfielder in women’s lacrosse, Keri Messa, was named to the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association All-American team. The team tied a school record with 15 wins and reached the NCAA Regional Finals, losing by one goal in the final seconds at #2 College of New Jersey. It has been a true joy to attend my daughter’s games, and I will remain a fixture at athletic contests in the years ahead.
Student Affairs
President Ainlay reported on the College’s involvement with a truly inspirational project. Last fall, the College donated a house it owned to Habitat for Humanity, along with a pledge to provide volunteer labor to help in its renovation. The College responded with teams, fraternities and sororities, and offices quickly booking days that they could work. Last month, the home was turned over to a family who had put more than 400 hours of their time into the project. This is a great example of Union’s interest serving the community, and it has been rewarding to see this project come to fruition.
The students’ Speakers Forum brought to campus a number of inspiring and thought-provoking presenters. Among them, poet Maya Angelou; two refugees from Darfur who shared the tragedy from their region; and Arkansas Governor and former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee.
An exciting new student group is working to enhance the connections between the College and the city. The Union-Schenectady Alliance, which grew out of work by Josh DeBartolo ’08 and Steve Walker ’08, convinced a number of major downtown organizations to place students on their board. This spring, the group organized the immensely popular "Show Me Schenectady" day, which brought masses of students to explore the renaissance of Schenectady. The group is advised by Prof. Hal Fried.
Among the many innovative efforts at sustainability, students recently took on the creation of an organic garden called Octopus's Garden. Besides furthering the important goal of making Union a greener campus, the garden will provide organic produce for local food banks and to Union’s organic café in Reamer Campus Center.
Student interest in the Minerva Fellows program has been phenomenal. The program has selected eight students who will live and volunteer in developing countries for 10 months. They will communicate back to campus via blogs, web cams and Concordiensis articles. They also will teach a class on social entrepreneurship with Prof. Hal Fried. This program has fulfilled the immense student desire to travel and provide service to impoverished areas. It also brings to campus a new perspective for the rest of the student body.
Tim Dunn, who began last fall as the new director of Greek life, has wasted no time in enhancing the role of fraternities and sororities on campus. AEPi was re-chartered last fall, residing in Davidson North. Chi Psi will be living in Potter House for the upcoming year. Alpha Phi Alpha celebrated its 25th anniversary with, among other events, the popular Black and Gold Ball. Lambda Pi Chi sorority hosted their third annual rape awareness event in April. Sigma Phi presented an exhibit on their fraternity’s history in the Nott Memorial. The creation of a "Party Patrol," a self-policing group of students, has been successful in ensuring that events are within school guidelines.
In Admissions, under the leadership of Interim Vice President Ann Fleming Brown, the College had another record number of applications, and this fall we expect to enroll a class of about 570 students. The board was happy to meet Matt Malatesta ’91, who joins the College as the new vice president for Admissions and Financial Aid. Matt, who earned a bachelor’s in managerial economics and a master of arts in teaching – both from Union – comes from Hamilton College, where most recently he was director of financial aid.
College Relations
In fundraising, the College is on pace to set a new record. As of March 31, the College had received $26.4 million, well on pace to break the previous record of $26.8 million. The total for the You are Union campaign is about $140 million, more than two-thirds of the way toward the initial goal of $200 million. In fact, the campaign has been so successful that the board voted to expand it to $250 million to incorporate new initiatives in the recently enacted Strategic Plan.
I am pleased to report that the College’s endowment is in good order and continues to achieve outstanding investment returns. On Friday, we learned that the College’s portfolio was in excess of $400 million. I commend Trustee David Henle ’75 and the other members of the investment committee for their stewardship of the College’s endowment.
Board news
The board is pleased to welcome Dr. Kathy Magliato of the Class of 1985. Kathy is one of the few female cardiothoracic surgeons in the world and a specialist in heart-lung transplant. Kathy is in many ways a model alumna. She cultivated at Union a passion for the medical field, but also found a range of experiences on campus that would help her other careers as author, TV commentator and lecturer. We are thrilled to have her on the board.
We were also pleased to approve two new trustees who will be joining the board at the fall meeting. Kelly M. Williams ’86 is managing director of Credit Suisse First Boston’s Asset Management Division. Kelly earned degrees from Union in political science and mathematics, and a law degree from New York University. She has been extremely active as an alumna, hosting events in New York City, and counseling students on financial careers. Paul LeClerc is president and chief executive officer of the New York Public Library and a former professor of French at Union. From 1988 to 1993, he was president of Hunter College in New York City. Last winter, he received the inaugural John Bigelow Medal, established by President Ainlay to recognize friends of the College who have contributed to the advancement of humanity. We look forward to having Kelly and Paul on the board.
We also said thank you and farewell to four distinguished board members whose terms have expired. Rian Cahill ’08, who has served as student trustee since 2006 and been an active student leader who has provided the board with valuable insight on current student life. Dr. Estelle Cooke-Sampson ’74, a physician and former professor of diagnostic radiology at Howard University, has served the board since 2004 in a range of capacities including board secretary and member of the Presidential Search Committee. Louisa Matthew, professor of visual arts and a faculty trustee since 2005, is a true interdisciplinary scholar and teacher whose service includes membership on the Strategic Planning Committee and the Presidential Search Committee. Christine Reilly ’75, who has served on the board since 2004, joined the board as head of worldwide operations for Morgan Stanley’s asset management division. Christine, whose success stands as testimony to the value of earning a computer science degree in a liberal arts setting, has played an invaluable role in securing the College’s financial future.
If you were back for ReUnion, or saw the video, you know how much excitement there is for Union and its future. On behalf of my colleagues on the Board, I thank you for your continued commitment to this special place. I hope to see you soon on campus. Until then, all the best from Union.
Sincerely,
Frank L. Messa ’73
Chairman of the Board of Trustees