Rawson Thurber, Union class of 1997, wrote and directed the recent hit 2004 movie "Dodgeball.” Not surprisingly, dodgeball is now a popular intramural sport at Union. Thurber wrote and directed the 2007 film, “Mysteries of Pittsburgh,” shown at the Sundance Film Festival in February 2008. Classmate Thor Benander ’95 was one of the film’s producers.
www.union.edu/Alumni
Council President Jason Oshins ’87 called the meeting to order at approximately 9:05 a.m. He welcomed everyone to the meeting. The by-law changes made the Alumni Council President an alumni trustee. This causes conflicts during the Homecoming weekend, so John Vero ’97 will chair the parts of the Council meeting that Jason cannot attend. US News and World Report now ranks Union at 36th place in the National Liberal Arts College rankings. Union ranks 21st in the national engineering school rankings. The Union College Board of Trustees is acutely aware of the relation between rankings and reputation. Alumni can help with the rankings by donating to Union since that affects participation rates and endowment, which make up parts of many rankings. The Council members are leaders and should encourage other alumni to give
Members Ken Haefner ’55, Brien O’Toole ’79, Andrew Wisoff ’80, Brian Unger ’93, Jonathan Gasthalter ’99, Peter Melito ’00, and Kurt Goodjohn ’04 introduced themselves.
The Council observed a moment of silence for Morton (Mike) Yulman ’36, Charles Wiberley ’38, Quintin Cole ’40, Byron George ’49, Gerald Roberts ’52, and Thomas Gade ’61.
Since May, McLaughlin has been working at building relationships with the Dean of Students, College Relations staff, Admissions and Financial Aid staff, and the academic deans. The Athletic Department is getting strong support from College senior administration. McLaughlin is building a strategic plan for the department in over a dozen key areas such as gender equity, competitive success, and alumni relations. He noted that Men’s Soccer, Women’s Soccer, and Football are setting Liberty League records. The renovation of Alumni Gym will be completed by the beginning of spring term, when it will be a recreational and a social space. This will triple the space available to students, and it was noted that space for non-team members has been limited in the recent past. The Athletic Department needs alumni to support it in terms of time, dollars, and guidance.
In a question and answer session, McLaughlin said that the Liberty League will announce shortly the name of a new member of the League to replace Coast Guard as the eighth team in football, because a minimum of seven teams is required for NCAA competition.
Men’s Ice Hockey has a very challenging schedule this year, including the University of Minnesota and Ohio State University. The NCAA will not allow scholarships to be given to Division I teams at institutions where Division III teams exist in other sports. Therefore, we have to support and promote our hockey team as Brown and Princeton do. We have great men’s and women’s hockey coaches in place. Brian Unger ’93, color analyst for team broadcasts, noted that the Garnet Blades organization should be more publicized and that hockey broadcasts are on the internet should be more publicized. Hockey is now broadcast on WRUC, instead of on ESPN since ESPN was not cost-efficient for Union. Three hockey games will be televised.
McLaughlin is focusing on getting funding and plans put together for a new varsity team weight room, the renovation of Memorial Field House, and additional facilities at College Park Field.
He will follow up on a request from Bob Pletman ’50 to investigate having railings at the hockey rink that are suitable for people with disabilities.
Alumni leadership needs to step up to help the Athletic Department. Resources are stretched thin and alumni booster groups such as the Garnet Blades are essential. John Vero ‘ 97, Chair of the Athletics Committee, talked about how that Committee will be more involved in terms of supporting the department. McLaughlin said that other schools use such a group as a sounding board and as a group of active supporters.
We should look for a new commercial website on Union Athletics by early December, which will include even more timely score reports. The website address is www.union.edu/athletics.
Patrick DiCerbo '88, National Chair - The Union Fund, presented a report with Director of Annual Giving Gail Dexter. Alumni Council member participation was at 87% for the 93rd Annual Fund (it should be at 100%). The 93rd fund was even in participation, but lower in dollars than the 92nd fund was. Steady contributors are now recognized on the Waldron Roll for 2, 5, 10, 15, and 20 years of uninterrupted participation. This year, we are focusing on participation and on getting young alums to contribute. It is easier to get additional donors than it is to get additional dollars. We are making solicitations (direct mailings, calls from students, calls from associate agents, phonathons) more appealing. We are working on getting students to participate while still in college. Bob Howe ’58 said that some of the most effective solicitations are from current students. There were suggestions for using internet, instant messaging, e-mail, and cell phone contact in order to be more effective. In addition, there should be an emphasis on the effectiveness of the matching contributions from donors’ companies. There was a discussion of restricted gifts; we want to encourage people to give unrestricted gifts at the same time they make give restricted gifts to a favorite program.
We are nearly at the halfway point toward our goal of $200 million, with donations of $97.5 million already given. The Annual Fund will contribute $17 million of the $200 million. Recent gifts include a bequest an anonymous donation of $2 million for the improvement of the fitness center, which is used by 70% of the student body. Dave Henle ’75 has given $2 million for scholarships. A widow of a member of the Class of 1938 left a $2 million bequest for use in building the house system and for faculty support. Peter Saperstone ’79, considered a young alum, has given an endowment for a scholarship.
There have been kickoff campaign events in Washington DC and in Schenectady, with more events planned in other cities for the 2005-06 year. Many donations and bequests are described in detail in Accolades magazine.
Bob Howe ’58 pointed out the advantages in naming Union as the beneficiary of whole-life insurance policies. O’Hara added that in many situations, it is a tax advantage to the donor to name Union as the beneficiary of an IRA.
Underwood told of his experiences in his four-month tenure as Interim President. A great deal of time has been spent on matters relating to campus safety, including notices to students about the realities of sex offenders living near Union college, campaigns to reduce vandalism and excessive drinking, hiring of three additional safety officers, adding a student safety patrol, and use of a safety kiosk at the corner of Park and Huron.
There are changes in the administration. Kathryn Quinn is the new assistant to the President. Therese McCarty is the Interim Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty. A major goal is getting ready for the new president. The administration is gathering data that will be needed in order for him/her to do strategic planning.
Volunteers are key to Union. Alumni volunteer to help Union. Students volunteer for community service (e.g. raising money for Hurricane Katrina victims). Schenectady is now getting private investments to improve the community. Proctor’s Theater is undergoing a $20 million renovation. Much of the investment in Schenectady is a direct result of the work that former President Roger Hull and Trustee Neil Golub did with Metroplex.
The President meets continually with students. He visited all the freshman residences in the fall. He meets on a regular basis with student trustees.
Union is continually working on improving academic reputation. Margaret Tongue has been hired as Director – Office of Post-Graduate Fellowships. We are already seeing an increase in the number of students applying for Fulbright Fellowships and for Watson Fellowships. Union continues to work to make Converging Technology and General Education cross-disciplinary programs even better. The college continues to work to improve the Minerva System. There is a special effort in advising. Union is focusing on advising of sophomore students and on creating a Sophomore Seminar that prepares students to do research (especially thesis research). Union wants to have 50% women within the student body, and especially wants more women in science and engineering. Union is continuing to work on attracting more members of underrepresented minority groups to our student body. We have limited resources to work with; Union is 24th in endowment/student within a list of 32 schools comparable to Union. Union should be an oasis of civility in an uncivil world.
The Minerva system is continually improving and it is changing Union College. Freshmen seem happy with the system. Each Minerva house selected a book for members to read during the summer and three houses were able to have the author of the selected book visit campus. Houses have a Debate and Debunking program, where the house selects a topic and invites speakers in to speak about that subject.
Minerva Houses are to further social and academic life at Union. Peer Assistances for Learning (PALs) organize workshops on such subjects as time management, test anxiety, or homesickness. They are an academic resource and a referral service and take some time pressure off the faculty.
Greek life continues at Union. Leaders learn social skills. Alumni leaders need to participate to make Greek houses better. Greek members need understand that being Greek is more than just “partying”. The student leaders understand the responsibilities of being Greek.
Greek houses, Theme Houses (such as the house focused on the Arts or the house focused on environmental studies), and the Minerva Houses co-exist. About 1/3 of the students belong to fraternities and sororities. All freshman students are assigned to Minerva Houses. Theme houses are ancillary. The same student may be a member of a fraternity/sorority while being a member of the Minerva House. Greeks do not get financial support, since they select members (but can apply for Intellectual Enrichment Grants). Theme Houses get a minimum of financial support. Each Minerva House gets $30K per year for its activities. Alumni can restrict a gift to fraternities; we should shortly be able to give a restricted gift to a Minerva House, as well. Paul Wintrich ’60 said that better communications should be sent to alumni to let them know that the Greeks are active on campus.
Treasurer’s Report
Cal Welch ‘62, Alumni Council Treasurer, presented the Treasurer’s report. He said that he appreciated all the work that Mike Newell ’74 did during his years as Treasurer of the council.
CD’s have staggered maturity dates. As they mature, the replacement CD’s will produce higher interest rates. Endowment Fund income to the Council is declining, since it is based on a rolling three-year average rate of investment returns which is lower due to market conditions. He is investigating reasons for MBNA income being lower this year. There will be increased Trustee Election expenses since the Trustee Election will be held this year (approximately half the alums will vote electronically; others without e-mail addresses on file will vote via more expensive mailed ballots). We are spending less on Club development (there was an extraordinary push several years ago to increase the number of clubs and that effort has been successfully completed).
College Clubs Report
Nick Famulare ’92, Alumni Relations Director and Campaign Officer, presented the Union College Clubs report. Over five years, the number of clubs has increased from three to twenty-seven. There are over sixty alumni events around the country. Event programs include faculty presentations, alumni presentations, and other events. Six thousand people attended the events last year.
Academic Programs Committee
Richard Herrmann ’54, chair of the Faculty and Academic Programs Committee, presented the committee report. Union is increasingly exciting academically. At the April meeting, Christina Sorum presented an overview of Union’s curriculum. She also described the “Millennial Generation”, one that is increasingly involved with their parents, advisors, and professors. Christina passed away in May 2005. Her family has given a very generous gift to Union, resulting in the naming of a Minerva House as Sorum House. This is so appropriate since Christie worked so hard on the Minerva House System development. Herrmann led a moment of silence in memory of Christina Sorum, Vice-President of Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty.
Brien O’Toole ’79 said that the Council should be more diverse in getting members of underrepresented minorities on the Council. Oshins said that we make a great effort to do that.
The committee adjourned at approximately 11:30 a.m., pending the awarding of the Founders Medal and the singing of the Alma Mater.
Professor H. Gilbert Harlow was presented with the Union College Founders Medal. This Medal is one of the College’s highest honors. It is awarded on special occasions to recognize unusual and distinguished service to Union College. Steve Ciesinski, Chairman of the Board spoke. Professor Thomas Jewell told of Harlow’s many accomplishments. Interim President James Underwood presented the medal. Harlow gave remembrances and observations about his years at Union College.
Respectfully submitted,
Karen Huggins ‘77 – Secretary