September 20, 2002: Volume 56, Number 2

Two recent alumnae join admissions team

The College welcomes two recent graduates – Genevieve Mbamalu '02 and Darcy Tuczynski '00 – as new admissions counselors this fall.

Mbamalu, who graduated just months ago from Union College, won't have to look far to find people who can help her in recruiting students at Union's admissions office.

"I have friends here who are sophomores, juniors and seniors," said Mbamalu, who was well-known on campus through her involvement in many activities. "I can always call on them to help me."

Mbamalu, a native of Nigeria who graduated from A. Philip Randolph High School in New York City, joins Union's admissions office as a counselor. She is to visit students at schools in Long Island; Washington, D.C.; Maryland; Virginia; Delaware; North Carolina and Tennessee.

"We're thrilled to have Genevieve back at Union," said Dan Lundquist, vice president for admissions and financial aid. "She brings the same energy and enthusiasm to the admissions office that she brought to her activities as a student."

A major in sociology with a minor in biology, Mbamalu did her senior thesis on "The Role of Cultural Tradition and Government Apathy in Promoting HIV/AIDS in South African Women." She plans to pursue a career with an international public health agency.

While a student at Union, she took terms abroad in Jamaica and Italy. She did research fellowships on complementary and alternative medicine, success of the breast cancer movement, and racial and ethnic differences with informal care giving.

She was a recipient of the Franklin L. Fero Memorial Scholarship and the College's Meritorious Service Award.

Among her activities while a student at Union,  she was a Science and Technology tutor; a program coordinator for Student Activities; conference planning chair for the College chapter of the National Association of Black Engineers; a disc jockey for WRUC, the College radio station; and co-chair of the Sociology Club.

She was a computer consultant through the College's USTAR program, which provides technical support to faculty and students; an assistant to a vice president at Guggenheim Brothers, facilitating realty funds projects and organizing scholarships for doctoral candidates; and an atmospheric science intern at NASA's Langley Research Center, where she interpreted global climate change data.

Tuczynski says she is glad to be back at "a place that feels like home." The Greenfield Center native and 1996 graduate of Saratoga Springs Senior High School returns to her alma mater as an admissions counselor.

"I was the liberal arts queen," said the interdepartmental major in biology and philosophy of her time as a Union student. She studied for a term in France (she also had a French minor); played violin in the College orchestra; and served as editor of Ephemeris, a philosophy journal that she founded. She was active in the College's Big Brothers/Big Sisters program, serving as a "Big" and managing a summer camp at Union to serve the "Littles" while their "Bigs" were away. She played on the field hockey team. Throughout her four years at Union, Tuczynski worked in the admissions office – as an office assistant, tour guide, overnight host and finally, senior interviewer.

"Darcy's homecoming represents a continuation of the great work she did with us as a student," said Lundquist.

Since graduating from Union, Tuczynski has worked for Deloitte Consulting in New York City, specializing in health care and life science firms.

She is to represent the College in visits to schools in New York's Southern Tier, western Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont.

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