Union College – Offering Excellence in Academics & Athletics Since 1795
About Union College
Founded in 1795, the first college chartered by the Board of Regents of the State of New York, Union is an independent, liberal arts college.
Its name reflects the sense of community felt by members of various groups who were instrumental in its founding.
The things we value
At Union, you’ll find a vibrant community of learners and scholars, of people whose ambition, energy and desire to make things happen are contagious. In our academic buildings, Minerva Houses, labs, library, studios and recital rooms – pretty much anywhere you go on this historic campus – you will feel the intellectual and creative spark. Our tradition and history provide a rock-solid foundation for innovation and inspire us to do great things.
- We are committed to the life of the mind.
- We are small and personal.
- We care about our communities, local and global.
- We are guided by innovation, inspired by tradition.
- We seek diverse perspectives.
- We embrace the meaning of Union.
The Mission of the College
Union College, founded in 1795, is a scholarly community dedicated to shaping the future and to understanding the past. Faculty, staff, and administrators welcome diverse and talented students into our community, work closely with them to provide a broad and deep education, and guide them in finding and cultivating their passions. We do this with a wide range of disciplines and interdisciplinary programs in the liberal arts and engineering, as well as academic, athletic, cultural, and social activities, including opportunities to study abroad and to participate in undergraduate research and community service. We develop in our students the analytic and reflective abilities needed to become engaged, innovative, and ethical contributors to an increasingly diverse, global, and technologically complex society.
A Brief History
Union College can trace its beginnings to 1779. Several hundred residents of northern New York, certain that Burgoyne’s defeat at Saratoga two years before would mean a new nation, began the first popular demand for higher education in America. These residents pursued that dream for 16 years until, in 1795, Union became the first college chartered by the Regents of the State of New York. The first trustees consciously attempted to bring their new college into the mainstream of their world. The very name, Union, carried echoes of the new national union. More immediately and directly, it recognized the fact that the College was an outgrowth of a new sense of community among the several religious and national groups in the local population. Union’s founders were determined to avoid the narrow sectarianism characteristic of earlier American colleges; today, Union is one of the oldest nondenominational colleges in the country.
Union did not share the heavily classical bias of most colleges of the day. Its motto (“Sous les lois de Minerve nous devenons tous freres,” or “We all become brothers under the laws of Minerva”) is significantly of French rather than Latin origin. Union was among the first to introduce French on an equal level with Greek and Latin. In the 1820s, when the classical curriculum was the most widely accepted field of study, Union introduced a bachelor’s degree with greater emphasis on history, science, modern languages, and mathematics. This liberality of educational vision characterized Union during the early years of the term of Eliphalet Nott, president from 1804 to 1866. Science and technology became important concerns; chemistry was taught before 1809, a degree in scientific studies was added, and in 1845 Union became the first liberal arts college to offer engineering. The College was one of the first to offer work in American history and constitutional government and did pioneer work in the elective system of study.
By about 1830, Union was graduating as many students as any other college in America. Along with Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, it was spoken of as one of the big four. Students came from the South and West as well as the East. Among them were the father of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the grandfather of Winston Churchill, a president of the United States (Chester A. Arthur, Class of 1848), seven cabinet secretaries, 15 United States senators, 91 members of the House of Representatives, 13 governors, 50 important diplomats, more than 200 judges, 40 missionaries, 16 generals, and 90 college presidents, including the first presidents of the University of Illinois, the University of Iowa, the University of Michigan, Vassar College, Smith College, and Elmira College.
Nott’s ingenious schemes for financing higher education, including a statewide lottery, also were instrumental in building Union’s reputation. Innovations under the leadership of Andrew Van Vranken Raymond, president from 1894 to 1907 include the establishment of a Department of Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics, headed by the “electrical wizard” of the General Electric Company, Charles P. Steinmetz. The new department gave impetus to the development of strong programs in science and technology and attracted attention and applications to the College.
The 20th century brought other changes to Union. In 1970, the College adopted co-education and welcomed the first class of two dozen women transfer students. The group celebrated the 35th anniversary of their graduation at ReUnion 2007. Today, roughly half of Union’s students are women. More recently, the College has added programs in Bioengineering, East Asian Studies, Nanotechnology, and Neuroscience.
Perhaps the most dramatic change in student life began in 2004 with the Minervas, created to broaden the educational experience for students, faculty and staff. Every incoming student is assigned to one of seven Minerva Houses, joining upperclass students, faculty and staff in a house affiliation. Each Minerva, with its own budget and governing council, is a center for intellectual and social activity. Union’s fraternities and sororities continue a proud tradition of service. Theme Houses are a popular option for students who seek residential affiliation with others who are committed to themes such as community service, environmental awareness, art, music and language.
The College has done important experimental work in interdepartmental studies, which is reflected in a number of programs that cut across the lines of academic disciplines. Organized interdepartmental majors are offered in numerous areas, and the College has also developed programs that enable students to work toward both a bachelor’s degree and an advanced degree. The General Education Curriculum has received national recognition, and the College has an innovative program of Writing Across the Curriculum. Efforts to renew and enhance the College’s academic programs and curricula continue to be supported by major foundations.
The College Grounds
The Union College campus, officially known as the College Grounds, occupies 100 acres in Schenectady, a city of 60,000 founded by the Dutch in 1661. The Grounds are the College’s third home. In 1813, shortly after the College decided to move to the new location, the French architect and landscape planner Joseph Ramée laid out the new campus — the first unified campus plan in America. He designed a great central court, flanked on three sides by buildings and open to the west, with a round pantheon as the focus of the court.
The distinctive Ramée style, with its arches and pilasters in white, remains the dominant motif in Union College architecture. Recent additions to the campus include the Science-Engineering Center; Achilles Rink; Frank Bailey Field, an all-weather athletic field; the Morton and Helen Yulman Theater; and the F.W. Olin Center, a high-technology classroom and laboratory building. Alumni Gymnasium, the Murray and Ruth Reamer Campus Center, and Schaffer Library have received major renovations and expansion, the historic Nott Memorial has been restored to become a display and discussion center, and a $25 million project revitalized the neighborhood to the immediate west of campus by creating apartment-style housing for 160 students, a community center, and a residence hall for 230 students. The College recently dedicated the Viniar Athletic Center, home of women’s and men’s basketball; the Taylor Music Center, a state-of-the art classroom, rehearsal and performance facility; Breazzano Fitness Center in Alumni Gymnasium; the new Center for Bioengineering and Computational Biology; and Breazzano House, one of the seven Minervas.
North of the central campus lie the eight acres of formal gardens and woodland known as Jackson’s Garden, begun in the 1830s by Captain Isaac Jackson of the Mathematics Department. Through the garden runs Hans Groot’s Kill, the brook that bounds through Union’s Grounds in the College song. A durable local legend, never confirmed by historians, holds that the villagers of Schenectady burned a local maiden at the stake there in 1672, and that the ghost of the dead girl has haunted Jackson’s Garden ever since.
At the center of the Grounds, on the spot designated by Ramée for his pantheon, stands Union’s most unusual building, the distinctive, 16-sided Nott Memorial. Begun in the 1850s and completed in 1875, it has been hailed by architectural historians as an important example of American Victorian architecture and is a National Historic Landmark. Facing the Nott Memorial is Memorial Chapel, built in 1925 as a monument to the Union College graduates who lost their lives in World War I. Along its walls hang portraits of the former presidents of the College.
Also near the center of campus is Schaffer Library, which houses more than 600,000 volumes, 1,600 current periodical subscriptions, together with a periodicals reading room, faculty studies, and more than 500 individual study spaces. It operates on the open stack plan and offers bibliographic instruction, interlibrary loan, online bibliographic retrieval services, electronic document delivery, and Internet workstations for access to indexes, abstracts, and full-text journals online. Automated circulation of books and other library materials as well as the online catalog are in place. The library has been a depository for federal government documents since 1901. Professional reference service is offered during most of the hours that the library is open. Within the library are several of the College’s most prized possessions, including an elephant folio edition of Audubon’s Birds of America, which the College purchased directly from the artist; the original Ramée drawings for the campus; the Trianon editions of William Blake’s works; the first books bought for the library in 1795; and the original College charter.
Flanking the library and connected to it by a curved colonnade are the Humanities and Social Sciences Buildings. The Humanities Building is the home for the Departments of Classics, English, Modern Languages, and Philosophy. In the Social Sciences Building are the Departments of Anthropology, Economics, History, Political Science, and Sociology. Filling the area in front of the library and between the two classroom buildings is Roger Hull Plaza (named for the former Union president), an open space with benches and flower beds. This campus crossroads was furnished and landscaped in part with gifts from parents of Union College students. It serves as the site for such formal ceremonies as Commencement and for informal meetings and conversation.
The focal point of the Murray and Ruth Reamer Campus Center is a commons area, part of a multi-level atrium looking out over Jackson’s Garden. The building also houses an auditorium, a dining hall and a restaurant, a two-level bookstore, and a variety of office and activity rooms for student organizations such as Concordiensis, the student newspaper; WRUC, the first radio station to offer regularly scheduled broadcasts; The Garnet, the yearbook; the literary magazine, Idol; and the student activities office.
Alumni Gymnasium recently added the Breazzano Fitness Center, made possible by a gift from David Breazzano ’78, a spacious facility with an extensive assortment of equipment for cardio fitness and weight training. The building also has an eight-lane swimming pool with seating and a diving area; racquetball/squash courts; and multi-use rooms for dance, aerobics and yoga programs.
Old Chapel, the former chapel and student meeting hall, is still used for many meetings.
The largest of Union’s buildings, the Science and Engineering Center, is the home of the Departments of Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Physics and Psychology. Located here, and available for student use, are such research tools as a nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer, a Pelletron accelerator, X-ray diffraction equipment, a centrifuge, and a scanning electron microscope capable of examining a surface area 200,000 times smaller than what can be seen with a conventional light microscope.
The nearby F.W. Olin Center’s interactive computerization capabilities make the building adaptable for use by nearly every academic department and student. The Geology Department is located here, and, in addition to a variety of collaborative computer classrooms and laboratories, the center has a multi-media auditorium and a 20-inch, remote-controlled telescope.
The Arts Building is located in North Collonade in the former Philosophical Hall, which held the first analytical chemistry laboratory specifically opened for college students. West of the Arts Building is the new Taylor Music Center, completed in 2007. It includes the Fred L. Emerson Auditorium, a performance and teaching space with state-of-the-art recording technology. Surrounding the performance hall are practice rooms, high-tech classrooms and faculty offices.
The College’s student residences include South College, built in 1814 and renovated in 1936. Its counterpart on the other side of Library Field is North College. Other residence halls are Davidson and Fox Houses; West College, home for many freshmen; Richmond House; Raymond House; Potter House; College Park Hall; and apartments along Seward Place to the west of campus.
Admissions
We are a scholarly community founded in 1795 with a mission to shape the future and understand the past. The Union community welcomes talented and diverse students, and we work closely with each one to provide a broad and deep education that will identify and cultivate their passions.
Union has a range of disciplines and interdisciplinary programs in the liberal arts and engineering; strong offerings in academic, athletic, cultural and social activities; and unique opportunities for study abroad, undergraduate research and service learning. Students develop the analytic and reflective abilities to become engaged, innovative, and ethical contributors to a diverse, global and technologically complex society.
Union College Athletics
FRANK L. MESSA RINK AT ACHILLES CENTER
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS & CONTACT INFORMATION
The home of both the men’s and women’s intercollegiate ice hockey teams. The main sports medicine area is located in the basement as well as the garnet room which is used to host meetings and special events. There are a number of locker rooms located on two different levels that are used by a number of intercollegiate teams throughout the year. The intramural department uses the ice for a variety of offerings including broomball and ice hockey leagues. The hockey club also practices and plays their games at this facility.
ALEXANDER FIELD
A natural grass field that is the home of our intercollegiate softball team. The newly renovated softball field includes dugouts. Fall teams such as football and field hockey will use the field on occasions as well as outdoor track.
DAVID BREAZZANO ‘78 FITNESS CENTER
Dedicated on May 30, 2008, the David Breazzano ‘78 Fitness Center is located in the Alumni Gymnasium building. It features state of the art fitness equipment for the campus community.
In April of 2006, a 7500 sq. ft. fitness center opened that includes a 5000 sq. ft. weight room as well as another exercise room for wellness and club activities. Alumni Gymnasium is also the hub of our athletic department and venue of the main athletic office, sports information department, intramural and recreation, and most coaches offices. The building includes a 25 meter swimming pool and diving area, a large exercise room for our wellness programs, 5 racquetball courts, 3 squash courts.
CENTRAL PARK
The Union baseball team plays home games at Central Park, an off campus facility. Games are held on a recently renovated field at the facility.
In a partnership between the College and the city, Union donated $162,000 to renovate “Diamond C,” one of three baseball fields in Central Park. The upgrades include a new infield featuring Kentucky bluegrass sod, new bases and a sprinkler system. Improvements were also made to the dugouts, outfield, bullpen areas and the fencing surrounding the field.
TRAVIS J. CLARK ‘00 STRENGTH TRAINING FACILITY
The newest addition to Union’s strength and conditioning efforts is the Travis. J. Clark ‘00 Strength Training Facility, a state-of-the-art workout area exclusively for varsity athletes. The 3,000 square-foot facility was constructed during the summer of 2008 and provides student-athletes with a world-class workout space year round.
FRANK BAILEY FIELD 
A synthetic grass turf field surrounded by a six lane 400 meter resilite track. The facility includes lights and a stadium with seating for 1600 spectators. It is the home of our intercollegiate football, field hockey, men’s and women’s lacrosse, and outdoor track programs. The facility is also used by the intramural department, club sports teams, and for general recreation.
BOATHOUSE 
The college boathouse is located off campus on the banks of the Mohawk River and is the training facility for both the men’s and women’s crew teams.
MEMORIAL FIELD HOUSE 
A multi-purpose facility that is the home of indoor track team (1/10 of a mile 4 lane track) and is also utilized by the intercollegiate volleyball and basketball programs. This facility is also the primary indoor venue for our intramural and club sports activities. During the winter and early spring it is the primary practice area for virtually all our spring sports during cold and inclement weather. A large net system permits all type of activities including softball and baseball scrimmages as well as tennis practices. This venue is also used as a recreation area, especially for basketball. The intercollegiate equipment issue area, a training room, and numerous locker rooms are also located in this building.
GARIS FIELD 
This natural grass facility features seating for approximately 700 on the hill adjacent to the field house, and as hosted many post-season events over the years.
TENNIS COURTS
Eight outdoor tennis courts (2 with lights) are used by both the men’s and women’s intercollegiate tennis teams. When not being used by either tennis teams they are available to the college community on a first come basis.
THE TURF AT COLLEGE PARK 
A synthetic grass turf field located on the western side of the campus. This facility is the home of our men’s and women’s intercollegiate soccer teams and is used as a pratice area for both lacrosse teams and the field hockey team. It is also the primary outdoor venue for intramurals during the fall and spring terms. The facility is also available for general recreation for our students.
VINIAR ATHLETIC CENTER 
A hardwood basketball / volleyball facility with a seating capacity of 1000 opened in 2004. It is the home for our men’s and women’s intercollegiate basketball teams and volleyball team. The Joel Fisher conference rooms overlooks the court and is used for meeting and receptions throughout the year.
Source: Union College
