Concordiensis - First Year Edition - Fall 2021

Concordiensis

T H E S T U D E N T N E W S PA P E R O F U N I O N COLLEGE SINCE 1877 FALL 2021

Welcome to Union, Class of 2025! In this Special Edition of Concordiensis, you can forward to:Edition of Concordiensis, you can Welcome to Union, Class of 2025!look In this Special - Messages from the Collegelook Administration, forward to: including President Harris!

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-- And Courtesy of Union College Athletics concordiensis.com

concordy@gmail.com

- A FIRST YEAR SPECIAL EDITION -

2

C Welcome to Union!

FALL 2021

Welcome message from the 2021 Editor-in-Chief: Dear students of the Class of 2025, Welcome to Union College! I hope that your first few weeks on campus have been great and that you have been able to adjust to life at college with as much ease as possible. In my first year at Union, it was rough getting to know people when I was so used to my situation at home. When I

started joining clubs, though, things began to pickup and become easier by the day.

Things were especially difficult during my first spring term though, as I spent it at home doing remote classes while the COVID-19 pandemic raged across the globe. I hope that for your first spring term, you get to spend it in person on campus enjoying the several fun events that I unfortunately could not in my

first year.

I joined the Concordiensis back in my first year, becoming the editor for the 807 Section during my spring term. Since then, I’ve moved to the Editor-in-Chief position and have been in this position since March of 2021. I joined initially because I didn’t have many other clubs to go to and I felt like I was a strong enough writer to make meaningful contributions. As time

progressed, though, I began to really fall in love with writing for the paper and delivering the news to whichever students decided to take a look.

I hope that this year, with papers going back to physical copies, more students can be up to date on the news both inside and outside of Union’s campus.

The editors and I have put this special edition of the Concordiensis for you so that

you can get accustomed to the college and the many facets of it; from clubs to dining, we intend to give you help for anything you may need to get accustomed to Union.

On behalf of the Concordiensis team, we hope that you enjoy this special edition and are able to learn from it.

Sincerely, Dante Sasso Jr.

What is the Concordiensis, and how can I get involved?

The Concordiensis is the student-run newspaper of Union College. Informally known as “The Concordy,” the paper was established in 1877 and has printed weekly for the majority of its existence, an exception being during the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time period, articles were uploaded solely to concordiensis.com on a weekly basis due to social distancing requirements during the early stages of the pandemic.

There are several different sections within each edition of the Concordiensis, ranging from Union-centric news sto-

ries to stories about innovations in science and technology. Each section has its own editor who selects stories to cover each week and assigns them to writers to cover each event before they are shipped out and printed every Thursday morning.

To write or take photographs for the Concordiensis, students simply need to come to meetings in the Concordiensis’ office, located on the fourth floor of the Reamer Campus Center. No previous writing experience nor photography portoflios are needed; if a student wishes to try their hand at writing in a jour-

nalistic style, the Concordiensis editors will work closely with them to help them succeed and improve their writing capabilites.

The sections for the Concordiensis include News, World News, Sci-Tech, Opinions, the 807 Section, Sports, and Arts.

News is any news pertaining to Union, such as a speech given by an admistrator or a recap of a Minerva event.

World News focuses on the outside world and politics such as presidential elections and ongoing conflicts.

Sci-Tech focuses on innovations in science and tech-

Past Concordiensis editions can be viewed at concordiensis.com/ virtual-newspapers or by scanning:

nology, ranging from new Apple products to cryptocurrencies.

The Opinions section is where Union Students can publically voice their opinions as long as they are not deemed inflammatory or hateful towards individuals or groups.

The 807 Section is a varitety content section, typically featuring a Woman of the Week from Union College’s Women’s Union club. It can contain anything from satire to feature pieces about greater trends at Union.

The Sports section focuses on summarizing different

athletic games that Union’s teams participate in, and even has the occasional profile of a Union student athlete.

The Arts section focuses on various pieces of art.

Anythng from feature pieces about exhibits at Union’s Mandeville Gallery, to reviews of new albums from various musical artists.

The Concordiensis’ mission is to report the facts to Union College students, keeping journalistc integrity and honesty in mind. If you want to join the Concordiensis, reach out to us using the UEngage system at union.presence.io.

Dante Sasso Jr. | Concordiensis The Concordiensis Office in the 4th floor of Reamer Campus Center

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C Administrative Welcomes FALL 2021

President David R. Harris welcomes the Class of 2025 to Union!

As we start a new year, I find myself feeling grateful.

Grateful for the character and strengths that have been revealed through our collective effort to navigate the pandemic – traits which have always been at the heart of Union’s success.

Grateful for all those in our community who have sacrificed and gone the extra mile, who have demonstrated tremendous creativity and innovation and who have worked tirelessly to allow us to achieve our core mission as a College the past 19 months.

Most of all, I am grateful to have our community back on campus as we begin what I hope and expect will be a great year for our students, faculty and staff.

Since this is the “first-year” edition of the Concordiensis, let me offer a special welcome to the 565 members of the Class of 2025 and our 17 new transfer students. You have exceptional credentials and tremendous accomplishments, and we are excited to have you as part of our community.

As this year begins, I think

it is important to pause and reflect on what we do at Union College, which is succinctly captured in the College’s vision statement: We develop every student to lead with wisdom, empathy, and courage, in ways large and small, now and across multiple tomorrows.

We cannot achieve our vision if we do not have an exceptional faculty who effectively use what they learn through their research and scholarship to prepare students to address the questions we face now, and those we will face across multiple tomorrows.

We cannot achieve our vision if students graduate with friendships and experiences that exclusively mirror those they had when they arrived at Union, if they have not seriously explored or perhaps broadened, or even changed, their perspectives on social, cultural and political issues.

We cannot achieve our vision if students develop a deep understanding of their chosen area of study, but have not explored other aca-

demic areas, nor developed the life skills necessary for success after they graduate.

We cannot achieve our vision unless a full Union experience is attainable for every student who accepts an offer to attend Union.

Our vision is ambitious, but I am confident that we will continue to thrive because this is a place that has delivered on that vision for 226 years.

This is a place that knows long histories do not guarantee long futures. It is a place that understands innovation is required as challenges and opportunities arise.

At our opening Convocation two weeks ago, I made the observation that there is an “I” in the middle of our name, but our full name—UNION— reminds us that achieving our individual and shared goals requires that we work together. As this year begins, I would encourage all our students to reach out for help when you need it – and to stand ready to help a friend in need.

The Union community is powerful, and I hope every student will take full advantage of the amazing things this

President Harris welcoming the Class of 2025 at Convocation on Sunday, September 12.

Courtesy of Union College President David R. Harris, Union College’s 19th President place has to offer, both in and out of the classroom. My very best wishes for a great year –

and if you see me on campus, and you probably will, please stop me and say ‘Hi!’

Courtesy of Union College

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C Administrative Welcomes FALL 2021

A message from the Dean of Faculty, Michele Angrist My name is Michele Angrist, and I serve as the Interim Dean of Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs. I have responsibility for all aspects of Union’s academic life, including the curriculum, the faculty, international programs, the registrar’s office, and Schaffer library.

It’s hard to believe, but I came to Union 20+ years ago as an Assistant Professor of Political Science. After 18 years of teaching, I transitioned to the administration as Dean of Studies in January 2019, and then, assumed my current role on August 1st of this year.

I want to extend a very warm welcome to our first-year students. We are glad you are here! To offer some unsolicited advice … the ten-week trimester goes by quite quickly,

so do your best to stay on top of your work and not fall behind. Try to develop a weekly schedule that allows you to prepare for and attend your classes, but also to engage in extracurricular and social activities as well. Review your syllabi and map out on your calendar when all of your “big” assignments fall (tests, papers, etc.) so that you can see bottlenecks ahead and prepare accordingly.

Never hesitate to ask for help if you are puzzled or struggling – your professors, academic advisor, class dean, and also the Dean of Studies, are available for assistance. Best wishes for a great fall term.

To reach Michele Angrist, you can email her at angristm@union.edu or call her office at 518-388-6234. Her

office is located in the Olin building, room 210E.

Dean Michele Angrist

Courtesy of Union College

A message from the Diversity Officer Team and more!

Hello everyone! My name is Christa Grant (She/hers) and I am the Assistant Dean for Intercultural Affairs and one of the diversity officers at the College.

On behalf of the Office of Intercultural Affairs, Office of Religious and Spiritual Life and the Diversity Officer Team, we are so excited to have everyone back on campus and interact face to face.

In my role as the Assistant Dean and a Diversity Officer, I have the pleasure to collaborate with my colleagues to promote a culture of inclusion and appreciation of diversity at Union.

Throughout the academic year, the Office of Intercultural Affairs, Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, LGBTQ+ Committee and different student groups offer a variety of programs and events that will allow you to discover yourself and the perspectives of others.

These educational and interactive opportunities aim to foster an inclusive environment where students, faculty and staff can learn about diverse worldviews and build

Courtesy of Union College Left to right: Christa Grant, Assistant Dean of Diversity and Inclusion; Nadiyah Roberts-Green, Program Coordinator of Intercultural Affairs; and Andrew “Dru” Alvez, Assistant Director of Intercultural Affairs

meaningful relationships with one another.

Additionally, we work very closely with our campus partners to support our historically underrepresented students including BIPOC students, LGBTQIA+ students, first-generation and different religious groups. The motto our office lives by is that, “learning will only occur when you step outside your comfort

zone.” We invite you to join us and lean into discomfort.

Part of higher education is about learning and engaging in new experiences, we challenge you to step out of your comfort zone and engage with people who are different from you; join a new club and take advantage of all the resources and programs available to you that will help you stay connected with the Union community.

As part of President Harris’ Union College Challenge (#UnionCollegeChallenge), we hope you will consider leaning into discomfort and exploring your role as a responsible citizen to build a welcoming campus here at Union.

We encourage you to stay connected with us via social media or email, attend our in-person and virtual pro-

grams and stop by and visit us at Reamer Campus Center 305.

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C Tips from the editors FALL 2021

Exciting events offered to you all throughout Union College

By Jing Chen World Editor

Welcome to Union College!

As college students, we understand that it can be difficult to adjust to a new environment, academic life, and lifestyle stepping onto this campus for the first time. But we promise you, only the first few weeks will be hectic and fervid. One of the best ways to ease the transition is to attend fun events Union has to offer to first-years, such as talks to assist students in understanding the academic and social facets of Union, and exciting affairs to help students meet

new faces and enjoy the time!

Below are only some of the fun events you might want to check out and get involved in, as Union clubs, organizations, and departments have plenty to offer in the coming year.

There’s no better way to make friends who share the same interests and hobbies as you than to join a club which you find fascinating.

From the Bee Club to the Women’s Union, you will discover unique clubs in various disciplines. If you missed Club Expo on September 17, don’t fret! Students can join clubs through Union College’s UEngage system. To access UEngage, head to union.presence.io to find a list of several

registered clubs.

All students are assigned to one of seven Minerva Houses upon arrival, and each house will host numerous events throughout the year.

Many of the fun events that Union offers are usually organized by a Minerva house, so you would definitely want to get involved! As a first-year, you even have the opportunity to request funding for your own event! Learn more about this by attending your house’s weekly meeting, where you’ll be exposed to the leadership team and encouraged to facilitate your event.

Fall for Schenectady usually occurs around mid-October, where each Minerva

house will purchase food from one of the local restaurants in Schenectady. This afternoon, not only will you have the chance to get a taste of Schenectady, but also familiarize yourself with each Minerva house as you stop by each one. This is the time where you will savor delicious food in this town, and perhaps visit one of the restaurants you really enjoyed in the future.

The Scavenger Hunt Challenge encourages first-year to visit different buildings and locations where multicultural organizations and clubs reside on campus. This is the chance to learn more about the history and culture of Union’s clubs and organizations, as well as

familiarize yourself with your surroundings. Not to mention that the winner of the challenge also gets a prize!

There are many more upcoming events hosted by Minerva Houses, clubs, organizations, and academic departments. A few resources to keep in mind when looking for something fun to do are emails from Student Forum and the Campus Calendar website.

We hope that by participating in social and academic events, you can transition smoothly into college life.

Again, welcome to Union, and remember to check out Union’s amazing social life!

Here are some of the notable off-campus dining options

By Kari Kimball Sci-Tech Editor

On behalf of The Concordiensis’ staff, welcome to Union College! We hope that your first weeks at Union have been great. One of the things you may have noticed about Union is the varied dining options on campus, but did you know that there are several other options available just outside of campus?

There is a wide array of dining options in Schenectady available to you when you are sick of the food on campus or just want to get away for a little while. Numerous restaurants are accessible by walking from campus for those looking to eat while exploring the city.

There are restaurants that feature cuisine from other countries, as well as ones that feature American style cuisine.

Bombers and Mexican Radio offer a wide array of Americanized Mexican foods.

Bombers’ main feature is burritos with different meats and sauces. Mexican Radio serves many different types of Mexican style foods, such as tacos, burritos and more.

If you are looking for a good pizza or quesadilla, Luca’s is the place to go. In addition to traditional pizza and quesadillas, they also have specialty ones such as breakfast style and barbeque pulled pork.

Zen is home to a wide variety of sushi and Asian style foods. In addition to the sushi,

they offer food items such as pad thai, edamame and hibachi.

Johnny’s as well as the restaurants in Little Italy offer a wide array of Italian and American cuisine. Perecca’s bakery serves pastries and tomato pie for those looking for desert or a snack instead of a meal. Johnny’s also has a bakery that sells coffee in addition to many different chocolates and candies.

A good brunch-style restaurant, The Whistling Ket-

tle, is a good place to check out. They serve hot and iced teas as well as a variety of pastries and sandwiches.

If you are taking a break from studying on a Sunday, the Schenectady Green Market has a few vendors with a variety of food options. There is a vendor that offers empanadas, one Indian style vendor and one Greek style vendor. There are also some vendors that sell pastries and others that sell fresh local fruits and vegetables.

Your guide to the three first-year dorms at Union College

By Michael Rosenbaum News Editor

You, as a first-year, may be wondering about the dorms in which your class lives. Whether your question is about your own dorm or perhaps the other dorms where your classmates and friends live, this is a brief guide to each of the dorms and questions that you may have about them.

Fox House is the squat brick building next to its sis-

ter building, Davidson House.

It’s easy to confuse the buildings; these dorms are the last of this style of brick buildings on campus. The unique exterior style is matched by its interior style as well. Fox is divided into North and South sections, each inaccessible from the other except from the ground floor. This is not the only unique property in Fox’s design. Fox’s stairwells are not vertical from the bottom to top floors. There are separate stairwells between each floor. Fox also has an internal courtyard that all residents

can access. The rooms in Fox are mostly suites, often with two bedrooms connected by a common room. The floors in Fox rooms are tile rather than carpeting.

The next first-year dorm is West College. West contains the first-year dining hall which makes living at West very convenient for eating, especially in the winter. Above the cafeteria, there are three residential floors. Each of the floors is co-ed and, the floors at West are designed to be symmetrical, with bathrooms, lounges, and stairwells placed on ei-

ther side of the building. West has two lounges on each of the floors, which are a nice place to study, relax, or join in planned activities. The rooms are mostly doubles, with single rooms in the center of the building. Rooms either face out towards the campus, with views of West Field and the Nott, or face towards Seward Place. Hillel also has its home in West College.

The third of the first-year houses is Richmond House.

Richmond, like West, is four floors tall. Unlike the other two dorms, Richmond takes the

shape of the single, mostly straight hallway. Each floor is assigned to a single gender and as such each floor has one bathroom in the middle of the floor. These bathrooms are distinct from the other dorms in that they have bathtubs for showers. Each floor also has two lounges on the far sides of the building.

While first-years are assigned these dorms, in the future you will be able to choose where you want to live. In the meantime, enjoy your floormates and the eccentricities of your building.

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C Clubs And Organizations FALL 2021

UProgram: Union College’s late-night event planner Did you go to the Glowcade/ laser tag event on rugby field last Friday? Are you planning to go to the escape room Friday September 24th? Keep reading to learn more about the planning board behind those programs and how to get involved.

UProgram is a student run group that plans and implements substance-free events for the entire student body.

Our goal is to offer fun and creative late-night events that provide a social outlet for the entire Union student community. Everyone is welcome to come and enjoy our events!

Events are held every weekend either Friday or Saturday starting at around 10PM. Usually they are held in Old Chapel although some are outside or involve a trip off campus. Past UProgram events have included off campus snow tubing, a Q&A with Josh Peck, a virtual reality

night and many more. We also collaborate with other clubs on campus so if you are in any clubs or know of an event being planned and would like to partner with UProgram in, we would love to work together.

Just for the fall term we are also doing a Wednesday event series which will take place weeks 2-5. The lineup for those events is a pottery painting night, a hypnotist, a movie with trivia and a board game night. These will all take place in Old Chapel and start at 8PM. You can also look forward to the Sunset Fest on October 2nd. Details are currently being finalized, but the current time for the event is 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.

UProgram is always looking for new ideas and members so if you have an idea for an event or want to be part of the planning process, we would love to have you be

part of our board! As a board we choose 9 events for each term and then split up into smaller event teams to plan the events. Throughout the planning process we focus on communicating with vendors, booking space on campus, and advertising the events through social media and other creative marketing ideas.

Then the whole board helps with the set-up, execution and take down of the events.

If you are interested in becoming part of the board you can email co-presidents Jen (williaj4@union.edu) or Hannah (hoyth@union.edu) or our UProgram email (u-program@ union.edu). We are so excited to offer in-person programs for the entire term so stay tuned for upcoming events by looking up UProgram on UEngage or following our Instagram @ uprogram_union.

Courtesy of UProgram

Union College’s EMS is looking for volunteers now!

Union College Emergency Medical Services is a student-run and student-staffed basic life support agency providing emergency medical coverage to the Union College community.

Duty crews consisting of two certified emergency medical technicians and a third crew-member standby for campus events and respond to calls for assistance.

These events include on campus sports games including hockey and rugby and special events such as the Back to ‘U’ event which was held on the 19th.

During shifts we spectate the games and respond to any on-site emergencies.

In the wake of COVID-19 we are transitioning to shift work on weekends. This means our crews will respond to emergencies that occur overnight anywhere on campus.

We are also going to hold bi-monthly meetings where we will discuss upcoming

events, assist with EMT training coursework, and practice our skills such as using O2, traction splints, CPR, and more.

Crews are dispatched through Union College Campus Safety and respond to scenes in a 2008 Ford Escape fly-car. Advanced life support is provided by the Schenectady Fire Department and patient transport is provided by Mohawk Ambulance.

Volunteering with UCEMS provides a valuable service to the campus community and offers opportunities for training, leadership, and clinical skills.

Certified EMTs and students planning on taking a course are all welcome to join. We will do what we can to assist you in getting NYS certification or reciprocity if needed.

If you are interested in joining a dedicated team of healthcare professionals, please check out our website

at www.muse.union.edu/EMS/ Union College EMS can also be reached through Union College’s UEngage dashbord, located at union. presence.io/organization/ union-college-ems The meeting location for Union College EMS is the Richmond building’s basement bunk room, where the supplies for the EMS volunteers is located.

Left: Courtesy of Union College EMS Above: Courtesy of iStock photos

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C Clubs and Organizations FALL 2021

Strike and parry at Union College’s fencing club!

Fencing Club is a student run, non-competitive club sport where students are able to learn the basics of fencing and then apply them. We will learn the basics of Foil and Epee as well as discuss the rules of other forms of fencing.

Every week we hold one hour meetings where we will practice skills such as footwork and sword work, run bouts, and host fencing games such as king of the hill.

Any level of experience or lack thereof is welcome as we will be starting from square one. Our first goal is to teach people how to fence and then to get to enjoy what we have learned.

Throughout the year we will run some larger events as well. For example, we will be hosting a movie night where we watch movies featuring fencing and sword fighting such as Pirates of the Caribbean and The Princes Bride.

We also will run an outdoors glow in the dark fencing night where we will use glow sticks to decorate our swords and equipment and then run games in the dark.

Finally we plan on hosting a large tournament sometime at the end of the year to showcase our skills and have some friendly competition.

Meetings are typically held in the rear of Alumni Gym. This is subject to change, though, as the COVID-19 pandemic may require that sports such as fencing are done outdoors.

Meeting dates are currently to be determined, so keep an eye out on Union College’s UEngage system. If you want to find the fencing club on UEngage, go to https://union. presence.io/organization/ fencing-club If you are interested in joining please contact the club president Hannah Lane at monackh@union.edu or fill

out the form via the QR code below.

The only equipment needed are sneakers, water, and enthusiasm. Swords and protectvie equipment will be distributed to students at the meetings. En Guarde!

If you are interested in joining the fencing club, scan the QR code here!

Courtesy of iStock Photos Union College’s fencing club wants you!

Make some noise for Union College’s WRUC club!

WRUC is Union College’s own student run radio station. It is the first college radio station in the United States and has been running for 100 years.

The station hosts over 30 shows each week spanning all sorts of music genres from classic rock to electronica and country to R&B as well as talk radio shows.

All students are welcome to come and add to the great variety of programming on the station. Involvement ranges from hosting an hour-long show once a week to DJing live events on campus to planning concerts and events.

WRUC celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2020 but festivities commemorating the anniversary will be taking place at this year’s Homecoming and Family Weekend, Oct. 28-31.

Alumni DJs will be pairing up with current students to put on shows, alums will be hosting a panel about the impact of WRUC on their careers, and as always WRUC will be DJing the Homecoming picnic.

Right: Courtesy of WRUC Left: Courtsey of Matt Milless

Get involved with Union College’s WRUC club!

E-board meetings are open to everyone and take place on Wednesdays at 7:00PM. Get involved by contacting the team or coming to

a meeting. You can contact the team by using Union College’s UEngage Dashboard and going to the WRUC page at https://union.presence.io/

organization/wruc-89-7. We can also be found on the airwaves at 89.7FM or online at wruc.union.edu.

- A FIRST YEAR SPECIAL EDITION FALL 2021 T H E S T U D E N T N E W S PA P E R O F U N I O N COLLEGE SINCE 1877

Trey Everett ’22 | Concordiensis

Concordiensis concordiensis.com

concordy@gmail.com