across campus
Wicker Center highlights Homecoming & Family Weekend
Acting President Therese McCarty helps William M. Wicker ’71 and his wife, Pamela, cut the ribbon for the dedication of the new Wicker Wellness Center.
AROUND
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to Alumni Gym, the two-story, 6,600-square foot building will greatly enhance students’ educational experience by offering expanded services to keep them physically and mentally healthy. The first floor of the $2.3 million building is occupied by Health Services, which is staffed by nurse practitioners, registered professional nurses and a collaborating physician. The space includes six exam rooms, offices, a conference room, reception and waiting area, and a staff lounge. The Eppler-Wolff Center for Psychological Services is on
SEPTEMBER
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perfect autumn setting welcomed nearly 1,500 alumni, family and friends who gathered Oct. 11-13, 2013 to celebrate Homecoming & Family Weekend. The event featured a host of fun activities, special speakers, the recognition of distinguished alumni and volunteers, and a full slate of athletic contests, including football, men’s and women’s ice hockey, women’s volleyball, men’s soccer, field hockey and men’s lacrosse. Among the highlights was the dedication of the Wicker Wellness Center. Built adjacent
the second floor. The center, which provides confidential individual counseling, couples counseling and roommate conflict mediation, includes a private entry, waiting rooms, six counseling rooms, a relaxation area and offices. Both offices were located in Silliman Hall. Calling Wicker a gem of a building, Acting President Therese McCarty said the center supports “an optimal learning environment that nurtures mind, body and spirit holistically.” Key financial support for the wellness center comes from longtime College benefactor William M. Wicker ’71 and his wife, Pamela. Wicker, the vice chairman of Investment Banking, Natural Resources Group
at Morgan Stanley, has been a Union trustee since 2009. The wellness center also is supported by Nancy EpplerWolff ’75 and her husband, John H. Wolff, and by Neil and Jane Golub. Also, at the Volunteer Appreciation Dinner Friday, Cal Welch ’62 received the Distinguished Service Award for a lifetime of commitment and contributions to the College; Leata Jackson ’88 was presented with the Alumni Special Appreciation Award for service and loyalty to the College and Alumni Council; Lorraine Ater ’09 was named winner of the Alumni Rising Star Award; and the Union College Club of New York City received the Most Outstanding Club Event Award. A pumpkin carving competition was held at Beuth House during Homecoming.
Student gets “out-of-this-world” experience at Virgin Galactic An artist’s rendering of Karp Hall
Humanities building renovation; to be renamed Karp Hall
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eginning in January, the College undertook a major renovation of the Humanities building with the goal of greatly enhancing the educational environment for students and faculty. The building will be renamed Karp Hall. A lead gift from the Karp Family Foundation supports the project, which will include electronic multi-media classrooms, a seminar room, a media lab and a performance classroom that will facilitate staging components such as dramatic readings as part of the classroom experience. The project also includes extensive improvements to the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems that will be more environmentally friendly and energy efficient. The total cost of the renovations will be $7 million. The architect is McKinney and MacDonald of Latham, N.Y. “This is an important project for Union College. It will reno-
vate one of our most heavily used academic buildings and it affirms the importance we attach to the humanities,” said President Stephen C. Ainlay. “We are deeply indebted to the Karp family for their continuing support of the College.” Opened in 1965, the threestory, 21,000-square-foot building houses classrooms and offices for nearly 40 faculty members in the departments of English and Modern Languages and Literatures. Renovations are expected to be completed by November. The effort is the latest project to transform the College’s historic landscape. This past fall, the College dedicated the Wicker Wellness Center; and last spring, the Henle Dance Pavilion opened. Other recent projects have included the Peter Irving Wold Center and a major renovation of the former Social Sciences building, which was renamed Lippman Hall.
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aahh-Nazoshnnii Brown-Almaweri ’17 got a chance to get up close to one of the world’s most renowned entrepreneurs, thanks to her Galactic Unite Scholarship through the United Negro College Fund. A mechanical engineering major, she had a chance to meet Sir Richard Branson. The scholarship is used to encourage female students to pursue careers in STEM fields. Brown-Almaweri, who is from Oakland, Calif., and her fellow students traveled to Los Angeles to meet Branson and learn what Virgin Galactic is planning for space travel. She will attend future events with her fellow scholars as part of the Galactic Unite Scholarship program. Brown-Almaweri is shown second from the right in the photo below.
Amanda Bingel becomes
“Reality of Placement” exhibit opens
Author, professor and cultural critic
Union hosts its first THATCamp
Union’s director of
in Burns Art Atrium, featuring Latin
Andrew Delbanco discusses what
(The Humanities and Technology
Residential Life. Previously,
American art examining migration
a true college education should be.
Camp), an engaging interdisciplinary
she served in a similar
experiences globally. Arnold I. Burns
His talk, “What is College For?” is
“unconference” for humanists
capacity at Rensselaer
’50 passed away Oct. 1, 2013 (pg. 55).
part of the Common Curriculum
and technologists to learn and
Speaker Series.
work together.
Polytechnic Institute.
Que Rico by Anthony Montes
Winter 2014 UNION COLLEGE
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