As their time at Union comes to a close, take a look back at the Class of 2022 and their impact on the College. Here are just a few of their many accomplishments.
The competition to land a spot in the Class of 2022 was steep. A record 6,701 students applied, a slight increase over the Class of 2021’s record of 6,676. Applications this year to the Class of 2026 crested 8,400 this year, the highest number of applications Union has ever received.
Total graduates: 529, representing 28 states and the District of Columbia and 17 countries.
Bachelor of Arts degrees: 229
Bachelor of Science degrees: 300
AWARDS, FELLOWSHIPS AND ACCOLADES:
Bethany Costello was the latest Union student to be awarded a prestigious Thomas J. Watson Fellowship. She was among 42 students selected for a one-year grant to study independently outside the U.S. In her time at Union, Costello was also named an Udall Scholar and received the Frank Bailey (1885) Prize, Union’s top honor at its Prize Day ceremony.
Unglid Paul was honored with the other top prize from Union - the Josephine Dagget Prize, awarded for a student’s conduct and character.
Marci Forti was named a Goldwater Scholar last year. The distinction is the premiere undergraduate award for students pursuing careers in mathematics, natural sciences and engineering.
Sai Lyon Ho and Madison Holley were named University Innovation Fellows, a highly selective program designed to help foster entrepreneurship and innovation among students nationwide.
Crystal Flax received a Kathryn Wasserman Davis Projects for Peace award to develop a new Empowering Entrepreneurship course at a school in Ghana.
Students received funding for their community service internships. Those honored were: Cristina Boudreau, Center for Disability Services, Albany, N.Y.; Juliette Carr, Women's Health Services, Brighton, Mass.; Dakara Da’Costa, Joseph’s House, Washington, D.C.; Komal Hombal, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Pasadena, Calif.; Grace Huebschmann, Spurwink Behavioral Health, Portland, Maine; Elena Montoya, City Mission, Schenectady; Kaila Paguio, Statement Junky, New York City; Amber Raisner, Connecticut Children’s Hospital, Hartford, Conn.; Isabelle Riker, Town of Glenville, N.Y.; and Adrianna Ryan, Abraham House, Utica, N.Y.
Several members of the Class of 2022 received Presidential Green Grants this year. They were: Eva Blashkevich, to conduct research to design and evaluate cleaner and more efficient biomass cookstoves. Bethany Costello and Sophia Anderson, to encourage campus apartment composting by supplying 132 composting bins in 61 residences in Garnet Commons, Roger Hull Place, Seward Place and Park Place. Ethan Oswald, to update some of the growing beds to raised beds in Octopus's Garden, Union's organic community garden. Cam Ragland and Jodie Wright, to use microbial source tracking to uncover the possible sources of the harmful bacteria in the Hans Groot’s Kill, a stream that runs through Jackson’s Garden and other parts of campus before feeding into the Mohawk River.
ACADEMICS and RESEARCH:
Adenike Hickson ’22 and Mallory Nelson ’22 served as student docents in the Mandeville Gallery. Introduced in 2013, Union’s Student Docent Program offers a unique work experience in a collegiate art gallery.
Many seniors presented their work at Steinmetz Symposium Day, the College’s celebration of undergraduate research and creativity.
ATHLETICS:
Several members of the Class of 2022 made their marks in competition, in the classroom and in the community over their time on campus.
The senior-laden men’s lacrosse team had a season to remember in 2022, reaching the national championship game for the first time ever and setting a new school standard with 18 victories. Defenseman Matt Belluche ’22 led a program-record 10 All-America selections with a spot on the USILA All-America first team, one of six members of the Class of 2022 to receive postseason laurels. Attacker Hayden Frey ’22 became only the second player in program history (along with current head coach Derek Witheford ’11) to earn four All-Liberty League honors during his career and finished his tenure in Schenectady sixth all-time in points with 170 in 67 games, while classmate Keaton McCann ’22 also finished sixth all-time at Union with 120 goals scored.
Josh Kosack ’22 was recognized nationally for his work in the Schenectady community by earning the prestigious Hockey Humanitarian Award, given to college hockey’s finest citizen, in April. A two-time finalist for the award, Kosack raised more than $50,000 for C.O.C.O.A. House in Schenectady that allowed for the purchase of technology equipment for after-school learning during the pandemic, Christmas presents for children in Schenectady and throughout the Capital Region, and the creation of a Kozi’s Kids lounge in C.O.C.O.A. House’s new Teen Empowerment Center that is currently under construction. He was named the ECAC Hockey Student-Athlete of the Year and also earned Union’s Roger H. Hill Community Service Award.
Grace Heiting ’22 completed a decorated career on the ice, on the lacrosse field and in the classroom for Union. As a member of Union’s Division I women’s hockey team, she led the team in either goals or points in all three seasons and was a finalist for the ECAC Hockey Student-Athlete of the Year Award. On the field, she was named Union’s first IWLCA All-Region first-team selection since 2015 by scoring 61 goals with 22 assists as a senior, the third-most points in a season in program history. Off the field, the biology and Spanish double major is a member of the Beckman Scholars Program and was one of two undergraduates to win an award at the Experimental Biology Meeting in Philadelphia, helping her to earn CoSIDA Academic All-District honors in the competitive Women’s At-Large category.