Union in the Media

Gretchel Hathaway, dean of diversity and inclusion and chief diversity officer, was named to the editorial board of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine. Learn more about her appointment here.

Samuel Amanuel, associate professor of physics and astronomy, presented a paper on critical length that influences heat of fusion of nano materials at the American Physical Society March meeting in New Orleans. Jason Turner ‘18, Alexander Clain ‘15 and Caleb Novins ‘15 co-authored the paper.

Megan Ferry, associate professor of Chinese and chair of the Asian Studies program, recently spoke on a panel in Toronto, sponsored by the China and Inner Asia Council for the Association for Asian Studies. It was titled “Media and Markets: A Perspective on China-Latin American Relations in Media Res.”

Research by David Cotter, professor and chair of the Sociology Department, received attention from several news outlets. An article in the New York Times recently outlined his findings that the proportion of young people holding egalitarian views about gender relationships rose steadily from 1977 to the mid-1990s but has fallen since. Read the article here.

William Zwicker, the William D. Williams Professor of Mathematics, was named an Oliver Smithies Lecturer and Visiting Fellow at Balliol College at the University of Oxford in England. During the 2018 winter term, he will give lectures and workshops to Oxford undergraduates and continue his research on the computational issues in the mathematics of voting.

Cheikh Ndiaye, associate professor of French, Deidre Hill Butler, associate professor of sociology, Ashraf Ghaly, the Carl B. Jansen Professor of Engineering, Andrew Guyette ‘17 and Jermaine Wells, Learning Environments Services coordinator, presented their research and documentary films at the 42nd annual New York African Studies Association conference at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York.

Submit your news to gowanc@union.edu.

Kate White '72 was recently featured in The Post-Star newspaper. The story focused on her varied writing career -- she's the former editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine and a New York Times bestselling author -- and her latest book, "The Secrets You Keep."

At Union, she was involved with WRUC, Orientation Committee and Garnet Yearbook.

Read the story here.

Bradley Hays, associate professor of political science, recently read an op-ed about Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch on WAMC, Northeast Public Radio.

Northeast Public Radio is a member of National Public Radio serving parts of seven northeastern states. These include New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania.

Baahh-Nazoshnnii Brown-Almaweri ’17 is familiar with the myriad issues facing young people of the Navajo Nation.

The largest Native American territory in the country, the Navajo Nation sprawls across nearly 28,000 square miles and three states: Northwestern New Mexico, Northeastern Arizona and a small part of Utah.

It’s a tribal community where teenage pregnancy, alcoholism, suicide and illness rates eclipse many urban or rural areas.

It’s also a place where many have been stripped of their cultural identity because of forced assimilation by state-run public schools.

Brown-Almaweri wants to change that.

Born on the reservation and raised in Oakland, Calif., she spent her childhood attending cultural programs to get an understanding of her Navajo culture and identity.

Brown-Almaweri is the latest Union student to win a Kathryn Wasserman Davis Projects for Peace award.

Now in its 11th year, the Davis Projects for Peace is an invitation to undergraduates to design grassroots projects that they will implement during the summer. The objective is to encourage and support today's motivated youth to create and try out their ideas for building peace. Each project is funded with a $10,000 grant.

Brown-Almaweri has designed a four-week afterschool program where students ages 11-18 will learn about healthy eating habits, positive body image, Mother Earth and living traditions. She hopes to help the Diné students (“Di Nay,” the name for the Navajo people) progress from a history of surviving to a future of thriving.

“Diné youth are in need of a creative outlet or space that will enable them to evaluate their environment and then promote peace within the community,” she wrote in her proposal, “and learn to affirm their cultural identity and live healthy lifestyles.”

Baahh-Nazoshnnii Brown-Almaweri ’17

Major: Organizing Theme (mechanical engineering, studio fine arts and mathematics)

Minor: French and Francophone studies

Project title: Learning to Thrive as a Nation

Description: “This program will be organized into an afterschool program hosted at Ganado Middle School in Arizona’s Apache country. Students will participate in the program daily for one hour with the exception of a two-hour workshop held once a week. In addition to learning about healthy living habits, youth will pick up a camera or pen to document the growing narrative of the Diné people. Students will be able to research online and share their stories with the use of technology as a means of promoting peace by challenging stigmas and statistics. Laptops, cameras, voice recorders and journals will all be used to document the four-week program and the individual student’s progress. This project proposal is connected to my narrative as well. I was born on the Navajo reservation and raised in the urban city of Oakland, Calif. I spent most of my youth attending cultural programs as a way of understanding my Navajo culture and identity. My experience with talking circles is what empowered me and helped me become more confident in my ability to create change within my communities, both Oakland and the Navajo Reservation. Now as a senior at Union College, I would like to provide the same space and resources to students that want to make a change, as well.”

To learn more about the Kathryn Wasserman Davis Projects for Peace award, click here.

Allison Brant '02 was recently featured in Town & Country magazine. The story focused on her management of her father's (Peter M. Brant) famous contemporary art collection and the Brant Foundation Art Study Center.

At Union, she played field hockey and was a member of Sigma Delta Tau.

Read the magazine story here.

Union College will embark upon an expansion and renovation of its Science and Engineering Center that will transform the school’s historic approach to interdisciplinary engagement by creating a fully unified and integrated complex.

The $100 million project is the most ambitious and largest in the school’s history and when completed, will rank among the finest undergraduate science and engineering facilities in the country.

Click here to read a story in the Daily Gazette (subscription may be required).

Click here to read a story in the Albany Business Review (subscription may be required).

Union College will embark upon an expansion and renovation of its Science and Engineering Center that will transform the school’s historic approach to interdisciplinary engagement by creating a fully unified and integrated complex.

The $100 million project is the most ambitious and largest in the school’s history and when completed, will rank among the finest undergraduate science and engineering facilities in the country.

The news was included on WAMC, Northeast Public Radio. Northeast Public Radio is a member of National Public Radio serving parts of seven northeastern states. These include New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania.

Union College will embark upon an expansion and renovation of its Science and Engineering Center that will transform the school’s historic approach to interdisciplinary engagement by creating a fully unified and integrated complex.

The $100 million project is the most ambitious and largest in the school’s history and when completed, will rank among the finest undergraduate science and engineering facilities in the country.

To view a clip on WTEN-10, the local ABC affiliate, click here.

To view a clip on WRGB-6, the local CBS affiliate, click here.

Ashley Johnston '14 was recently featured in the New York Post. The story focused on her professional hockey career with the New York Riveters and her work as a mechanical engineer with a robotics firm outside Albany, N.Y. At Union, she participated in Steinmetz Symposium and played hockey and rugby.

Read the story here.

The campus community gathered in Memorial Chapel for Founders Day to celebrate the 222nd anniversary of the College’s charter. It was also an occasion to celebrate another milestone: the 200th anniversary of Union’s Phi Beta Kappa chapter, Alpha of New York.

The keynote speaker was Frederick M. Lawrence, secretary and CEO of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. A former president of Brandeis University, Lawrence is a leading expert on civil rights, freedom of expression and bias crimes.

To read a story in the Daily Gazette, click here (subscription may be required).