Union in the Media

More than 500 members of the Union community, including Greek organizations and student clubs, helped spruce up the city and surrounding area Saturday, Oct. 18, for the 20th annual John Calvin Toll Day.

Marcus Rogers, assistant director of dance, has been chosen as one of 10 finalists for a national competition, “So, You Think You Can Choreograph,” sponsored by the professional modern dance company, Nacre. The contest will showcase the finalists’ choreography performed live at Spa Little Theatre in Saratoga Springs Nov. 1 at 8 p.m. Two winners will be chosen by audience vote. Each will receive a paid position to choreograph on Nacre’s dancers. The company is based in Saratoga. Rogers’s contemporary solo, “Euphoric Desolation,” will be danced at the showcase by Alexis Kuentzel. It will compete against works by choreographers from Brooklyn, New York, Philadelphia, Milwaukee and Lansing, Mich.

Francis Wilkin, lecturer in physics and manager of the College’s observatory, explained the significance and cause of a blood moon in a recent article in the Times Union. Read the story here.

Bunkong Tuon, associate professor of English, gave a reading at the Bowery Poetry Club in New York City Sept. 15 for the NYQ Reading Series. Tuon recently published his poetry in Misfit Magazine and Silver Birch Press’s Mythic Poetry Series.

John Rieffel, assistant professor of computer science, talked about the College's new 3-D printer in an interview with Saratoga Living.

Housed in the Collaborative Design Studio in the basement of the Wold Center, the printer was purchased through a grant from the National Science Foundation.

David Breazzano ’78, Union trustee and president of DDJ Capital Management, was recently featured in the Wealth Matters column in The New York Times.

A generous benefactor of the College, Breazzano has been a scholarship donor, Trustee Annual Giving Chair and a member of the Arch Society. He helped fund the renovation of the fitness center, which bears his name, and Breazzano House, one of seven Minerva Houses.

Most recently, he endowed the new Dona and Marshall Robinson Professor of Science, Philosophy and Religion, in honor of his mother and stepfather.

To read the column, click here.

Congregation Gates of Heaven will honor Stephen Berk, the Henry and Sally Schaffer Professor of Holocaust and Jewish Studies with the Rabbi Michael M. Szenes Humanitarian Award at the 2014 Gates of Heaven Humanitarian Awards Gala at Glen Sanders Mansion Oct. 18. Also being honored that night are Ted Vinick ’43 and his late wife Raquel Vinick, who taught Spanish at Union for 25 years.

William Finlay, professor and chair of the Theater and Dance Department, has been named to a newly formed arts commission in Saratoga Springs. Appointed by the city’s mayor, Finlay and his colleagues are responsible for coordination and developing the city’s various arts organizations as well as promoting the arts in Saratoga Springs on a national level.

Deidre Hill Butler, associate professor of sociology and director of the Africana Studies Program, presented a paper at the 99th annual conference of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History in Memphis. Her paper, “Womanist Community Revitalization in Nashville, TN: A Contemporary Civil Rights Movement,” is part of an ongoing research project sponsored by the Faculty Research Fund.

Tommaso Gazzarri, assistant professor of classics, will present a paper, “Truculentus and the Abrogation of the Lex Oppia,” at the Classical Association of the Atlantic States annual conference in Washington, D.C. Friday, Oct. 10.

New York State Lt. Governor Robert J. Duffy joined President Stephen C. Ainlay, members of the national championship men’s hockey team and student leaders Oct. 7 in the Nott Memorial to raise awareness of sexual assault and domestic violence.

October is recognized nationally and in New York State as Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Gov. Robert Duffy

Nearly a dozen media outlets covered the announcement, including a reporter from the Associated Press.

The story appeared in media outlets across the country.

Andrew Burkett, assistant professor of English, presented a talk at the annual meeting of the North American Society for the Study of Romanticism in Washington, D.C. His talk was titled, “Keats and the Phonograph.” He also chaired a special session at the meeting on “Multimedia Romanticisms.” This summer, Burkett received an academic certificate on “Introduction to Digital Humanities” from Wolfson College in the University of Oxford in England.

A book by Rudy Nydegger, professor of psychology, was recently published by ABC-CLIO. “Suicide and Mental Health” will be released on Oct. 14.

Teresa Meade, the Florence B. Sherwood Professor of History and Culture, delivered the Founder’s Address at Russell Sage College’s Founder’s Convocation on Sept. 24 in Troy, N.Y. Her talk addressed the current crisis of refugees across the globe.

The College recently joined with nearly 200 colleges and universities to participate in a national public-service campaign, “It’s On Us,” aimed at preventing sexual assault on college campuses.

The campaign, launched by President Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., hopes to fundamentally shift the way sexual assault is viewed on campuses “by inspiring everyone to see it as their responsibility to do something, big or small, to prevent it.”
This week, the new student-led committee, the Committee on Consent Education and Awareness hosted Sexual Assault Awareness Week with a series of events across campus.

To read more in the Daily Gazette, click here.

Works by one of the most acclaimed Native American artists working today, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, are now on view at the Mandeville Gallery in the Nott Memorial.

The solo exhibition features oil paintings and prints, including monotypes, intaglio and lithography. A self-described cultural arts worker, Smith is internationally known for her art and as a curator, lecturer and professor.

Her work is held in the collections of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Brooklyn Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Museum of Modern Art in Quito, the Museum of Mankind in Vienna and many other prominent collections.

Celia Salisbury ’16 is the Kenney Community Center’s Volunteer of the Week.

This past summer, Salisbury worked at Peaceful Acres Horses as a marketing and communications intern, where she helped plan a fundraiser called Kick Cancer’s A**. Peaceful Acres Horses’ mission is to “provide a therapeutic environment for both horses and people to resolve issues related to grief, loss and trauma, and to regain strength and trust.”

In addition to her work with Peaceful Acres Horses, Salisbury has also founded a group on campus that allows students with food restrictions or allergies to communicate with dining services to discuss food safety and allergy-friendly options. She also volunteers for Homeward Bound Dog Rescue in Schenectady.

Originally from Pittsford, N.Y., Salisbury is an organizing theme major hoping to combine social sciences. She is the new member educator in Delta Delta Delta and a member of the Animal Project club, which she helped start on campus. According to Janet Sweeney of the Kenney Center, Salisbury also assisted with this year’s community service pre-orientation program, greeting students and organizing their volunteer efforts at Peaceful Acres.