Union College

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This article is about Union College in New York. For other institutions of this name, see Union College (disambiguation)

{{Infobox University |name = Union College |motto = Sous les lois de Minerve nous devenons tous freres (We all become brothers under the laws of Minerva)| established = 1795 |type = Private |president = Stephen C. Ainlay (president-elect) |city = Schenectady |state = NY |country = USA |campus = Urban |undergrad = 2,200| postgrad = |staff = 177 |mascot = Dutchmen/Dutchwomen |endowment= $300 million |website = www.union.edu |}} Image:Union College Nott.jpg

Union College of Schenectady, New York is a non-denominational, independent, liberal arts college in New York's Capital District. It was chartered in 1795, though the college can trace its beginnings to 1779. Several hundred residents of northern New York, certain that Burgoyne's defeat at Saratoga two years before would mean a new nation, began the first popular demand for higher education in America. These residents pursued that dream for sixteen years until, in 1795, Union became the first college chartered by the Regents of the State of New York. Union College is known as the birthplace of fraternities. America's oldest Greek letter social fraternity (Kappa Alpha) was founded there. More fraternities have been founded at Union than at any other college or university. Troubled times during the third quarter of the 19th century led to a loss in student enrollment. Union College had to rebuild and redefine itself after that period.

Today, Union College offers many programs encompassing the liberal arts and sciences as well as engineering. Nearly fifty percent of the students are enrolled in science or engineering. The current student body is about 2200, almost evenly split between males and females.

Union College is proud of its "Five Pillars:" Converging Technologies (interdisciplinary education and scholarship), The Minerva House system (on-campus "third spaces" to which all members of the community belong), undergraduate research, international study, and community service.

The College is sometimes referred to as 'the mother of fraternities' because many fraternities, including the first three in America, were founded there. The Union Triad is a name given to the first three Greek letter social fraternities with a continuing record founded in America. They were Kappa Alpha (1825), Sigma Phi (1827) and Delta Phi (1827).

Students may also elect to join Theme Houses. Currently, there are 12 active Theme Houses, including Wells House, dedicated to community service, Symposium House, which hosts discussions with faculty and students, and Arts House, Music/Culture House, two Language Houses, and Ozone House.

Albany College of Pharmacy, Albany Law School, Albany Medical College, Dudley Observatory, Graduate College of Union University, and Union College together form Union University, a historic linkage dating back to 1873. Each member institution has its own governing board, is fiscally independent and is responsible for its own programs. See also: Union College's description of Union University.

Seven cabinet secretaries, fifteen United States senators, ninety-one members of the House of Representatives, thirteen governors, fifty important diplomats, more than 200 judges, forty missionaries, sixteen generals, and ninety college presidents, including the first presidents of the University of Illinois, the University of Iowa, the University of Michigan, Vassar College, Smith College, and Elmira College, have graduated from Union.

Additionally, Union holds a rather unique honor: two of its alumni, William H. Seward and Robert Toombs, held the title of Secretary of State at the same time, albeit for different parts of the country. Seward was the Secretary of State for the United States of America and Toombs was the Secretary of State for the Confederate States of America. Portraits of both currently hang side-by-side in the President’s House.

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Notable professors, alumni and former students

Chester A. Arthur, former President of the United States
William H. Seward, Governor of New York, U.S. Secretary of State, Lincoln Administration
Edward Bellamy, Notable 19th century author of "Looking Backward," may have audited one or more courses at Union, while his brother was a student.
Jimmy Carter, former President of the United States (While stationed nearby in the Navy, Carter took an extension course taught by the College for the Navy. He never entered, or graduated from, the college. The college has no record of his attendance, but did not keep records for nonmatriculated students at the time.)
Clare W. Graves, Notable 20th century psychology theorist
George Westinghouse, founder of Westinghouse Electric Corporation, studied briefly at Union.
William L. Greenly and Austin Blair, 19th century governors of Michigan
George Washington Gale, founder of Knox College and namesake of Galesburg, Illinois
Preston King, former U.S. Senator from New York
Fitz Hugh Ludlow, 19th century author and explorer
Lewis Henry Morgan, father of American anthropology
Akin Sawyerr, Co-Founder of Thurston House
Charles Steinmetz, Notable 19th-20th century Electrical Engineer
Robert Toombs, 19th century Georgia senator; Secretary of State of the Confederacy.
Raymond Gilmartin, former CEO of Merck & Co., Inc.
Neil Abercrombie, congressman from Hawaii
Mark Walsh, 21st century entrepreneur and venture capitalist
David Viniar, Chief Financial Officer, Goldman Sachs
Phil Alden Robinson, Film Director and Screenwriter; Field of Dreams, Sneakers, The Sum Of All Fears
Thomas Allen, Union College, 1832. U.S. Representative from Missouri, 2nd District, 1881-1882 (Died in office).
Leander Babcock, Union College, 1828. U.S. Representative from New York, 23rd District, 1851-1853.
Charles Lewis Beale, Union College, 1842. U.S. Representative from New York, 12th District, 1859-1861.
Gabriel Bouck, Union College, 1846. Wisconsin State Attorney General, 1858-1860. U.S. Representative from Wisconsin, 6th District, 1877-1881.
John M. Carroll, Union College, 1845. U.S. Representative from New York, 18th District, 1871-1873.
Levi Augustus Mackey, Union College, 1835. U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania, 20th District, 1875-1879.
Charles Edward Pearce, Union College, 1861. U.S. Representative from Missouri, 12th District, 1897-1901.
Rufus Wheeler Peckham (1809-1873), Union College, 1826. U.S. Representative from New York, 14th District, 1853-1855; Justice of the New York Supreme Court, 1861-1869; Judge of the New York Court of Appeals, 1870-1873 (died in office).
Ward Hunt, Union College, 1828. Founder of the New York Republican Party, 1856. Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, 1872-1882.
Wheeler Hazard Peckham1833-1905 was an American lawyer from New York and a failed nominee to the Supreme Court of the United States
Leonard Walter Jerome, 1817-1891, New York entrepreneur and grandfather of Sir Winston Churchill.
Henry James Sr. 1811-1882, American theologian and Swedenborgian, best known as the father of the philosopher William James, novelist Henry James, and diarist Alice James.
Joseph Christopher Yates (1768-1837), founder of Union College, American lawyer, statesman and politician. Yates catapulted himself up the ranks of his day, becoming first the mayor of Schenectady (1798), then a state Senator (1805), followed by a State Supreme Court Justice (1808) and finally the fourth Governor of New York (1823–1824); also the namesake of Yates County, New York.