At its opening convocation on September 11, one of the nation's oldest non-denominational colleges will pause to reflect on the losses of last year's terrorist attacks and reconsider the meaning of its name.
Union College had its beginnings in 1779 when a group of senior elders at local churches petitioned the brand-new state legislature for a non-denominational college that would be a "union of all faiths." But with the Revolutionary War raging throughout New York, the full legislature failed to act. "In the midst of war," wrote historian Samuel Fortenbaugh, a 1923 Union grad and former chairman of the board, "the issue seemed inappropriate and no action was taken." The petitioners persevered, however, and 16 years later, the College was chartered by the state Board of Regents.
"This September 11, the College will commemorate the human and emotional toll of last year's terrorist attacks," said Roger H. Hull, president of Union College. "We will also reaffirm the values that our founders had in mind 207 years ago when they created a 'union of all faiths'. Now more than ever, the word 'union' and all that it suggests -- diversity, understanding and tolerance -- has a special meaning on this campus and across the nation."
The College will dispense with the traditional agenda for opening convocation, usually a lively, colorful affair at which dean's list students and outstanding teachers are loudly applauded.
Instead, a procession of faculty, students and staff will march around the campus on the way to Memorial Chapel. There will be an address by President Hull and remarks from representatives of the Catholic, Jewish, Muslim and Protestant faiths. The convocation will conclude with a candle ceremony and the playing of "Taps," the bugle call composed by Daniel Butterfield, an 1849 graduate of the College who served as a brigadier general in the Union Army during the Civil War.
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