On February 25, 2010, Union College held the annual Founders Day Convocation at the Memorial Chapel. Founders Day celebrates the anniversary of the granting of Union's charter. This year's event celebrated the 215th anniversary of the charter grant.
Union College senior Peter Haviland-Eduah, a member of the football team, is the Union College Student Body President. He majors in History and Africana Studies, and had 46 tackles for the ECAC and Liberty League Champion Dutchmen in 2009. Peter is a member of Generation U, which is a committee with Alumni Relations that is responsible for reaching out to students and young alums to assist in fund raising efforts. He is a History Tutor for the Academic Opportunity Program, and a member of the Student Alumni Association. In the summer of 2008, Peter spent the summer serving an internship at the Kings County District Attorney's office in Brooklyn. In the Spring of 2009, Peter served an internship in Washington DC at the United States Senate Office of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and in the summer of 2009 he was an intern at the Saratoga County District Attorney's Office. Peter is a member of the Delphic Honor Society at Union, for students who are thought to give the most to the Union community.
Peter joined President Stephen C. Ainlay, Chairman of the Board of Trustees Frank L. Messa '73 and Mark Walker, Chair of the Faculty Executive Committee and John Bigelow Professor of History, for greetings.
Founders Day, like its predecessor, Charter Day, celebrates the anniversary of the granting of Union's charter on February 25, 1795. The day was first observed in 1896. Celebrations of the anniversary focused on Union's history or on the lives of famous persons connected with the College. At the second Charter Day, in 1897, President Raymond went so far as to read the Charter aloud. Professors William Wells and Maurice Perkins, both of whom had been at the College for thirty-two years, then recounted anecdotes about Union's history. For more on Founders Day, click here.
Peter Haviland-Eduah's speech:
Good afternoon and welcome to Union College's 215th year.
Founded in 1795, Union College was the result of a demand for higher education in New York State in the post-American Revolution era. It was at this time that people desired to have a higher education that would equip them the tools they would need to be productive members of a new American society that was surely developing.
Fast forward 215 years to today. Fast forward through generations of Union College alumni, the likes of which include a President, over 100 members of Congress, 16 Generals, CEO's of major corporations, film makers, magazine editors and even a Winter Olympic Gold medalist to go along with countless other highly successful and motivated people that have been and continue to be a part of Union College.
Today, we embrace this history. A history that binds us all as one, as Union.
Today we hold true the principles that existed over two centuries ago. We are here as students to better ourselves so that we can take this experience; this journey and use it to benefit our families, our communities, our world.
I took some time to reflect about what all of this really means. As a student, how do I fit into all of this? I thought about it for a while and came up with the conclusion that Union College is in a sense like a parent. Our stay here at Union is a chapter in our life journey called growing up. We come into this school often as young people who don't have a concrete direction as to what road we want to take in life. However our 4 years here give us time to think, and grow. We learn so much about others but more importantly we come to a discovery of self. I can speak for myself when I say that after high school I had no idea what I wanted to do in life but now, in my senior year of college, I have a pretty good idea as to where I want to go. Union College has helped to nurture my passions and enhance my intellectual tools which will enable me to bring my ideas to fruition. Union College guides us forward during our tenure here and just like our parent's, the college wants us to be successful, productive, influential people once we leave these walls.
This was the idea fleshed out 215 yeas ago, an imagination institution was conceived here in Schenectady, New York and they called it Union College. We are gathered here, on this Founders Day to remember and give thanks to those that came before us and celebrate the potential that each one of us has. It is our responsibility as young people to take the education that Union College has bestowed upon us and go into the world to make a positive impact on those around us and continue the dream that the founders of this college had.
Best of Luck. Thank you.
