With the spring sports season canceled at its very beginning (or before it even started, for some Union teams) due to the COVID-19 pandemic, UnionAthletics.com will spend the next few months spotlighting many of the Union seniors whose athletic careers came to a premature end. Previous senior profiles can be viewed by heading to http://www.unionathletics.com/seniorspotlights.
 
Jack Kaufman played four seasons with the men's lacrosse team, part of a senior class that posted a 14-4 record last season and had won four of its first five games of the 2020 season to earn a #10 ranking in the USILA Division III national polls. He scored a career-best five goals with two assists in 17 games as a junior, helping the Dutchmen to a 14-4 record and the third round of the NCAA Tournament. He scored once in each of the team's final three postseason contests, including the eventual game-winner in the NCAA Tournament win over SUNY Cortland. In 41 career games, he scored 12 goals with nine assists for 21 points 
 
Off the field, the economics major is a Dean's List student and a two-time Liberty League All-Academic Team honoree.
 
What has been your favorite moment as a student-athlete at Union?
My favorite moment as a student-athlete at Union was every moment. It is easy to take each practice or game for granted, but you don't truly realize how much each moment spent with your teammates means until those moments are gone. Those moments combine for lifelong memories that I will be able to look back on and cherish forever.  
 
How has being a student-athlete at Union benefited you over the last four years?
I have been able to grow alongside an amazing group of people over the course of my four years at Union, and because of this, I have become a better man and overall better person. By being a student-athlete at Union, you learn a lot of valuable life skills that simply cannot be taught in the classroom. 
 
What has been your most meaningful experience outside of athletics?
Some of my most meaningful experiences outside of athletics were when we would participate in great philanthropy activities as a team. We were able to participate and help out causes that were bigger than us in order to better others who are less fortunate or caught in an unfortunate situation. 
 
Who was/is your favorite professor at Union and why?
My favorite professor at Union is Tommaso Gazzarri [Assistant Professor of Classics]. He always made class interesting and exciting to go to. You would learn so much over the course of each term, but you wouldn't really realize it until the term is over because everything was so well taught and executed. He simply is the best. 
 
What advice would you give to younger athletes about their time at Union?
If I could give any little word of advice to any athlete out there who still has time to compete in the sport(s) that they love it would be this: enjoy every moment you have with your teammates, both on and off the field. Even the hardest and most dreaded moments like conditioning or run tests, because it will come to a time when you even miss those moments when it's all over. Your team is your second family; love them and cherish them and have no regrets when the book comes to a close.