The Garnet

Well, what a week! Just a quick recap of some of the happenings on campus since last week:

1. Springfest (the annual outdoor concert) was on Saturday, so The Roots, Neon Trees (!), and 2 AM Club all visited campus for a nearly all-day affair.

2. The Union Men's Lacrosse team competed in the NCAA National Tournament, winning in the first round against Nazareth on Wednesday, and falling to Tufts by only 5-6 this afternoon.

3. Beuth House, among many other organizations, hosted Takaai Morikawa, a Hiroshima survivor, on Wednesday for a dinner and campus discussion.

4. Happy Steinmetz! Our very own holiday! Union honored Charles Proteus Steinmetz in the 21st Annual Steinmetz Symposium on Friday and followed up with Prize Day accolades this morning.

5. The Garnet Yearbook received funding from Student Forum for its 2011 publication!!


Okay, items one through four might seem pretty straight-forward and certainly are mention-worthy. But the yearbook?! How important can that be to life at Union College?

Well...

Historic: The Garnet has been published for 134 years (since 1877)! Okay, it's really been only 132 years, as 1892 and 1946 were not chronicled in book form (Wayne Somers, Encyclopedia of Union College History, 324). That's just as long as the Concordiensis has been in production!

Expressive: The yearbook took the name "The Union Book" between the years of 1969 to 1979. The yearbook and newspaper often exhibited the effects of this era's political upheavals on campus, in addition to demonstrating the progress of social change.

Representative?: The Union Book, especially in the late 60s and early 70s, took on a greatly artistic representation of student life. But everyone's a critic, right? The Concordiensis article from this time period commented on whether every student truly had a voice through this type of portrayal.

Creative!: Still, these same yearbooks are some of the most impressive ever created here at Union College. And they often included submitted work from much of the campus community (Somers 326). Overall, they're a true work of art!

Extinct?! Yes, The Garnet (back to its original name) was extinct as of a month ago. But fortunately, Adam Pere '13 and myself have worked to recruit over forty members from the campus population since that time, in addition to recently securing funding from Student Forum. And now are in the process of beginning to put the 2011 yearbook together!

But we're still in need of a great deal of help! We have an expansive and dedicated staff, but we're still in a bit of a crunch to produce the publication over the next month. And next year's planning is already in the works!

So, if you are interested in lending aid of any sorts (comments, questions, suggestions, the works!), please send us an email, become a Facebook fan, or follow us on Twitter.

Email: yearbook@garnet.union.edu
Facebook: The Garnet Yearbook, Union College
Twitter: @Garnet Yearbook

We want to be sure that the Class of 2011 goes down in Union history for all of the accomplishments they achieved, not for the side note that they were only the third class ever not to graduate with a yearbook!


P.S.
Image above: A photo from the yearbook office in Reamer Campus Center.
Interesting Note: Winter term article in the Concordiensis detailing the downfall of the yearbook. Glad that didn't become a reality!

Up next time: Minerva Spotlight on Messa House!