Board of Trustees Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 110 Eighth Street Troy, New York 2 April 2016 Members of the Board, Since 1890, the student-run Rensselaer Union has been the heart of our campus community. The unique opportunities it provides have been invaluable to our development as students, professionals, and individuals. We write today as concerned alumni and former student leaders determined to ensure that these opportunities remain available to future generations. We find no ambiguity in the Union Constitution’s support of Rensselaer’s rich tradition of independent student governance. Students are explicitly given the right and responsibility to fund and manage activities, facilities, and employees. They are granted the opportunity to be agents of change by collaborating with peers and professionals. Through their independence, students are empowered and inspired to take an active role in the Rensselaer community as stakeholders in our collective future. An independent Union gives students the irreplaceable opportunity to learn by doing, growing as leaders through their achievements and mistakes. Each generation of student leaders builds on the foundation and the lessons of its predecessors and the institutional knowledge of student-hired administrative staff. This accumulation of wisdom, over many decades of annually-elected leadership, allows the Union to grow stronger. Every change to the Constitution has been passed by the Student Senate, ratified by a vote of the student body, and approved by the Board of Trustees. This democratic process is built on trust and cooperation across the entire Rensselaer community. Unilateral action by any party—students, administrators, or trustees—to amend or alter the Constitution without honoring this process would undermine the integrity of our institution and our community. We are united in the belief that these traditions of student leadership are fundamental to the success of Rensselaer. We support the current Constitution and the established democratic process. We urge you to reaffirm your commitment to the Union’s self-governance, and work with the students to rebuild the trust so essential to the success of our community and our school. Respectfully, The undersigned alumni Alan P. Hald 100th Grand Marshal Earl Sedlik 74th President of the Union Zack Levine 101st Grand Marshal Jack S. DeMao 81st President of the Union Mark P. Rice 103rd Grand Marshal John B. Hill 88th President of the Union Tom Engellenner 104th Grand Marshal Bill Sanscrainte 92nd President of the Union Bob Koch 105th Grand Marshal Laura E. Tanski 94th President of the Union Donald Michael Stull 107th Grand Marshal Andrew Morrison 97th President of the Union Ira S. Tackel 109th Grand Marshal Kara Murphy Haire 98th President of the Union Mark R. Feinstein 110th Grand Marshal Russell Woodbridge 99th President of the Union John A. Malitoris 111th Grand Marshal Carrie Wallace 100th President of the Union Paul Kowalczyk 112th Grand Marshal AnneMarie Ferraro 101st President of the Union Pete Traversy 114th Grand Marshal Paul Conforti 102nd President of the Union Jeffry A. Langan 115th Grand Marshal Patrick Tirino 103rd President of the Union James E. LaPosta 116th Grand Marshal Thea Zeak Jandial 104th President of the Union Richard E. Glassberg 118th Grand Marshal Brian N. Dean 106th President of the Union John H. Cerveny 119th Grand Marshal Monica Loseman 107th President of the Union Carrie E. Eckart 120th Grand Marshal Christine Horan 109th President of the Union Doug MacKechnie 121st Grand Marshal Kristine (Norgren) Goas 111th President of the Union Dave Sovie 122nd Grand Marshal Ariana (Twitchell) Dalton 112th President of the Union Eric Lambiaso 123rd Grand Marshal Zachary Ament 113th President of the Union Mark Fellenz 125th Grand Marshal Suzanne Peluso 114th President of the Union Bill Wheeler 126th Grand Marshal James Fisher 117th President of the Union Sonny Jandial 128th Grand Marshal Robert Odell 119th President of the Union Greg Waters 129th Grand Marshal Alex Franz 120th President of the Union Kristen (Trout) Fitzpatrick 130th Grand Marshal Mike Spitz 121st President of the Union Mamani (Datta) Older 131st Grand Marshal Nikki Gallant 122nd President of the Union Erica Kulesza 132nd Grand Marshal Jonathan Stack 123rd President of the Union Joseph Greco 134th Grand Marshal Gretchen Sileo 124th President of the Union Gil Valadez 135th Grand Marshal Erin Amarello 125th President of the Union Chris Mather 136th Grand Marshal Michael Borzumate 137th Grand Marshal Michael J. Dillon 138th Grand Marshal Carlos Perea 140th Grand Marshal Julia Leusner 141st Grand Marshal Kara Chesal 142nd Grand Marshal Michael F. Zwack 143rd Grand Marshal Benjamin Hunt 144th Grand Marshal Lee Sharma 145th Grand Marshal Russell Brown 146th Grand Marshal Kevin L. Dai 147th Grand Marshal Charles Carletta 148th Grand Marshal Kyle Keraga 149th Grand Marshal Signatures updated through 10 pm EDT, April 5. Ed Arkans ’75 Lifetime Patroon and Member, Benjamin Franklin Greene Society Biomedical Engineering Advisory Council David M. Baum ’72 ’74 Lifetime Patroon and Member, Benjamin Franklin Greene Society Special Counsel to President Richard G. Folsom Special Counsel to President Richard J. Grosh Special Assistant to Treasurer Kenneth J. Plant Founder, RPI Office of University Security & Safety President, Class of ’72 and President, Washington, D.C., RPI Alumni Association Recipient, Rensselaer Alumni Key Kevin R. Bleyle ’98 Lifetime Patroon and Member, Benjamin Franklin Greene Society Senator and Alumni Class President Joe Dehais ’79 Lifetime Patroon MBA and Resident Gadfly Rick Hartt ’70 and Julia MacDonald ’72 ’77 Lifetime Patroons and Members, Benjamin Franklin Greene Society UPAC and Union Executive Board (Rick) Business Manager, RPI Players (Julia) Philip M. Lurie ’74 Lifetime Patroon and Member, Benjamin Franklin Greene Society Albert Fox Demers Medalist Union Executive Board Robert H. Sandow ’87 Lifetime Patroon and Member, Benjamin Franklin Greene Society Public Relations Director, WRPI Lee Wilcox ’60 Lifetime Patroon and Member, Benjamin Franklin Greene Society Vice President, RPI Student Affairs Dr. Peter D. Tannen ’57 ArDean Leith ’68 Gary G. Nelson ’70 W2SZ Jay J. Webb ’61 Bob Turan ’68 President, RAA Editor, The Bachelor Jim McCarthy ’71 Tom Danahy ’62 James Youngberg ’68 Paul Cosgrave ’72 ’73 Secretary, W2SZ President, RAA Paul Edelen ’64 Richard Bodane ’69 ’70 Sheila Fields ’72 Michael Wellner ’64 ’65 Program Director, WRPI Travel Director, RAA Dan Burt ’69 Robert Rizzo ’72 John E. Corbett ’68 G. Kent Worden ’69 President, Chess Club President, RPI Fencing Club Signatures updated through 10 pm EDT, April 5. Dr. Robert W. Fries ’73 ’76 ’79 Paul Sicard ’79 Bill Katz ’84 Equipment Supervisor, W2SZ President, Alpha Phi Omega Board Member, W2SZ Geoff Felger ’74 David Towle ’79 Douglas Nicolaisen ’84 Executive Board President, Sigma Phi Epsilon Business Manager, WRPI Roger Bruce Rehr ’74 Brad VanAuken ’79 Dean Roth ’84 ’85 Senator Senator Robert Eisenstat ’75 Disk Jockey, WRPI Gary B. Videlock ’79 Jon H. Stevens ’84 Chair, UPAC V.P. of Marketing, RPI Steve Fabrikant ’75 Karen Wisniewski ’80 ’84 Meredith G. Stevens ’84 Kevin Hamburger ’75 Editor, The Gorgon Mngr./Conductor, RPI Pep Band Station Manager, WRPI Sue Hutchinson Corell ’81 ’82 Nancy Winter ’84 Arthur C. Depoian ’76 Interfraternity Council President, Alpha Phi Omega Column Club of Rensselaer Mark V. Lindberg ’81 Dr. Brian Borchers ’85 ’89 ’92 Richard Shetron ’76 ’86 RPI Pep Band Business Manager, WRPI Coordinator, UPAC Tom McNellis ’81 ’82 Bob Bownes ’85 Paul Buckley ’77 ’79 President, Alpha Phi Omega President, Alpha Psi Omega Executive Board; Senator Patricia Beaver Weeks ’81 Eugene Dorsi ’85 David Kassover ’77 ’81 ’99 Fred Bauer ’82 Jean O’Connor Dorsi ’85 Jim Napolitano ’77 Treasurer, RPI ACM Faculty, Department of Physics Steven J. McIntyre ’85 David J. Haas ’82 IPAC Emmett Partain ’77 ’82 Station Manager, WRPI RPI Pep Band David Nagy ’85 John Magrane ’82 Vice President, Alpha Phi Omega Dr. Dave D’Alessio ’78 Yasmine (Mora) McNellis ’82 ’83 James R. O’Donnell Jr. ’85 ’87 ’92 John A. Krob ’78 Alpha Phi Omega; Dance Club Vice Chair, Executive Board Susan Brownell ’79 ’81 Dr. Jonathan K. Witter ’82 ’83 Ronald Swanson ’85 Class President Varsity Tennis Chief Engineer, WRPI Bruce Byorkman ’79 Eleanor Ryan ’83 Melissa Moncher Ackerman ’86 President, WRPI UPAC Mother’s Manager, RPI Pep Band Douglas Christie ’79 ’82 Dr. R. Lindsay Todd ’83 ’85 ’96 Scott Alcaide ’86 Donald J. Cipolle ’79 ’80 James Barkley Jr. ’84 Diana (Koblanski) Crossley ’86 ’87 Equipment Supervisor, W2SZ Composing Editor, The Polytechnic V.P., Phi Sigma Sigma Doug Hancher ’79 Mary Garfein ’84 Dr. William Ryan ’86 Navy ROTC Pres., Women’s Athletic Assoc. Auto Clubs; W2SZ; WRPI Lawrence Loucka ’79 Kevin Jennings ’84 Ruth Thornton ’86 Program Director, WRPI Technical Director, RPI Players Paul Friberg ’87 ’89 Andrew Nash ’79 Randell Jesup ’84 WRPI President, Science Fiction Club Signatures updated through 10 pm EDT, April 5. R. Scott Harris ’87 Steven A. Murray ’89 ’90 Dr. Jason Eichenholz ’93 Chair, Judicial Board Chair, GM Week President, Phalanx Jim Holmes ’87 David Nelsen ’89 Blaise Hartley ’93 Station Manager, WRPI Vice President, RPI Crew Pres., Undergraduate Council Dr. Cindy Steiz Hood ’87 ’97 Joseph Papini ’89 Randy Mitchelson ’93 Senator Chris Jamison ’87 Robert Pinelli ’93 Executive Board Kristin Svensson ’89 Upsilon Pi Epsilon Douglas Koekkoek ’87 Roberto Weinstein ’89 Wade Prather ’93 RPI Ambulance Chair, Judicial Board E-Board, Renss. Christian Assoc. Dan Lebrun ’87 Keith Bilafer ’90 Todd Thomas ’93 ’94 Track & Field Editor in Chief, Transit President, Renss. Peace Alliance Alexander Martin ’87 ’90 ’13 Greg Moore ’90 Lori Lai Cox ’94 President, Renss. Outing Club Editor in Chief, The Polytechnic Robert Marx ’87 Steven Nudelman ’90 Joseph Giroux ’94 Eric Pearl ’87 Editor in Chief, The Polytechnic Capt., Swimming & Diving Team Ian Josh Greenstein ’94 Dr. Adrian C. H. Scott ’90 ’91 ’93 Kristin Stoehr Pereira ’87 Features Editor, The Polytechnic Mark Leone ’94 Alumni Class President Composing Ed., The Polytechnic Gregory H.