Alumni and SUNY New Paltz Join Ranks

NEW PALTZ — The State University of New York at New Paltz, The College at New Paltz Foundation, and the College’s Alumni Association have announced construction plans to build a 1,200-square-foot, $100,000 addition to the Dorothea Hopfer Alumni Center that will house the Office of Alumni Affairs and the Office of Admissions.

In a search for an alternative to crowded conditions in the present Admissions Office, located in the Administration Building, the College initially planned to renovate another building on campus for the admissions operation. When the project was found to be cost prohibitive, an effort of collaboration grew between the College and the Alumni Association with the goal of providing appropriate space for alumni and prospective students.

“By bringing the Office of Admissions and the Office of Alumni Affairs together under one roof, the circle of a student’s experience at SUNY New Paltz is completed, from incoming freshman to returning alumnus,” said Gail Park Logan (Class of 1958), vice president of the New Paltz Alumni Association. “The Alumni Association feels that supporting and contributing to this construction is the best way to preserve the Alumni Center and to serve the College’s needs in terms of its admissions program.”

Although the Office of Alumni Affairs will temporarily move to the Administration Building next week, two rooms in the Hopfer Alumni Center that are decorated with donated New Paltz memorabilia will remain intact. Logan makes the point that “the Alumni Association and the Greek organizations feel that it is vitally important for the Office of Alumni Affairs to remain in the Hopfer Center. Because of this,” says Logan, “we fully support the planned construction which will provide space for the critical Admissions operation and allow the Alumni Office to remain in the Hopfer Alumni Center.”

“Bringing prospective students and alumni together is the perfect pairing,” Roger W. Bowen, president of SUNY New Paltz agreed. “When prospective students enter the Hopfer Center they are enveloped in the history of New Paltz and the sense of warmth that the house provides. Returning alumni experience a strong connection to their alma mater when they visit Hopfer. I believe that it is vital that the Alumni Office remain in this house.”

During construction, the Office of Alumni Affairs will be temporarily located on the eighth floor of the Haggerty Administration Building. The Office of Alumni Affairs telephone number will remain the same, (845) 257-3230. Estimated completion for the addition is late summer 1998.

Although the College and the Alumni Association are supporting this addition, contributions for the project are needed; checks should be made payable to The College at New Paltz Foundation, and mailed to SUNY New Paltz, Division of Advancement, 75 S. Manheim Blvd., New Paltz, NY 12561.