Union College, we remember you well

By Benet Pols


Union College.

The Dutchmen take on the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers for the NCAA DI men’s championship on April 12, 2014.

Union College. Little Union College.

It’s old.

Founded in 1795 it was the first college chartered by the Board of Regents of the State of New York. In NESCAC only Williams, founded in 1793 and Bowdoin in 1794 can claim to be older. Even its nickname, the “Dutchmen,” hearkens back to the oldest days of the country when New York City was New Amsterdam and the Dutch Reform Presbyterian Church was influential in the young New York State.

It’s small.

With 2133 undergraduates Union comes in smaller than Trinity (2300) and the relatively behemoth Wesleyan (2870). With 213 faculty members in outdistances Bowdoin and can boast a student to faculty ratio of 10:1.

It’s rigorous.

With SAT scores for the class of 2017 running 640/670/640, admission to Union would make almost any set of parents proud. US News and World Report’s annual list of the best liberal arts colleges in the country puts all 11 NESCAC schools in the top 50, starting with the one-two punch of Williams and Amherst. Union makes this class too; the Dutchmen hold down the 41^st spot just behind Trinity at #38 and Connecticut College at #45.

Its iconic campus architecture screams tradition.

With the Nott Memorial, reminiscent of a renaissance baptistery adjacent to any of Europe’s cathedrals as it’s centerpiece, it’s almost enough to make the average Dutch boy or Dutch girl forget about junior year abroad. But no, 60% of Union Students do go looking for the real thing in Paris, Cologne or Florence.

So why isn’t Union College a member of NESCAC?

In a word: hockey.

Union was a member of NESCAC from its inception in 1971 until May 1977 when it withdrew in the wake of recruiting violations and on campus brouhaha surrounding the Schenectady school’s nascent hockey program.

Hockey at Union had gone dark following the 1949 season but started up with a bang again in 1976. The Dutchmen had big ambitions right from the start setting their eyes on a quick move from what was then DII and the ECAC, on up to DI. With the support of its President and Board the little school moved quickly by hiring the legendary Ned Harkness. Harkness had led both RPI (1954) and Cornell to national championships. His time with the Big Red from Ithaca cemented his “legendary” tag. Under Harkness Cornell won NCAA titles in 1967, with Ken Dryden between the pipes, and again in 1970. The 1970 Cornell team rolled though an impressive season culminating in an NCAA championship. That team, at 29-0-0, still stands as the only undefeated National Champion.

Immediately before landing back in college hockey at Union Harkness served as Coach and GM for the NHL’s Detroit Redwings. It’s hard to say he enjoyed his time in the NHL; most sources conclude Harkness wasn’t suited for the NHL and his players were in open rebellion during his short stint in Detroit.

But he brought something to Union: an ability to recruit. But perhaps his ability to recruit was too good.

According to an Associated Press article “Ned Harkness Out of the Penalty Box” appearing in the Lewiston Evening Journal, Mar 31, 1977, using just freshmen during Harnkess’s first season the Dutchmen went 21-2. In his second season Union was 28-3-1 and lost to Merrimack 6-4 in the ECAC DII finals. Merrimack had lost to Bowdoin 6-5 in the 1976, and lost again to Polar Bears 3-0 in 1978. But in 1978, due to pesky NESCAC restrictions on Bowdoin, Merrimack went on to win the NCAA DII championship.

Those same pesky NESCAC restrictions proved too much for Harkness. According to Out of the Penalty Box “Harkness has been a vocal critic of the conference and (Union) is considering pulling out of the conference and seeking DI status.” Harkness had been suspended after being caught visiting the home of a recruit on violation of NESCAC rules. A lot was made of the fact that it was just conference rules Harkness violated; the conduct was allowed under existing NCAA rules. For his part, Harkness was unrepentant and was quoted by the AP as saying, “I lied, but I lied to save my hockey program.”

The Union program was back in the news just two months later when, after much on campus debate, the college voted to withdraw from NESCAC and retain both its hockey coach and President. The Schenectady Gazette of May 18, 1977 reported:

Yesterday’s vote to retain (President) Bonner and withdraw from NESCAC amounts to a victory for the Union President. . . .The board voted confidence in President Thomas N. Bonner (who had earlier submitted a resignation) and further voted to leave NESCAC. . . . However the board voted to abide by the principles of NESCAC and the highest standards of integrity . . . .The attention drawn by the hockey team, 42-6-1 for the last two seasons, also became a concern for some students and faculty, the primary fear being that Union would sacrifice it’s academic standards to go “big-time.”

But by the next season the wheels had come off the program completely. In December 1977 the Bangor (Maine) Daily News printed an article about the demise of Union hockey. The University of Maine, in its first season of hockey, had been scheduled to take on Union but the game was canceled as the result of a player walkout. Harkness had resigned the week before and players were unwilling to go on without him. In resigning Harkness said that hockey and Union had been a “bad marriage, “ and that his players were harassed and denigrated on campus. Four players had been dropped for academic deficiencies and Harkness complained the media learned of it before the players themselves. According to the Bangor Daily News Harkness complained the news was leaked.

President Thomas Bonner lasted just a few months longer, resigning in 1978. At the time he was quoted as saying: “It has been alleged that admission standards are too high at Union College, and that they should not be applied evenly to the athlete and non-athlete. The college pleads guilty and offers no apology.”

The Dutchmen, 4-1-1 at the time Harkness resigned, went 0-13 the rest of the season, presumably using non-recruited players to fill the void along with an interim coach, Bob Driscoll. The following year under Coach Charles Morrison the Dutchmen began a ten-year run in DIII enjoying eventual success before turning again to DI in the early 1990’s.

And on April 12, 2014 Union will take on perennial national power Minnesota for the National DI championship.

As the 2013-14 Union season unfolded, and their current coach, Rick Bennett, was suspended for a post game brawl it’s difficult not to reflect on the distinctions between DI and DIII and the NESCAC in particular. It’s hard to imagine Bowdoin’s Terry Meagher and Colby’s Blaise MacDonald going at it on the ice after a game and facing just a two game suspension.

For an interesting view on Harkness written in 1977 before his suspension at Union see this piece from Sports Illustrated.

More information:

Stats from College Hockey News

More from Union College