Union @ Cooper Union

memberucu.com ›

About U@CU

Union @ Cooper Union is a union of full-time and part-time clerical, administrative, technical and buildings and grounds maintenance staff with over 120 members employed at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. U@CU is a self-governing union whose elected officers and area reps volunteer to serve on the Executive Board that represents its members.

Executive Board

Officers

  • President: Betsy Alwin, Art
  • Vice-President: Adaku Nzeribe, Development
  • Treasurer: Leah Hebert, Art
  • Secretary: Marilyn Whitesides, Student Services

Area Representatives

  • Area 100: Dino Melendez, School of Engineering, Saturday Program, CURF, The Writing Center, Humanities
  • Area 200: Amy Westfphal and Cara DiEdwardo (Deputy Rep.), Schools of Architecture and Art
  • Area 300: Chris Gueren, Buildings & Grounds
  • Area 400: Rachael Sophrin, Admissions, Development, Continuing Education, External Affairs, and Student Services
  • Area 500: Wayne Adams, Business Office, Computer Center, Design Center, Office Services, Library, Lubalin Center; and President’s Office

Delegates to the Representative Assembly

  • Delegate: Betsy Alwin, Art
  • Alternate Delegate: Leah Hebert, Art

 

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.