Union’s men’s hockey team won the national championship last spring over Minnesota in the “Frozen Four” in what Mandart dubs a “real Davis vs. Goliath story.” The victory came too late to affect admissions for the 2014-15 school year, but Union is trying to calculate how the newfound fame will ripple through the admissions process in the coming year. Admittedly, says Mandart, “It’s a nice problem to have.” They received an unexpected burst in media attention which surprised everyone at the usually sleepy 2,200-enrollment liberal arts college, “and of course web traffic picked up.”
There’s lots else to love at Union (founded 1795 and boasting one U.S. prez as an alumni—Chester A. Arthur), including a robust engineering program and a pretty campus filled with graceful buildings . Sports (everything but men’s and women’s hockey is Div. III) is a big part of life on campus but nothing like this has ever happened.
Unlike a school such as Butler, which built its basketball team to help put the school on the map, Union was long competitive in hockey at the Division III level, but struggled in the beginning of its move to Division I in the early ‘90s, in a move that Mandart said was very controversial at the time. But at a school with no athletic scholarships, competing and winning against schools such as Minnesota (48,000) and Boston U. (18,000) has been a big deal.
“It’s been a very important thing for the school,” Union president Stephen Ainlay told Sports Illustrated after the NCAA title game. Administrators expect an increase in giving and in applications. For now at least, Union’s Dutchmen are flying high.