CONTACT: Steve Mullen (518) 629-8063
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Monday, January 19, 2004
All proceeds from Hudson Valley's men's and women's basketball games on Tuesday, January 27, will be donated to the newly-established Willie A. Hammett Student Services Scholarship.
Hudson Valley will host SUNY Cobleskill at the McDonough Sports Complex. The women's game tips off at 5 p.m. with the men's contest to follow at 7 p.m. Admission to the games is $3.
Hammett, who served as Hudson Valley's vice president of student services for more than two decades, retired at the end of 2003.
"This is a great way for us to give back to Mr. Hammett, a man who has supported Hudson Valley athletics and its students for more than 30 years," Hudson Valley Director of Athletics Drew Marrochello said.
The Willie A. Hammett Scholarship will be awarded each spring to an outstanding student who has made a significant contribution to student services at Hudson Valley.
A 1966 graduate of the college, Hammett began his career at Hudson Valley in 1971, when he was hired as a counselor and part-time instructor. He also served as director of the Educational Opportunity Program and assistant to the vice president for student affairs prior to being named vice president in 1982.
He has left a mark on the community beyond Hudson Valley as well through his involvement with many civic organizations and businesses, including Troy Savings Bank, the Troy Boys and Girls Club and St. Anne's Institute in Albany.
Hudson Valley Community College, located in Troy, offers more than 50 degree and certificate programs in four academic divisions: Business; Engineering and Industrial Technologies; Health Science; and Liberal Arts and Sciences; and an Educational Opportunity Center for academic and career training. One of 30 community colleges in the State University of New York system, it has an enrollment of more than 11,000 students each year, and is known as a leader in distance learning initiatives and workforce training.
