History of campus building’s names unearthed

Gigi Benami
Staff Writer

New students may have trouble pronouncing the names of campus buildings, but what is the history behind those structures students enter everyday?

Guenther
Otto V. Guenther was the first president of Hudson Valley in 1953, which back then was called Hudson Valley Technical Institute. From 1959 to 1961, Hudson Valley shifted the name Technical Institute to Community College and changed locations to where it is today.

Guenther passed away in 1969, but the building named after him still houses a lot of the administrative offices on campus.

Fitzgibbons
Quite a few buildings at Hudson Valley have been named after past presidents. The legacy of Hudson Valley’s second president, James J. Fitzgibbons, remains on campus in the form of the Fitzgibbons building.

During Fitzgibbon’s presidency (1965-1979), Hudson Valley added five new buildings to its campus and increased enrollment by 4,000 more students from the previous year.

Bulmer Telecommunications Center
Joseph L. Bulmer was the college’s third president. During his term, Hudson Valley focused on making our campus more modernized and technological.

Lang Hall & Higbee Hall
Lang Hall and Higbee Hall were named after Conrad H. Lang and Lester C. Higbee, both of whom were Hudson Valley trustees and chairmans. Higbee was a trustee from 1953-1974 and served as the chairman from 1964 until the end of his service at the college. Lang was a trustee from 1953 – 1976 and served as the chairman after Higbee from 1973 -1976.

Dwight Marvin Library
The Dwight Marvin Library opened in 1970. It was named after Dwight Marvin, who was the first chairman of the Hudson Valley Board of Trustees. He was also an editor of The Record Newspaper from 1953-1961.

Raymond Siek Campus Center
The Raymond Siek Campus Center, known as simply, the Campus Center, was named after Raymond Siek, who was a Hudson Valley trustee from 1965-1978. The Campus center was dedicated in 1973 during Hudson Valley’s 20-year anniversary. It was named after Siek in 1979, one year after his death.

McDonough Sports Complex
Every year more than 200,000 people visit the Complex building, which is worth $15 million. The McDonough building was named after Edward F. McDonough, who was a director for
the New York State Assembly in 1991 as well as yet another Hudson Valley trustee.