As part of the celebrations of NYSCC’s 125th Anniversary, we will rededicate Van Frechette International Friendship Park on April 3rd at 10:30am, originally dedicated in 2000 to the "causes of peace, friendship, and cultural understanding" and to international students who "met the challenges of language, culture, and distance to study at Alfred University.
The park was named for Professor Van Derck Fréchette, who was associated with Alfred University for more than 50 years as a student, teacher, researcher, and benefactor. He joined the faculty in 1944 and retired in 1987. Fréchette was a world-renowned expert on glass fractography and established the Study Abroad Program at NYSCC. He characterized the exchanges as “relationship(s)...based on long acquaintance, professional respect, and mutual trust.”