UUP Susquehanna River Paddle-Saturday, September 26, 2026
Annual Paddle Event:
UUP Oneonta members and their guests are invited to participate in a Susquehanna River paddle on Saturday, September 26, 2026, launching at 1:00 PM and returning at 3:00 PM. This event is designed to strengthen chapter activism through a solidarity paddle and to deepen our community engagement by highlighting the importance of protecting the Susquehanna River.
Members who do not have a canoe or kayak, life jacket, or paddle may rent equipment at Canoe & Kayak Rentals and Sales in Portlandville, NY, located on NYS Highway 28 along the river. Rental policy information is available on their website: https://canoeandkayakrentals.com/
Both single and tandem canoes/kayaks are available for rental. Participants bringing their own equipment should meet at the NYS Highway 28 DEC canoe and fishing access pull-off, located a few hundred yards south of the rental business. Parking is free and plentiful at both locations.
This is a recreational, non‑competitive event. Paddlers will travel together at an easy pace. This stretch of the Susquehanna features still water with minimal current, making it an accessible paddle both upriver and downriver.
If weather conditions require rescheduling, all registered participants will be notified by email.
To sign up or ask questions, email UUP Oneonta Secretary and paddle coordinator Bill Simons at William.Simons@oneonta.edu.
Signup emails should include your name, email address, telephone number, the names of any guests, and whether you will bring your own canoe/kayak or rent one.
We are looking forward to another great academic year.
As a friendly reminder, we provide lunch at most (if not all) of our events! RSVPing at the Google Form links below helps us get an accurate count for lunch orders, so please fill them out if you intend to join us.
September
Chapter Meeting
September 9 || 12:00-1:00 pm Morris Conference Center, Le Café
You are eligible to join as long as you became a member prior to June 5, 2026. Your union membership must be confirmed before you receive the zoom link.
Don’t know your membership number? Call 518-640-6624
You can still register without the number, but you will not receive the link until your membership has been confirmed. Thank you.
This rally joins a coordinated national day of action, led by the May Day Strong coalition, bringing together workers, immigrants, students, and families in a growing list of thousands of rallies, marches, walkouts, town halls, and teach-ins.
Families across the country are facing rising costs of housing, healthcare, groceries, and child care while billionaires and corporations attack our neighbors, shred government budgets to fill their pockets, and reshape the rules to protect their power.
Tax the rich: Calling for a shift in fiscal priority so that families and public services come before the accumulation of corporate fortunes.
Fund Education, Not War and Deportation: A rejection of the diversion of public funds toward militarization and deportation efforts.
Freedom to Teach, Research, and Learn For All: A firm defense of academic freedom and free elections in a political climate increasingly hostile to intellectual autonomy.
Together, we will take action alongside workers, parents, students, and community members who are uniting to demand better, safer, and stronger communities — places that put the needs of working families first. We’re standing up for thriving neighborhood public schools, affordable housing, and access to high-quality healthcare, prioritizing people over the profits of billionaires and their corporations.
This May Day, we will reshape how our nation responds to the needs of working families by centering their lived experiences. We are building momentum toward a future that protects the rights, dignity, and well-being of everyone who works for a living.
A commitment to nonviolent action is a core principle behind all May Day events. All hosts and participants are expected to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who may disagree.
PLEASE NOTE: VISITOR PARKING PASS RESTRICTIONS HAVE BEEN WAIVED FOR THIS EVENT FROM 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM!YOU DO NOT NEED A VISITORS’ PASS TO PARK ON CAMPUS BETWEEN THIS TIME FRAME! Parking in pre-allocated visitor spaces is preferred but not required.
The campus has accessible parking, entry, and ramps. We will also have some tables and chairs for attendees. Please see the Accessible Campus Routes Map, and contact the Office of Facilities at 607-436-3224 or at facilities@oneonta.edu for more detailed information.
We have signs and posters available to pick up at our Chapter Office in IRC 105, and will have more to distribute to rally participants the day of the event!
Are you a student or community member who wants to connect with public higher education workers to learn about our concerns and priorities?Sign up to be a UUP Oneonta Rapid Responder and you’ll receive late-breaking opportunities to support the local fights that our members care about! We’ll alert you to calls for political advocacy, labor solidarity actions, ways to fight for a strong UUP contract and much more.
April 9 Professionals Luncheon Noon – 1:00 pm || Morris Hall – Le Cafe UUP Statewide Vice President for Professionals Carolyn Kube to give update on Professional Survey
May 17 UUP Oneonta Chapter Picnic 11:00 am – 4:00 pm || College Camp BBQ Chicken, Corn, Baked Potato, Vegetable Lasagna, and more! A family-friendly event – bring up to 3 guests.
Please join us for “The Latest on AI and Our Work: A UUP Virtual Forum.” We’ll hold sessions on March 9 and March 16 for UUP members to hear about major recent developments in AI that impact us. You can register here, and are invited to share the flyer below with UUP colleagues:
On March 28, communities across the nation will unite for No Kings Day, a day of action dedicated to defending the freedoms that uphold our democracy. This is a peaceful, people-powered movement calling for a future where every voice is heard, every idea can be expressed, and every individual can live and work with dignity and freedom. Together, we can ensure that our academic institutions and communities remain places of open inquiry, debate, and freedom of thought.
This day is about standing firm for the values that unite us. In a time when diverse ideas and perspectives are increasingly under attack, we stand firm in our belief that the freedom to speak, teach, research and learn without fear of retribution is essential to the integrity of our democracy and our institutions of higher learning.
We invite you to participate by attending an event or amplifying the message online. If you are planning on joining an event – please register with UUP HERE and we will register you with the No Kings location of your choosing. If you have already registered directly with the official No Kings Day event, please also register through this UUP registration link. Registering with UUP will ensure that we can coordinate, share signs, and support one another at these actions.
If you are speaking at an event and would like talking points, please reach out to UUP Communications Director, Mike Lisi (mlisi@uupmail.org).
Key Tools and Resources:
Visit HEREto learn more and sign up. Visit the No Kings website for a full list of locations.
We have the power and are claiming it together. No Thrones. No Crowns. No Kings.
What began in 2025 as a single day of defiance has become a sustained national resistance to tyranny, spreading from small towns to city centers and across every community determined to defend democracy. Our peaceful movement is bigger than ever.
When our families are under attack and costs are pushing people to the brink, silence is not an option. We will defend ourselves and our communities against this administration’s unjust and cruel acts of violence.
On March 28th, rise up, take to the streets, and say it loud: no thrones, no crowns, no kings. We’re not watching history happen—we’re making it. Join us.
A core principle behind all No Kings events is a commitment to nonviolent action. We expect all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values and to act lawfully at these events. Weapons of any kind, including those legally permitted, should not be brought to events.
The crucial role SUNY’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry plays as a national leader in protecting the environment, conducting climate change research and training the next generation of environmental leaders is the topic of a March 3 virtual panel discussion.
The discussion, titled “Anti-Science, the Environmental Crises and the Crucial Role of ESF,” will be held from noon to 1:30 p.m. via Zoom. UUP, the ESF Chapter and the National Wildlife Federation are sponsoring the event, which is free.
UUP President Fred Kowal will moderate the panel discussion. The panelists are:
Collin O’Mara: National Wildlife Federation president and chief executive officer
Robin Kimmerer: director emeritus, ESF Center for Native Peoples and the Environment; best-selling author; Plant, Baby, Plant founder
Rita Hite: American Forest Foundation president & CEO
Rick Fedrizzi: U.S. Green Building Council founding chair and former CEO; International WELL Building Institute executive chairman; and ESF Board of Trustees member
Dan Vera: ESF student, Mighty Oak Student Assembly president
