Union College Athletics

Jerry W. Carey Stadium at Colonel Harland Sanders FieldConstructed in 1963, the John M. Robsion Jr.Memorial Arena has served as the home courtfor the Lady Bulldog basketball program sincethe 1978-79 season. The arena’s seating capacityis 1,800, and the gymnasium has recentlyundergone some renovation.The gym floor was repainted and the new3-point line for men’s basketball was added.During the past year, the lobby and gym areashave been total repainted. New scoreboards andlighting system were installed for the 2003-04 season as well as a new roof and gutters.Also, all of the locker room areas received vastimprovements.Previously, the only major alteration had todo with the reserved seating section in the lowerlevel portion of the gym.The reserved seating section once consistedof folding chairs. However, orange, chair-back seats with black armrests have replaced the folding chairs. In addition, there arehandrails dividing each aisle in the reserved seating section.Besides the gym, Robsion Arena also houses an indoor swimming pool, an athletic training room, lockerrooms for the the men’sbasketball, women’s basketball, volleyball and swimming and visiting teams and classrooms and offices for the Health, PhysicalEducation and Recreation Department.Originally, the building was known as the Physical Education Building. The name was changed to the John M. Robsion Jr. MemorialArena in 1990 to honor one of the school’s alums and long-time supporter.Robsion was a 1919 graduate of the old Union College Academy. Though his professional and political life took him all over theworld, Robsion never forgot his roots and ties to Union as he remained a loyal supporter of the school.Born in 1904, the Barbourville, Ky. native attended and graduated from George Washington University in 1926. He was a congressionalsecretary from 1919-28, and he was admitted to the bar in 1926 and moved to Louisville in 1928. From 1928-35, Robsionserved as chief of the Law Division of the United States Bureau of Prisons. After practicing law in Louisville for nearly sevenyears, Robsion served in the U.S. Army from 1942-46 and was stationed overseas in Africa, Italy and Austria. Upon his discharge,he held a variety posts in the political world, including three terms as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Following anunsuccessful run as Kentucky gubernatorial candidate in 1959, Robsion practiced law in Louisville and Fort Lauderdale, Fla. untilhis death on Feb. 14, 1990.BULLDOG BASEBALLTHE UNION COLLEGE WEIGHT ROOM FACILITYUnion College student-athletes have a new state-of-the-art wellnesscenter to help train in and out of season. The renovation of the lower levelof Soldiers and Sailors Center was completed in the spring of 2008 andfeatures two areas, a weight-room and cardio area.The revamped weight-room facility is open to all Union students aswell as faculty and staff during designated times.The weight-room portion features 10 power racks with platforms and420 pounds per station. Also located in the weight room are leg extensionand leg curl combo machines, pull down and preacher curl areas. Inaddition, the weight room houses dip racks and free weights ranging fromfive pounds to 120 pounds.The cardio area is home totreadmills, elliptical and stationarybikes along with additional freeweights from three to 50 pounds.Soldiers and Sailors wasconstructed in 1919 as the College’s gymnasium. It contained a swimming pool in thebasement and at the time of its construction was considered “state-of-the-art.” The pool wasthe first indoor pool in the state of Kentucky. In the early 1960s, a new gymnasium (RobsionArena) was built, and the old gym was turned over to the Drama Department. It was renamedthe Dramatic Arts Center (DAC), and the gymnasium was converted into a stage.Part of the basement area was converted into a coffee shop in the fall of 1973, and itremained that way throughout the 1970s. For a period of time in the ‘80s, the building wasclosed because of structural problems. It was reinforced and re-opened as the IntramuralCenter in 1990. In 1994, the area once used as a coffee shop was cleaned up and was used asa recycling center before being renovated for the new Wellness Center.4 • Union College