DioGuardi, left, Orange County Executive Edward Diana and Gilman share a moment

MIDDLETOWN – You would think that 85-year-old Benjamin Gilman was running for office again, shaking hands, smiling and hugging everyone in the room.

The occasion Thursday was the dedication and ribbon cutting for the new Gilman Center for International Education at Orange County Community College in Middletown.

There family and friends, supporters, politicians past and present, including former Congressman Joseph DioGuardi. Gilman is a Republican, but it didn’t matter what your political affiliation was for everyone who attended the event to honor the life of what many call a statesman.

The facility will house all of Gilman’s papers from his years as a member of the House of Representatives where he served for a number of years as chairman of the powerful House International Relations Committee. He was a member of the New York State Assembly prior to joining Congress.

The center will also serve as the foundation for the global studies curriculum at the college. College President Dr. William Richards said the large lecture room is already booked for months.

Gilman, who is an attorney by profession, was in the New York Assembly from 1966 through 1972. He then served in Congress from January 1973 to January 2003 when he retired when his district was cut and split between the two districts now held by Maurice Hinchey and John Hall.