Archive for category: Class News

We are officially counting down the months until our 50th Reunion in June.  Hoping to see many of you on campus for that big event, I thought it would be fun to highlight what some of our notable classmates are up to each month, whetting your appetite to connect and reconnect.

Former Class President Evan Stewart published a book about Myron Taylor, Myron Taylor: The Man Nobody Knew.  We all know the law school building but we probably know little else about Myron Taylor.  (I am from Pittsburgh and I didn’t even know he ran US Steel)  Read Evan’s book, listen to Evan on a leadership podcast, listen to his book talk at Cornell’s Law School and come to Reunion where Evan will be discussing the book with our classmates.

After 50 years in the zoo and conservation field, classmate Rick Barongi realized his vision for a conservation park in Texas.  Read about Rick’s fascinating career since he graduated from Cornell and take a tour of his Longneck Manor.  Let’s hope Rick will be returning to the Hill for our Reunion.

Writer, radio host, renaissance woman and classmate Randee Mia Berman is a finalist in the AARP Benefits Badass competition.  Watch her contest submission and vote for her.  Randee Mia always entertains us at reunions.  Read her fun recap of our 40th.

I hope you are enjoying your summer and starting to make your plans for joining us in June.

Be well!

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It looks like spring is arriving both on campus and metaphorically in the COVID fight.  As the snow melts and in-person classes have resumed, there are many signs that a more normal “new normal” is emerging.

Two years of COVID have tested our resolve and shown our resilience.  Cornell students adapted and so did we alums.  Reunions and Homecoming went virtual and Cornell Global Mixers took off.  Many classes, including ours, sponsored fun and fascinating webinars by unofficial Cornell historian Corey Earle ’07.

Title IX Then and Now, A Celebration of Cornell Women’s Athletics was presented last month.  We had 177 people join the call, representing six decades of Cornell alums, athletes, coaches and friends.  Our moderator Corey Earle ’07 shared Cornell women’s athletics history, our alumnae panelists relayed their experiences, and our student athletes (including one our own Class of 1974 Scholar) suggested Cornell should hire more women coaches and assistants and continue to recruit more diverse athletes.  The energy in the chat on the webinar was wonderful and such a tribute to the tremendous accomplishments of Cornell Women athletes.  As one alum noted in the webinar, “We’ve come so far, but still have far to go”. If you missed it you can watch the webinar here.

March 16th is Cornell Giving Day.  If you want to support women’s athletics (or men’s) or would like to support students like Class of 1974 Scholar Summer Parker-Hall or just want “To Do The Greatest Good” for what you are passionate about at Cornell, please join in that day and make a gift.

Enjoy the spring and please be well!

Fall at Cornell is always so beautiful and this fall, with a more bustling campus, the return of in-class learning, sports and activities, it seems even more spectacular.

Speaking of spectacular, last week brought very big news from our alma mater.  Cornell announced the launch of a new campaign–To Do the Greatest Good–a campaign to raise $5 billion and connect 200,000 Cornellians!

“To do the greatest good”, a handwritten phrase taken directly from Ezra Cornell’s notes to the New York State Legislature in 1865, was his reason for founding Cornell University.

You can watch launch video here, with an introduction by Ezra Cornell IV ’70 and Katy Cornell ’01, and inspirational words and work from students, faculty and alumni and absolutely beautiful images of our Cornell.   Learn more about To Do the Greatest Good and how you can be a part of it and, in the words of poet Lamin Johnson ’21, “dream a dream that dares to do the greatest good.”

Hope your summer has been good and safe.

Even though the calendar says we have some more of summer to enjoy, students will be returning to Ithaca this week for what hopefully will be a “normal” school year.  All Cornell students are required to be vaccinated and although the University is not currently requiring faculty and staff to be vaccinated, any campus community member who is unvaccinated must participate in ongoing testing.  And in response to the Delta surge, masks are required inside campus buildings regardless of vaccination status, for at least the beginning of the semester.  Cornell COVID-19 policy details are here.

Fingers crossed…. 

This Fall we will be welcoming the Class of 2025!  These talented young people come from every state (except Wyoming) and represent over 113 countries. Approximately 20% are first generation college students, and one third of admitted students self-identify as underrepresented minorities.   We can take pride in the fact that Cornell is living up to its motto of “Any Person, Any Study”.

Some new students will be moving into new dorms recently completed on North Campus.  The five new residence halls carry the names of author Toni Morrison MA ’55, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg ’54, Nobel Prize winner Barbara McClintock ’23, ’25 & ’27, Chinese diplomat and scholar Hu Shih ’14, and Ganedago, which is the Cayuga Nation ancestral name of the land on which Cornell was built.  Learn more about the North Campus Residential Initiative here.   

We are welcoming our new Class of ’74 Scholar. As you may recall, our former scholar, Wendi Gonzalez, graduated this past May with her BArch. Our new scholar is Summer Parker-Hall who graduated from Loyola Academy High School in Wilmette, Illinois in June. Summer was an outstanding scholar-athlete at Loyola, starring on the Ramblers’ girls’ basketball team. She intends to play hoops at Cornell. We will be sharing more information about Summer in the months to come.

Please join me in wishing Summer and all of the current Cornellians the very best this year.