Though typical Ithaca weather may have put a damper on the afternoon of Aug. 23, the first day of classes, the rain managed to hold off just long enough to make the second annual Welcome Weekend Picnic on the Quad a sunny success. Hundreds of students, faculty and staff gathered on the Arts Quad to mingle over five-star Cornell Dining fare.

Two white tents spanned the lawn next to Olin Library, and for a meal swipe or $8 in Big Red Bucks or cash, Cornellians were treated to an impressive spread of submarine sandwiches, fruits, cookies, chips and beverages.

Lisa Zhang, Hotel '08 and Welcome Weekend chair, said that the picnic's goal was to facilitate connections among faculty, students and staff. She noted that students and professors tend to form their own groups in social settings, so it was important to "push them out of their comfort zones" by encouraging them to sit and share a meal together.

"The opportunity for faculty and students to mix gives the year positive momentum," she said. "Ten years down the road, we want people to think of this event as not just a picnic, but as the way in which Cornell starts the school year, and as an integral part of the whole Welcome Weekend."

Thursday's event included faculty and staff from many different departments who sat with students on the grass or at the long tables in the shade of the tents, serenaded by the Cornell Glee Club and Cornell Chorus.

Christine Bogdanowicz, academic manager of the Shoals Marine Laboratory, and other Shoals employees Robin Hadlock Seeley and Jane Paige, for example, chatted with freshmen Sara Lohmann and Sarah Koehler, both of the College of Engineering, about sustainability research at the Shoals Lab on Appledore Island, Maine.

"We're hoping to meet new students and reconnect with Shoals alumni," Bogdanowicz said. "It's important for people to think of Cornell as a community, rather than just a place to go to school ... and food is a great way to bring people together."

Koehler agreed, adding "This is a nice idea, and I like eating outside." Both first-year students said that they hadn't been aware before coming that the picnic was intended to bring students and faculty together, yet it accomplished just that.

Welcome Weekend kicked off Wednesday with CU on the Slope, a free concert hosted by WVBR that featured live music from some of Cornell's own Greek organizations, as well as the ever-popular food and free giveaways. Events continued through Aug. 26, with Casino Night at Willard Straight Hall, Friday, Aug. 24; the Ho Plaza Street Fair, Saturday; and the annual Club Fest fair in Barton Hall, Sunday, Aug. 26.

Celia Smith '09 is a writer intern at the Cornell Chronicle.