It is a simple but undeniably powerful ritual to sit down, break bread and get to know the human being across the table from you.

About two dozen students invited a professor to dinner on March 5 and did just this. What they talked about -- current classes, future plans, the state of undergraduate instruction -- was less important than the fact that it was happening.

The occasion was a student-faculty dinner at Alice Cook House, an informal evening with buffet food and pitchers of pink lemonade.

For undergraduates whose lives can be a frenetic mash-up of influences, ideas, projects and people, it created a relaxed way to connect on a human level with a member of the faculty. It's a good example of what makes the West Campus community so special, and why residential life is such an important part of Far Above ... The Campaign for Cornell.

Faculty-student relationships are at the heart of the West Campus House System, where residents enjoy frequent opportunities to interact with house fellows. On this night, the concept was extended by encouraging students to invite any faculty member of importance to them.

Anne-Lise Cossart '09 invited her faculty adviser, Jerry Feigenson, professor of molecular biology and genetics. The biology major praised the opportunity to engage in small talk with one of her professors, something she doesn't always get to do in large lecture classes. Feigenson appreciated the opportunity to meet with no agenda, outside of the teacher-as-guru paradigm.

"When I talk to Anne-Lise in my office, it's usually to give her advice or because I know some stuff," he says. "This is totally different."

As far as Peter Davies is concerned, it's a kind of interaction that doesn't happen enough. The professor of plant physiology has made a practice of giving his students an open invitation to lunch, but he says only a small percentage have ever taken him up on it. Laura Kroon '08 invited him to the Cook House dinner.

"You get to see a professor as a person," she says.

Kroon is an undergraduate teaching assistant for Davies' new course, Issues in Social Biology -- a class that examines the biology behind articles in the popular press. Since they work together, she thought it would be fun to get to know each other better.

"What is nice about this is when the house puts aside the time for a particular dinner, the students don't feel so weird inviting somebody," Davies says.

The table talk: A little bit about the class, a little bit about Kroon's background and a little bit about her plans for next year. That scene repeated itself dozens of times across the crowded dining room.

Again, no big deal on the surface. This is how people have dinner. But this is also how people make the leap from acquaintance to friend, and occasionally even to a mentor-protégé relationship that can last for years.

It's such a simple idea, but it is powerful. And Far Above ... is helping to make it possible.

Bryce T. Hoffman is a writer for Cornell's Alumni Affairs and Development.