They have yet to play Frisbee on the Arts Quad, or to watch the sunset from McGraw Tower, or to linger with friends on the patio of Collegetown Bagels under the heater on a crisp fall night.

But Cornell's newest students took in those suggestions -- along with many, many others -- as President David Skorton welcomed them to "the worldwide Cornell family" in a sunny, sunflower-adorned Saturday morning convocation ceremony in Schoellkopf Stadium Aug. 23.

Skorton's message focused on community service and social awareness. Students have long been a force for social change throughout the world, he told the university's 3,100 freshmen and 616 transfer students and their families; and public service has been at the heart of the Cornell tradition since the university's founding in 1865.

"We are all looking to you and your generation for leadership," he said. "In this presidential election year, the opportunities for engagement and leadership outside the classroom -- the possibilities for making a difference -- are likely to be even more compelling than usual, and I hope you will take some time to become involved.

"All of you can do well here," he reassured the students. "If that were not the case, you would not have been admitted."

The day after freshmen moved into residence halls on North Campus, Skorton issued a playfully grave warning to new residents of Mary Donlon Hall.

"Starting tomorrow, my wife, Professor Robin Davisson of the College of Veterinary Medicine and the medical school, and I will be moving into Donlon Hall for a week," he said.

"We do that each fall," he added, "so that we can make you miserable. And also, of course, to get to know you and other students living on North Campus."

He urged students to introduce themselves to him, to e-mail with questions, concerns and updates -- and to support each other in stressful times.

"For all its intensity, Cornell is a caring community," he said. "As members of a caring community, all of us have a role to play in ensuring our own well-being and the well-being of other members of our campus family."

And he suggested a few Cornell-specific diversions. "Eat lots of ice cream from the Cornell Dairy Bar -- this is a doctor talking to you," he said with characteristic deadpan. "Then work it off at a fitness center, the Lindseth Climbing Wall or take a run through the Cornell Plantations. Or, work off that extra ice cream reading and rereading my speeches."

To family members in the audience, Skorton said he appreciates the mix of emotions that comes with parenting a young adult.

"The fact that your daughters and sons [and] relatives are here today as Cornell's newest students is a tribute, of course, to their accomplishments -- but also to yours," he said. "You've done your jobs well ... I urge you to stay in touch with them; and I urge you to stay in touch with me."

The audience also heard from Student Assembly President Ryan Lavin, orientation steering committee co-chair Andrew Heilmann and student-elected trustee Kate Duch.

"Four years are not enough to experience all that Cornell has to offer," said Duch, who listed a few of her own notable memories (including being active in the Cornell Democrats, meeting Bill Clinton, picketing against Walmart -- and dating the former president of the Cornell College Republicans "briefly. Very briefly.")

"My three years here have been extraordinary," Duch said. "I wish you all the best as you join the Cornell family and embark on your own Cornell journey."

For Amelia Brown, a freshman from Washington, D.C., who will study fiber science and apparel design, the journey was off to a good start.

"It's great -- my room's really nice, it's bigger than I thought it would be, I like my roommate," she said. "I still can't fathom this many people that I haven't met -- I've met so many people, and yet it's not even a small percentage."

"It's a gorgeous campus to explore," added Travis Brown, Amelia's father. The transition to an empty nest (albeit with parakeets) will be rough, he admitted; "but this is what every parent aspires to."