Under faultless blue skies and a flawless temperatures, Cornell University President David Skorton welcomed the Class of 2017 at convocation Aug. 24. He presented them with a glorious Big Red world of opportunity, academic voyage and self-discovery.
This year, more than 50 incoming freshman and transfer students are spending Aug. 18-23 volunteering with the Cornell Public Service Center’s Pre-Orientation Service Trips (POST).
More than 100 events, including receptions, speeches, presentations, entertainment and outdoor activities, will greet new first-year and transfer students during Orientation Week, Aug. 23-27.
Events this week include the annual Dump and Run sale to benefit local charities, Glee Club and Chorus Orientation concerts, a lecture on trees in literature, events and lectures about sustainable seafood and new offerings by the Johnson Museum and Cornell Cinema.
Cornell is in the planning stages of upgrading and expanding the Gannett Health Services facility – to 96,000 square feet, up from 38,000 – by 2017. In July, Cornell Board of Trustees Chair Robert S. Harrison ’76 and his wife, Jane, made a lead gift of $5 million in support of the $55 million project.
In support of diversity and inclusion, faculty and staff are reminded to take religious observances into account year-round when planning events, meetings, programs, meals and travel.
Marina Markot, an international education expert who most recently served at the University of Virginia, has been appointed the new director of Cornell Abroad. She began Aug. 15.
Albie Sachs, an A.D. White Professor-at-Large, will make his first official visit to campus Aug. 28-Sept. 7. The lawyer, judge, activist, scholar and author will present a public lecture Aug. 29.
English professor Thomas Hill will deliver Cornell Plantations’ 2013 William H. and Jane Torrence Harder Lecture Aug. 28 at 5:30 p.m. in Call Auditorium, Kennedy Hall, titled “Pagan and Christian Trees: From Ambrose to ‘Juniper Tree.’”
