Justice is the hallmark of Janet Reno's life work and "Justice" is the title of her final public talk as a Frank H.T. Rhodes Class of '56 University Professor. The former U.S. attorney general and Class of 1960 Cornell University graduate will deliver her talk as a sermon Sunday, Nov. 9, at 11 a.m. in Sage Chapel on the Cornell campus.
Cornell University President Jeffrey S. Lehman will be honored Nov. 6 by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc. (LDF) with a 2003 National Equal Justice Award for his role in the successful defense of the University of Michigan Law School's affirmative action policy before the U.S. Supreme Court. The award will be presented at a gala dinner at the Hilton New York in New York City. Emmy award-winning actress Alfre Woodard will be mistress of ceremonies at the event. The Supreme Court last June upheld the University of Michigan Law School's affirmative action policy in a decision widely hailed as a landmark in the law of higher education. Lehman served as dean of the University of Michigan Law School from 1994 to July 1, 2003, when he assumed the presidency of Cornell. During his tenure as dean, he helped shape the legal argument for universities' freedom to consider race as a limited factor in the admissions process in order to achieve meaningful levels of racial integration. When the Supreme Court upheld the Law School's admissions policy, Lehman said, "The question is no longer whether affirmative action is legal; it is how to hasten the day when affirmative action is no longer needed." (November 04, 2003)
Alicia S. Torrey has been named director of the newly created Cornell Alumni-Student Mentoring Program in Cornell University's Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education. The Cornell Alumni-Student Mentoring Program (CASMP) is sponsored and funded by the Provost's Office, in conjunction with the offices of Undergraduate Admissions, Financial Aid, Alumni Affairs, Minority Educational Affairs and Vice President for Student and Academic Services. (November 04, 2003)
The Turkish mayor of Nicosia, Cyprus, and a representative from the Greek mayor's office of Nicosia have traversed a once impenetrable border, not to mention the Atlantic Ocean, in order to attend a forum at Cornell.
Experts at Cornell Plantations can help ward off those early winter blues and welcome the upcoming holidays with November workshops on chair caning, fall flower arranging and holiday design.
Four members of the Cornell University faculty have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). They are among 348 researchers chosen to receive the prestigious award this year. The four are Donald Campbell, professor of astronomy; David Grusky, professor of sociology; David Hammer, the J. Carleton Ward Professor of Nuclear Energy Engineering, and Ray Wu, professor of molecular biology and genetics. (October 31, 2003)
Cornell University's Kids Growing Food program is accepting 2004 garden grant applications from elementary and secondary schoolteachers in New York state. The grants will help teachers establish or maintain a food garden on school grounds. The application deadline is Dec. 8, 2003. Kids Growing Food is the hands-on component of the New York Ag in the Classroom program. Its purpose is to teach students to understand how food grows by providing them with gardening experience at school. (October 31, 2003)
Cornell University's East Asia Program is sponsoring a weekend of events on the Cornell campus called "Korea Peace Day: Voices of Modern Korea," Thursday, Nov. 6, through Saturday, Nov. 8. Events will include films, readings by two of Korea's leading contemporary authors, lectures and even a bit of comedy. All are free and open to the public. The Korean War ended with a cease-fire 50 years ago, more stalemate than peace accord, and recent tensions between the United States and North Korea threaten to reignite hostilities that have been smoldering since 1953. A nationwide coalition of scholars recently proposed Korea Peace Day as a time for open discussion of the current crisis and consideration of peaceful solutions to conflict in the region. Cornell's is among more than 25 college campuses sponsoring teach-ins, workshops, lectures, debates, films and cultural presentations as part of this effort. (October 30, 2003)
Brett de Bary, Cornell University professor of Asian studies and comparative literature, has been appointed director of the Society for the Humanities (SHC). She replaces Dominick Lacapra, Cornell's Bowmar Professor in Humanistic Studies and professor of history, who has served as SHC director for the past decade. "The distinction of Cornell's Society for the Humanities has become almost synonymous with the distinction of its former director," said de Bary of her predecessor. "Dominick Lacapra's wide-ranging concerns as an intellectual historian, especially with the ethical challenges posed to humanistic inquiry by the Holocaust, led the society to probe profound issues of late 20th century thought and conscience. I hope to maintain this tradition of scholarly intensity and engagement." (October 30, 2003)