Kevin Stearns/University Photography

About 800 members of this year's incoming freshman class form the numerals "2009" on Libe Slope Aug. 24 for the official Class of 2009 photo.

The ingredients: several dozen yards of yellow "caution" tape, 800 first-year students and a bullhorn. The result: the official photo for the Class of 2009, with students spelling out the year "2009" across Libe Slope.

What did it take to organize the shot? A good eye, a handful of organizers from Cornell's Orientation Steering Committee and the boisterous cooperation of hundreds.

Lisa K'Bedford, director of orientation and assistant dean of students for new student programs, was one of the organizers who spent more than an hour preparing the shot and broadcasting instructions to the mass of students on the slope on the afternoon of Aug. 24.

The line of freshmen waiting to be directed into position on one of the numerals stretched from Libe Slope all the way to Morrill Hall. K'Bedford kept watch over each number as it formed, shouting orders to make sure each numeral was kept straight and that each had enough bodies.

Kevin Stearns/University Photography

Members of the Cornell 2005 Orientation Steering Committee prepare Libe Slope for the photo, marking out the outlines of the numbers with yellow tape.

A few latecomers were booed as they sprinted to find a place in the photo, but then cheers erupted. "You guys look awesome -- give yourselves a round of applause," K'Bedford said.

This was the third year that an official class photo had been taken during Orientation Week prior to the start of the freshman year. Before 2003, an official class photo was taken during senior week and mailed to students and parents after graduation. Seniors are now able to purchase and receive copies of their class photo while they are still on campus.

There are other benefits to taking the class photo nearly four years ahead of time, K'Bedford said.

"We want to try to create some class identity. It helps create the mood that you are a class, that you have an identity as a group." With a freshman class of about 3,200, K'Bedford said the turnout for the photo was impressive.

After the official photo was taken by Ithaca photographer Shai Eynav, the students formed a wide line and approached the camera, arms raised, and shouted "2009!" for a final photo.

Then the students scattered, leaving behind a visual record of themselves -- poised on the cusp of their Cornell experience.