The Jennie T. Farley Office Professionals Celebration, held April 27 in the Ramin Room in Bartels Hall, attracted some 520 office professionals from around campus for lunch.

Mixing humor with gratitude, Vice President for Human Resources Mary Opperman harkened back to 1996, when she first came to Cornell, and how she noted in a 1997 interview that part of her role was "to get out good information about change and to arm staff with new skills to adjust to, and thrive in, a changing environment." The one thing that hasn't changed since then, she said, is that the university is still changing. She thanked the office professionals for all they have done in working through those changes.

"You continue to learn new skills, you continue to be resilient, you remain committed to your work, to each other, and to Cornell's students and faculty," she said.

Opperman urged staff to continue to take advantage of Cornell's resources, tools and services to expand their skills. Quoting Maya Angelou, who said, "My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style," Opperman said that these are the qualities that characterize Cornell's office professionals: "Passion for what you do, compassion for those you meet, humor in your dealings with the unexpected, and style -- in everything."

In expressing her thanks to the attendees, Vice President for Student and Academic Services Susan Murphy drew from her experiences at Cornell as a student, noting the positive and lasting effect that office professionals have had on her and continue to have in "fostering a healthy educational environment."

She said that Marjorie McKee Blanchard '62 once gave a speech at Cornell in which she advocated that everyone make a pact with themselves to stay healthy by developing four traits -- perspective, autonomy, connectedness and "tone" or physical well-being.

Perspective, Murphy said, comes from viewing stresses in a broader context and remembering what is really important. Autonomy is a matter of finding some part of our lives over which we have a sense of control, she said. Social connectedness has been proven to contribute to good health, she said, and tone is a matter of pursuing healthful habits.

The program closed with songs performed by student groups Last Call and Anything Goes and door prizes from local organizations and Cornell departments.