Joe Wilensky/Cornell Chronicle

Cornellians Raymond Simon '54 and Andrew Simon '13 share a moment together on Graduation Day. Raymond is Andrew's grandfather, and thanks to Army orders in 1954, Raymond did not walk at Cornell's graduation 59 years ago.

Lindsay France/University Photography

Anticipation. College by college, thousands of students gather on the Arts Quad getting ready to march to Schoellkopf Stadium for graduation.

Lindsay France/University Photography

Celebrating with smiles and balloons, three students share their happiness before they march to Schoellkopf Stadium.

Joe Wilensky/Cornell Chronicle

Exuberant students share their joy early on Graduation Day at the stone sign in Collegetown.

Lindsay France/University Photography

Peter Lepage, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, offers last-minute thoughts to graduating students.

After 59 years of contemplation, Raymond Simon ’54 planned to have the graduation day of his dreams. In full regalia, he would walk – in a Cornell graduation for his first time – beside his grandson Andrew Simon ’13.

But cold temperatures intervened and Raymond, 82, did not walk the walk in body but he certainly did in heart and mind.

Raymond, formerly of the Bronx, was earning his B.S. in electrical engineering as an ROTC cadet when the U.S. Army ordered him to report to Fort Monmouth, N.J. – a week before he was to march in his 1954 graduation.

Raymond, however, took this year’s cold weather in stride and posed in regalia in the warmer afternoon with grandson Andrew.

Graduation Weekend was much cooler and windier than usual: At Convocation, sweaters, hoodies and even winter jackets abounded, including Peter Gu ’13, engineering physics, Germantown, Md., who dressed warmly. Yet friends Mark Bunney ’13, engineering, Sterling, Va., and Ronnie Bunshaft ’13, computer science, Chappaqua, N.Y., wore T-shirts and shorts. Said Bunshaft, “A jacket would have made me too hot, and sandals would have been too much.”

At President David Skorton’s annual ice cream social on the Arts Quad afterward, Tian Hong, father of Blake Zhang ’13, economics, said he enjoyed the ice cream and didn’t mind the chilly air. “That’s why I’m getting seconds,” he said. Traveling from the family’s hometown in Plymouth, Minn., Zhang’s mother Xiaowei “Ann” Cao proudly explained that her son will be taking a job at Deutsche Bank in New York.

Taking in the last Saturday of their senior year, Joseph Niczky ’13, history, Bethpage, N.Y., and Diwakar Raisingh ’13, math and economics, Queens, N.Y., will head in two directions. Niczky will study law at Columbia this fall, while Raisingh will go to Washington as analyst for DC Energy.

Nicole Bonilla ’13, psychology, Brooklyn, beamed that her parents, Mildred and Julio, and her family were in Ithaca to celebrate. Her mom and dad said when Nicole starts working at Oracle in California, they’ll miss her on the East Coast.

Outside the ice cream tent, families and grads posed with the Ezra Cornell statue in the afternoon sun. Elana Liskovich ’13, engineering, Brooklyn, had her picture taken with her sister Inessa. Liskovich returns to Ithaca in the fall to pursue a master’s degree.

At the annual Senior Week Chorus and Glee Club concert in Bailey Hall Saturday night, the combined groups sang two commissioned pieces: “Valedictory Songs” by Niccolo Athens and “Come to the Road” by Zachary Wadsworth. It was the first time the groups had two commissioned pieces specifically for Commencement. Athens, who graduated from Juilliard in 2010, is in Cornell’s DMA program, studying with Cornell music professors Steven Stucky and Roberto Sierra.

One of the fondest memories for Kiersten Frenchu ’13, biology and society, Stockton, N.J.; Taylor Mahren ’13, animal science, Charlotte, Vt.; and Sharmilla Jai Kumar ’13, biology, Hopedale, Mass., they said, was walking down Libe Slope one icy, wintry day – interlocking arms down the steep, slippery slope so they would not slide down.

Joe Wilensky/Cornell Chronicle

Jessica Sneed unveils a fresh lei - replete with hundreds of orchid petals - that her parents brought from Oahu, Hawaii.

In their freshman year, the architects designed their Class of 2013 logo. Donald Silberman of Lincolnwood, Ill., created a stylized dragon with a tail to represent the Roman numeral X and swooshes to represent the III. At graduation, the architects stenciled the logo on their mortarboards.

You can tell Shannon Adelman ’13, hotel, Los Angeles will shine in marketing. Lining up for the procession on the Arts Quad, she offered an instant tag line for her Cornell education: “It’s not four years, it’s for life.” Her graduating hotelie classmates laughed: Rebecca Stewart ’13, Penfield, N.Y.; Peter Brogan, Syracuse, N.Y.; Kevin Dame, Duxbury, Mass.; Michael Jurgielwicz, Hamburg, Pa.; and Mac Lewis, North East, Pa.

In the Human Ecology lineup for the procession, Laura Stokes ’13, Rochester, N.Y., did not want to see her years at Cornell end. “I’ve had a lot of great memories – I just wished I could keep on making memories.” In the group, her fellow graduates agreed: Hannah Labadie, Kalamazoo, Mich.; Sarah O’Neil, Boston; Emma Sheldon, Singapore; and Zack Barletta, Jericho, N.Y. Sheldon replied: “I hear older people say that time passes real fast. Well, for my time at Cornell, time passed real fast.”

For ongoing coverage of Commencement weekend, including information and announcements, follow #Cornell13 on Twitter.

Engineering major Chris Hogan ’13, Rockville, Md., reminisced about creating a robotic bartender. Who got to help test it? The friends he was among on the quad, of course: Jewell Guan ’13, Rockville; Raisa Razzaque ’13, Rockville; Jennifer Li, Taipei; Andrew Tsao, Cleveland, Ohio; Omeo Quddus, Fairfax, Va.; and Phil Hirsch, Stony Point, N.Y.

So to the Cornell Class of 2013, as Hogan’s robotic bartender may one day be programmed to say: “Cheers!”