Credit: University Photograghy

Laura Lewis, a former Cornell staff member who soon will serve on the Common Council for the City of Ithaca’s Fifth Ward, will open the 2018 Soup & Hope series of personal narratives Jan. 18, noon to 1 p.m., in Sage Chapel. The series will continue biweekly through the winter months.

Over the past 10 years, more than 50 speakers – encompassing a wide range of Cornell staff, faculty, students, alumni and community members – have touched, inspired and motivated Cornell and local community members who gather to listen to them, reflect on their life stories and be nourished by hot soup and rolls provided free of charge by Cornell Dining.

Soup & Hope was inspired by the work of civil rights veterans Vincent and Rosemarie Freeney Harding, who visited the Ithaca campus Feb. 19, 2008, when Vincent Harding was the invited speaker for the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Lecture. Soup & Hope’s first speakers were Cal Walker, Kathy Luz Herrera, Marty Luster and Carol Kalafatic. Since then, Soup & Hope has featured such well-known Cornellians as Susan Murphy ’73, Ph.D. ’94, Svante Myrick ’09, Kathy Zoner and Renee Alexander ’74.

Mark your calendars now for the rest of the series – Feb. 1, Feb. 15, March 1, March 15 and March 29 – all at noon in Sage Chapel. Bring a friend – and a bowl for soup if you have one.