Tradition students will use awards to benefit others

Since 1989, the Cornell Tradition, an alumni-endowed student recognition program at Cornell, has been recognizing its own graduating seniors with Senior Recognition Awards. In the true spirit of the program, the 11 Tradition fellows who have been honored with the awards this year, for their community service and leadership efforts, will use their monetary winnings to benefit others.

The Cornell Tradition was established in 1982 through an anonymous gift of $7 million. The program awards 600 fellowships each year to Cornell undergraduate students based on their work experience, campus and/or community service, leadership and academic achievement. When the university was founded, Ezra Cornell set forth a vision that all students who were willing to work hard, earn good grades and dedicate themselves to campus and community service would find a place at Cornell regardless of their financial situation. The Cornell Tradition is a contemporary expression of that vision.

Each year Cornell Tradition Senior Recognition Awards are given to a limited number of Cornell Tradition fellows. Those recognized can either designate their $3,500 awards as a charitable contribution to a non-profit agency or establish a Cornell Tradition named fellowship for other students during the subsequent academic year. This year's Senior Recognition Award winners come from four of Cornell's colleges.

The awards are competitively based on students' community service, leadership, work ethic and overall contribution to the quality of campus life. Winners are chosen by a selection committee composed of faculty members, administrators and Cornell Tradition alumni. In addition to dedication to work, service and scholarship, recognition award winners must also demonstrate an outstanding commitment to the Tradition and to remaining active as Cornell alumni. One winner, Joanne Schleifman, said, "The Cornell Tradition has not only influenced my time here, my character and my values as I grew as an adult, but it changed my future."

"Our mission statement challenges the program's alumni to stay involved -- 'to forward the Tradition,'" said Susan W. Hitchcock, director of the Cornell Tradition. "The winners' donation of their awards not only fulfills that mission, it strengthens our campus and community," she said. "At its core, the Tradition is really about giving. In this case, donors give to the program, the program gives to students, and, ultimately, the students give back to the community By donating their awards, these seniors, in essence, complete the 'giving cycle.'"

This year's Cornell Tradition Senior Recognition Award winners, their hometowns, the name of the fellowship they received, their major and college, and their award designations are as follows:

• Keith Becker of Buffalo, N.Y.; Cornell Tradition Honorary Award; Industrial and Labor Relations; donation to the Human Services Coalition of Ithaca, N.Y.

• Roger Brunson of Brooklyn, N.Y.; Class of 1976 Cornell Tradition Fellow; nutritional sciences in the College of Human Ecology; donation to the Ithaca Youth Bureau.

• Katharine Costa of Carthage, N.Y.; Class of 1989 Cornell Tradition Fellow; agricultural resource and managerial economics in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; donation to the Future Farmers of America of Carthage High School, Carthage.

• Abiola Dele-Michael of Staten Island, N.Y.; Robert Richardson "Rick" Hebard Cornell Tradition Fellow; human biology in the College of Human Ecology; Cornell Tradition fellowship for an African American or Native American state programs student (EOP) in the College of Human Ecology.

• Itai Dinour of Merrick, N.Y.; Quill and Dagger Cornell Tradition Fellow; Industrial and Labor Relations; donation to On Site Volunteer Services of Ithaca.

• Briton Holmberg of New Hartford, N.Y.; Cornell Tradition Honorary Award; policy analysis and management in the College of Human Ecology; donation to the People's Institute for Survival and Beyond of New Orleans, to facilitate nationwide anti-racism training.

• Angela Hunter of Lacey, Wash.; Class of 1945 Cornell Tradition Fellow; biology in the College of Arts and Sciences; donation to the Cornell Chapter of Habitat for Humanity.

• Ursula Lam of Bethlehem, Pa.; Family of David Hirsch/Andrew Dickson White Cornell Tradition Fellow; human development in the College of Human Ecology; donation to the scholarship fund and Key Club of Bethlehem Catholic High School of Bethlehem.

• Trina Lee of Sutherlin, Ore.; Alpha Phi Cornell Tradition Fellow; communication in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; The Lindi Riley Cornell Tradition Fellowship to be awarded to a student from the Northwestern United States with a background in agriculture.

• Joanne Schleifman of Selden, N.Y.; Class of 1957 Cornell Tradition Fellow; Industrial and Labor Relations; the Lt. Maureen Ryan ROTC Cornell Tradition Fellowship for a student in the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC).

• Michael Walton of Elmira, N.Y.; Nelson Family Cornell Tradition Fellow; chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences; donation to the Los Martincitos initiative of the Catholic Church in Villa El Salvador, Peru, which provides basic services to poverty-stricken elderly residents.

During the past 12 years, 137 Cornell Tradition seniors have received this recognition. They, in turn, have awarded 51 fellowships to other undergraduates, while more than $200,000 has been awarded to nonprofit agencies. More than $80,000 of that has been awarded in the Ithaca community alone, benefiting such agencies as the Southside Community Center, On Site Volunteer Services, Planned Parenthood, Loaves and Fishes, and many more.