Addressing a 2002 Cornell Reunion audience June 8 in Bailey Hall, President Hunter Rawlings said the state of the university is stronger than ever.
The arts and humanities faculties led students in developing capacity for analytical thought and emotional generosity during traumatic events of the past eight months, the president said, At the same time, biologists are joining forces with other scientists in the New Life Sciences Initiative, and may eventually explain, he joked, why there is a 50 percent similarity in the human and tomato genomes.
Students themselves have excelled, Rawlings said, winning unprecedented numbers of scholarly awards and bringing glory to the university on the fields of athletic endeavor. And former students who are now Cornell alumni continue to be extraordinarily loyal and generous, he said, announcing some familiar names that will be attached to new facilities on campus.
The president was introduced by outgoing Cornell Board of Trustees Chair Harold Tanner to about a thousand alumni and family members in a stuffy Bailey Hall ("This is where I took that big psychology class," one alum was overheard explaining to his wife), and Tanner promised a renovated, air-conditioned venue "with comfortable seats" the next time Cornellians gather for Reunion.
Tanner also introduced the next trustee chairman, Peter Meinig, and his wife, Nancy, then heralded the return to campus of another well-known couple: President Emeritus Frank H.T. Rhodes and his wife, Rosa, had come from Florida, where the 75-year-old geologist and avid hiker had been critically injured by a hit-and-run driver last winter. "Frank has made remarkable progress (in his recovery)," Tanner announced. "Welcome home!"
The Class of '52 had set a new university record for participation (54 percent) in a fund-raising campaign, Tanner observed, calling Cornell alumni "legendary for their love of our university" and the level of Cornell alumni support "the envy of the entire country." Then Rawlings cited some specifics: The new and five-times-larger Lab of Ornithology facility, which will open next year, will be named the Imogene Powers Johnson Center for Birds and Biodiversity, the president said. Speaking of "Gene" Johnson, and introducing her husband, Sam, Class of 1950, "and a distinguished Cornellian in his own right," Rawlings said: "Her interest has touched virtually every aspect of the lab's operations, from management of the sanctuary to its efforts in education and outreach, to the new building, in whose planning she has had a major role."
Also, a recently completed and occupied structure for students on North Campus will have a new sign -- Appel Commons, the president said. The naming is in recognition of the generosity of Robert and Helen Appel, both to construction of the new North Campus facilities, home to first-year students, and for the upcoming construction on West Campus, where what Rawlings called the "residential transformation" will offer living-learning opportunities for upper-level students.
"I am proud of the way Cornell has responded to the crises of the past year," Rawlings said, describing the Sept. 14 gathering on the Arts Quad (in remembrance of the events of Sept. 11) where an estimated 13,000 Cornellians came together "to honor those who had been lost, offer consolation to those in need, acknowledge our common humanity and to affirm our belief in Cornell as a diverse and open community committed to the ideal of freedom and responsibility within a democratic nation."
The events of Sept. 11 and other recent crises have given a renewed urgency to the study of the humanities and to a liberal arts education, the president said. The humanities -- and those who teach and study in those fields, the president said -- are "opening up the possibility of apprehending the world more fully, for thinking differently and ultimately for understanding in unfamiliar and more complex ways."
Elsewhere on campus -- virtually everywhere on campus, in fact -- the New Life Sciences Initiative "will fuse the traditional biological disciplines with engineering, chemistry and the physical sciences, and also with computer science and mathematics," Rawlings explained. About $100 million has been invested in life science-related programs, people and facilities in the past five years, he reported, but much more is to come.
"Cornell's commitment to attracting top-flight faculty members, making significant upgrades and additions to our research facilities, and endowing programs has come about largely through the generosity and commitment of alumni," Rawlings said, hinting how Cornellians could support the $500 million initiative. "The more you understand these new initiatives, the stronger and more vibrant Cornell can become."
As the president was winding down his State of the University address, and telling why "exceptionally bright and energetic" students have inspired him to return to teaching after his retirement from the presidency next year, the Big Red Bear was waiting in the wings. Undoubtedly even more uncomfortable than the shirt-sleeved audience, the furry-suited mascot had a reminder and a gift for the president: Tell the Reunion crowd about the next event in Schoellkopf Stadium, the "Big Red Live" photo op, where a helicopter would hover over the field to take a group picture, the bear whispered.
Then the Big Red Bear gave Rawlings a bright red ball cap to wear for the picture. The president remarked about the hat's size, which even for his lanky frame seemed more than adequate. Too big or not, the cap would be just another pointillist dot that sunny morning among the aggregation of happily photographed Cornellians. So Rawlings donned the cap and led the way.
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