Reunion '03 features Olin and State of the University addresses

As many as 6,000 Cornell alumni and their families will be on campus, today through Sunday at noon, recovering old memories and creating new ones during Reunion 2003.

The earliest alumni class planning events this year will be the Class of 1933, holding its 70th reunion, and an alum from the class of 1928 also is expected to attend. And the classes of 1968 and 1998 will be having joint forum activities.

Berger

This year's featured Reunion Weekend events include the annual Olin Lecture, this year to be given by Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger, who served in the Clinton White House in several leading capacities, including national security adviser (1997-2000); and the State of the University Address, delivered by Cornell President Hunter Rawlings -- his farewell address before joining the faculty as a full-time professor of classics and history.

The Olin Lecture, established by the Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Foundation in 1986, will be Friday at 3 p.m. in Bailey Hall, and it is open to the public. Berger, a 1967 Cornell graduate and chairman of Stonebridge International, an international business strategy firm, will speak on the topic "America in a Changing World." The State of the University Address will be Saturday at 10:30 a.m. in Bailey Hall and will include a special celebration to honor Rawlings' eight years as president. All registered alumni and their guests are welcome.

As usual, a great variety of traditional reunion activities have been planned for the four-day weekend, including university, college and class tours and gatherings, as well as symposiums and lectures, concerts, picnics, banquets, dancing and sporting events.

Among special 2003 Reunion highlights:

• A Korean/Vietnam War Memorial Rededication Ceremony will be held Friday at 4:15 p.m. in Anabel Taylor Hall. (Read the story.)

• Two alumni associations will have their three-year reunion gatherings, including forums, lectures and special social activities: the Cornell Black Alumni Association (CBAA) and the Cornell Native American Alumni Association (CNAAA). Among the CBAA's featured activities will be a Saturday afternoon forum at 2:30 p.m. in Goldwin Smith Hall on "Strengthening Relationships Among African-American Students, Alumni and Faculty"; and the CNAAA will sponsor a Friday forum at 10 a.m., also in Goldwin Smith Hall, on the history of the American Indian Program and an Iroquois social dance on Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. in Helen Newman Hall.

• Reunion weekend special forums and lectures include: a University Library associates lecture today at 4:30 p.m. by Shirley Samuels, professor of English and American studies, on "The Face of American Slavery," in Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium of Goldwin Smith Hall; a Friday midday panel in Call Auditorium of Kennedy Hall, sponsored by the Class of '53, on "The Next 50 Years in the Arts, in Space, in University Education"; a Saturday College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) forum at 9 a.m. featuring a panel of undergraduate students speaking about their life sciences research, moderated by CALS Dean Susan Henry in Call Auditorium of Kennedy Hall; a Saturday lecture sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences at 1:30 p.m. by Peter J. Katzenstein, the Walter S. Carpenter Jr. Professor of International Studies, on "America and a World Disordered," in Auditorium D of Goldwin Smith Hall; and a Saturday forum sponsored by the College of Human Ecology at 2:30 p.m., featuring Carol M. Devine, associate professor of nutritional science, on "How Past Life Experiences with Food and Nutrition Shape Current Food Choices," in Pepsico Auditorium of Ives Hall.

• The Cornell University Chorus (formerly the Women's Glee Club) and its subset, After Eight, will give their first concert following their tour of the Mid-Atlantic region -- featuring music of Britain and France, and Cornell favorites -- Friday at 9 p.m. in Sage Chapel. There is an admission fee, and tickets are available at some class headquarters and at the door.

• A symposium and exhibition sponsored by the College of Architecture, Art and Planning, Friday from 1 to 2 p.m. in 157 Sibley Hall, features noted architects and arts alumni from the AAP Class of 1963, followed by a reception in Sibley's Hartell Gallery. (Read related story.)

• The Cornell Store is having its 9th annual Reunion Weekend Book Signing Party, featuring alumni and faculty authors signing copies of their books, Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Campus Store.

• The Allan Hosie Treman '21 Memorial Concert, sponsored by Cornell Plantations and featuring the Hangovers men's a cappella group, is Saturday from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the F.R. Newman Arboretum (Flat Rock Entrance). Bus service from Barton Hall's west entrance is provided.

• The Cornell Chimes is hosting an open house at McGraw Tower Saturday from noon to 2 p.m., and the Class of 1958 is having a "golden oldies" requests and sing-along chimes concert, also on Saturday at McGraw Tower, from 2 to 3 p.m.

For more information on Reunion 2003, consult the reunion information desk, located in Barton Hall, at 255-3127 or 255-1049.