Members of the Cornell faculty and staff have been asked to join students Friday, May 2, as volunteers to help promote safety on "Slope Day," which annually draws thousands of undergraduates to Libe Slope on the last day of spring semester classes.
"The role of student, staff and faculty volunteers is not to enforce rules or laws," said Catherine Holmes, associate dean of students, who is coordinating the university's presence on the slope. "It is to respond to emergencies and promote safety."
Various Cornell units and student organizations have been involved in planning details such as providing water, staffing a first-aid tent, arranging for the sale of food by local vendors, clearing the area of glass and metal containers and encouraging students to celebrate in moderation.
Despite calls by some students for live music, there will be no organized entertainment on the slope again this year. John L. Ford, the Robert W. and Elizabeth C. Staley Dean of Students, has told students that entertainment will return after they demonstrate a resolve to prevent the sort of excesses that led to 24 arrests and 32 emergency-room cases a year ago. A number of student groups have vowed to curtail such behavior this time and restore a safe and festive tone to the year-end celebration.
Those wishing to help out and volunteer for two-hour shifts on the slope are asked to call Debbie Stayer Kelly at 255-4311 or e-mail slope-day@cornell.edu and attend a training session for volunteers Monday, April 28, at 11 a. m. in the Memorial Room of Willard Straight Hall. Each volunteer will receive a free T-shirt.