Brenda Tobias

The Big Red marches down Fifth Avenue.

Summer in the Big Apple: Cornellians carry their banner in the Heritage of Pride march and meet with the evil Lord Voldemort.

The bold and the beautiful

There was a rainbow in New York City on June 25 when some 600,000 people participated in the Heritage of Pride march down Fifth Avenue. Amid the miles of marchers and spectators, rainbow flags, balloons and bandannas was the brightest color of them all: Big Red pride. Cornell red stood out beyond the New York Police Department Marching Band and from deep within the sea of people, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other city officials. Braving threatening storm clouds, alumni, staff and students came together to carry the Cornell banner, and their supporters cheered as the university contingent made its way from 52nd Street to Christopher Street.

The Heritage of Pride march occurs the last weekend of every June to commemorate the Stonewall riots of June 1969, which mark the beginning of today's gay rights movement. The Stonewall Inn was a bar in Greenwich Village that was raided by police on the night of Judy Garland's memorial service, and three days of riots ensued. It was the first time that a significant number of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people had resisted arrest.

The event's Cornell kickoff took place in the Financial District on June 23, when more than 100 Cornellians of diverse ages and backgrounds gathered in a penthouse with scenic 360-degree views of downtown and the Hudson River above the southern tip of Manhattan. This was the third annual Pride reception, co-sponsored by the Cornell LGBT Resource Center and Scott Walsh AAP '99.

The bard and the 'bad'

Theater buffs, Harry Potter fans and the celebrity curious crowded the fourth floor of the Cornell Club on July 14 to lunch with Ralph Fiennes, the classically trained (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) British actor who is currently performing in the last weeks of "Faith Healer" at the Booth Theatre.

More than 120 people listened to Fiennes discuss his work. He described the workdays in Krakow, Poland, during the shooting of the 1993 film "Schindler's List," in which he played a brutal Nazi. Fiennes clarified the reported dour atmosphere on the set: While the period costumes and subject matter were disquieting, at the end of the workday, cast and crew went back to the hotel as at the end of any workday. Questions from the audience ranged from advice for an unemployed actor to Harry Potter insider information.

Fiennes received an Antoinette Perry (Tony) Award for his 1995 portrayal of the title role in Shakespeare's "Hamlet." More recently, Fiennes has been in such films as "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," in which he played Lord Voldemort, and "Maid in Manhattan," with Jennifer Lopez.