Mike Walsh grad, current student-elected trustee, calls his job the loneliest student leader position on campus. It’s true — being on the Board of Trustees means interacting with a slew of stone-faced alumni as they hash out the future of our University. And being a student means listening to peers and fighting for their rights. To be an intermediary between these two groups requires a strong will while also being malleable to change.

As Malcolm X strolled onto Cornell campus 47 springs ago, you could just imagine the resolve in his eyes. He was here to debate James Farmer, head of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), on the topic “Separation vs. Integration.” The question was simple. Should blacks in America continue to push for equality in society or should they remove themselves from it completely? Farmer argued to keep up the fight, Malcolm argued against. For anyone sitting at the debate it must have been not only intense but eye opening. They were witnessing two major figures in our country debate an issue both salient and close to their hearts. The arguments were strong and not held back. It was an intellectual slugfest of the highest order. It was here.