I am in my last semester at Cornell, so perhaps it’s not surprising that I find myself missing Cornell even before I have left with my coveted degree in hand. As I stroll across the Arts Quad under the watchful eyes of Ezra Cornell and A.D. White, I am fiercely proud to call myself a Cornellian. And yet, this sense of nostalgia raises a profound question: Do we share a common conception of what it means to be a Cornellian?

Quite frankly, the more I ponder the question, the more I’m convinced that it is overly simplistic and risks missing the point. Cornell is more than the sum of its parts, and its multifaceted nature ensures that each of us has a slightly different understanding of what it means to be a Cornellian.

Diversity, tolerance, integrity and intellectual excellence ultimately shape the character of Cornell. I am always amazed to realize that Cornell supports over 900 different student organizations, which reflect the myriad interests of its students. Cornell could easily amend its motto to: “Any person … any study … any interest.” Not surprisingly, it is this constellation of small communities and groups that define the Cornell universe. We tend to identify ourselves as Hotelies, ILRies, as Greeks, as determinedly independent denizens of Collegetown, as nonchalant seniors, as enthusiastic freshmen … I could go on and on and on. No wonder our isolated Ithaca campus is such an exciting and vibrant place.

But is Cornell simply Ithaca? The painful answer is that when it comes to defining ourselves as Cornellians, we are Ithaca-centric. Think about the images that come to mind: sledding down Libe Slope on a tray, waiting in line to get hockey season tickets, strolling along Beebe Lake, and hearing the chimes of the Clock Tower. Yet, there are Cornellians for whom our beloved Ithaca campus is little more than a name.

As Cornell transforms itself into a transnational university, it must rise to the challenge of evolving what it means to be a Cornellian. Of course, Cornell’s outpost in Qatar poses the most dramatic example of this identity crisis. (A similar problem, though less disorienting, pertains to Weill Medical College in New York). Every year a steady stream of freshly-minted Cornellians sallies forth from our Qatar campus. So far at least, Ithacans and Qataris are largely strangers to each other — although they both are rightly proud to be Cornellians.

We have a lot of work to do to overcome the natural barriers of geography and culture as we forge a shared Cornell identity. This can only be accomplished through increased communication and interaction between the students of both campuses. One effort that has been particularly successful in establishing the groundwork for consistent interaction between students at Ithaca and Qatar is the IthaQatar Ambassadors Program. Under the pioneering leadership of Andrew Handel ’09, a group of students in Ithaca acted as hosts for about a dozen students from the Qatar campus this past summer. Both groups were able to get to know one another on a personal level, as well as discuss the different challenges they face on their own campuses. This sort of project was particularly well-devised as it not only forged links between the student leaderships of the far-flung campuses but allowed Qatari students to imbibe some of our treasured traditions.

We need more student to student initiatives along this line. For example, how about exporting Dragon Day to Qatar? Similarly, once a day a Qatari tune could be adapted for the chimes of the Clocktower. On a more somber note, maybe students on both campuses can join forces to address the current humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The administration also needs to be more proactive in encouraging closer interaction between the two campuses. A future New Student Reading Project might feature a book by a leading Middle Eastern author such as Noble Prize winner Naguib Mahfouz. A session discussing the book could be carried live via a satellite link.

Cornell is far more than Ithaca. It is also New York, Washington, Qatar and wherever else the University plans to expand into the future. Certainly, Cornell will continue to grow beyond the confines of East Hill. Come to think of it, Ezra Cornell and A.D. White, perching on the edges of the Arts Quad, are surely gazing beyond the horizon. I am sure that they would want us to use our imagination in embracing a multifaceted conception of what it means to be a Cornellian. Ultimately, Cornell transcends place — it is a state of mind. To be sure, I know that wherever I am, although I will physically miss Cornell, I will always be a Cornellian.