Winter at Cornell can feel suffocatingly long due to the bitter cold, long stretches of school with no break in sight and a lack of options for things to do outside of regular academic and extracurricular obligations. If you’re finding yourself in need of an event, talk, or reading to attend, here are some events to check out this semester.
Asian American Studies Program (AASP) Wednesday Lunch Series
The Asian American Studies Program is located on the top floor of Rockefeller Hall. AASP’s Wednesday Lunch Series features guest lecturers and speakers from Cornell and other institutions to informally discuss their research and work in their disciplines. This casual lunch program offers a relaxed atmosphere for students and faculty to discuss various topics over free food. I’ve attended many of these lunch series and have had wonderful experiences getting to learn more about areas of studies I would otherwise not have the opportunity to take an entire class on. Of course, free lunch is always a plus!
The rest of the lunch series for the semester occur on March 5 and April 16, both at noon in Rockefeller Hall, room 429.
As an aside, AASP also holds free Community Breakfasts on Fridays periodically throughout the semester. Check out their Instagram or website for more details.
Spring 2025 Barbara & David Zalaznick Reading Series
As an English major, the Zalaznick Reading Series is one of my favorites each semester. This reading series invites notable writers to campus for a free event open to both Cornell community members and the public. Readings are followed by a book signing and reception. In the past, bestselling authors such as Zadie Smith, Sigrid Nunez and NoViolet Bulawayo have been featured authors. I attended Zadie Smith’s reading a few semesters ago where she read excerpts from her 2023 novel The Fraud. Though I’d never read one of her books, she is very popular in the literary community, and I thoroughly enjoyed both the reading and hearing more about her process as a writer.
Future dates include March 6, March 13 and April 17. For more information you can visit the Department of Literature website under the Zalaznick Reading Series section.
Soup & Hope
What’s better on a cold day than a mid-day soup and listening to an inspiring speaker? The annual Soup & Hope series offers free soup and features speakers from the Cornell community to talk about overcoming life’s many challenges. While I’ve never attended this event due to my class schedule, it seems like a great option for people who find themselves too busy to attend events after class. Instead, the hour-long lunchtime series provides a short, yet still impactful way to engage with the community.
https://scl.cornell.edu/soupandhope
All in Anabel Taylor Hall
Anabel Taylor is home to the Durland Alternatives Library, Anabel’s Grocery, and the Cornell Free Food Fridge. The Durland Alternatives Library is an independent library that focuses on alternatives, social justice, and community building. Stop by the library in Anabel Taylor Hall to browse its selection of books, help yourself to a cup of tea, or participate in drop-in volunteering for the Prisoner Express program every day from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m..
Anabel’s Grocery is a well-known and loved student-run grocery store located right next to the Durland Alternatives Library. However, in Anabel Taylor Hall 120 is a free food fridge run by a collaborative effort between Anabel’s Grocery, the Basic Needs Coalition, Food Recovery Network, Cornell Progressives, and Dilmun Hill Student Farm.
Next time you’re in Anabel Taylor, check out all it has to offer!
Gender Equity Resource Center
Located in the Office of the Dean of Students on the second floor of Willard Straight Hall, the Gender Equity Resource Center offers snacks, coffee and tea, and various resources related to providing support for women and gender expansive students. The center provides free period products, pregnancy tests and safer-sex products as well as confidential and Title IX support resources. In addition, they host semesterly events such as workshops, talks and teach-in on various topics related to empowering women and those who identify outside of the gender binary.
626 Thurston Ave
If you’ve ever wondered what the house right after the bridge going to north is, it's actually home to a number of Cornell’s Centers for Student Equity, Empowerment and Belonging (The Centers). Spread across three floors, the building consists of the Asian & Asian American Center (A3C), Black Student Empowerment, the LGBT Resource Center and Latinx Student Empowerment. The Centers offer a variety of support services to ensure empowerment, belonging and equity on campus.
I’m an intern at A3C, and I work to support the many initiatives and events the center holds each semester. In the Spring semester, A3C hosts Community, a five-week dinner and discussion series that explores social and identity-based issues that relate to Asian students on campus. While I’m biased, this program is a great way for students who are interested in engaging with the Asian and Asian American communities, meeting like-minded peers and forming connections.
Check out https://scl.cornell.edu/thecenters for more information on The Centers. More information on Community can be found on A3C’s Campus Groups page.
Don’t let yourself fall into the monotony of day-to-day life and become indifferent to all of the ways in which you can enhance your time at Cornell. Get your nose out of the books, smell the fresh air and push yourself to try something new this spring!
Eirian Huang is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences. They can be reached at ehh56@cornell.edu.
