The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/author/allyfertig/)
On the 54-year anniversary of the Willard Straight takeover, Thomas Jones ’69 M.S. ’72 reflects on his experience as part of the demonstration.
Though students today might associate Willard Straight Hall with COVID-19 surveillance testing or free popcorn, the hall has a rich history of student engagement and political expression.
Cornell Dining and student organizations are working to minimize food waste on campus and fight food insecurity in the community.
Enrollment struggles left computer science and information science students frustrated as they attempted to obtain seats in their major courses.
Construction for the new VinUniversity broke ground in Hanoi, Vietnam in 2018, with Cornell leadership advising and consulting on the project. The first cohort, numbering less than 300 students, arrived at the university in fall 2020. Cornell partnered with Vingroup, a Vietnamese enterprise and property developer, to build the new university, which will be the first private non-profit university in Vietnam.
“VinUniversity is an exciting effort, and one of great academic interest for Cornell faculty and students,” said Prof. Emeritus Max Pfeffer, global development, and director of the Cornell-VinUniversity project. “It was exciting to learn about a university that was being formed from scratch and that was to become the first private non-profit university in Vietnam.”
The project also builds on a history of Cornell involvement with foreign universities, including in China with Peking University. VinUniversity expands these ties, and sets the stage for more involvement in Vietnam.
“The ties between Cornell and VinUniversity build on Cornell’s longstanding scholarship in Southeast Asia,” Pfeffer said.
Recent changes in staffing and structure have allowed Cornell’s Financial Aid Office to fix many of last year’s delays. Despite this, activists are pushing for more direct assistance to students.
“How to teach students about the rule of law, precedent and the allegedly non-political nature of law is seriously threatened [by Dobbs v. Jackson],” Prof. Cynthia Bowman, law, said. “As well as the lives of all my female students!”
Cornellians have unique modes of transportation to navigate around Ithaca campus. Professors shared their experiences commuting to the University.
Recently, the Cornell University Office of Financial Aid and Student Employment has begun a four year project focused on restructuring its operations.
Faculty and students alike have been campaigning for new swimming facilities at Cornell. The current facilities are too small for some activities, face worsening safety conditions and are predicted to be unusable by 2025.