2035 Carbon Neutrality Goal Not A Priority for Cornell, Garrett Says

Although the Climate Action Plan report released by President Emeritus David J. Skorton last year stated that Cornell would achieve carbon neutrality by 2035, President Elizabeth Garrett said in an October interview with The Sun that she does not support this initiative. “For me, the more important thing is the research and creative work and education that goes on and not thinking about some arbitrary year date that we really haven’t studied with respect with how feasible it is for us to reach that,” Garrett said. The first version of the Climate Action Plan was released in September 2009, announcing a 2050 goal for campus carbon neutrality. However, Skorton moved the goal date to 2035 after a 2013 Faculty Senate resolution urged the University to accelerate its plans. Skorton pledged to transform Cornell into a carbon neutral campus by 2035 as a way of addressing climate change.

Charter Weekend Culminates With Barton Ceremony

The University’s Charter Day weekend celebration — an expansive three days centered around the Festival of Ideas and Imagination — came to a conclusion with the official Charter Day Ceremony in Barton Hall Monday. The ceremony brought together major University figures, from faculty to the Board of Trustees to the University Archivist, who marched in academic dress gowns along a plush red carpet to their seats in the opening procession. University Marshall and Prof. Emeritus Charles Walcott, neurobiology and behavior, stately led the procession while Vice Provost Judith Appleton — holding the silver-ribbed University Mace with white gloves — and President David Skorton was last in the procession. Descendant of founder Ezra Cornell, Ezra Cornell IV ’70 carried the framed University Charter, proudly raising it above his head as he walked to his seat. He placed it on a stand in the middle of the Barton Hall stage, where it stood in the background of the speakers throughout the rest of the ceremony.