The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/tag/town-hall/)
In a town hall following the University’s announcement to mandate vaccinations for students returning to campus in the fall, the administration further discussed their plans for the upcoming fall semester.
With classes starting in a little over a month, administrators explained in a Friday town hall why Cornell suddenly backtracked its promise to provide quarantine accommodations for all students living on campus.
Some hesitations presented were job prospects, what the requirements of the major would be, the hiring of more Latinx people to be included in the faculty and staff of Latina/Latino Studies Program, and wanting a more diverse representation with focusing on Central and South American identities.
While 13.5% of Cornell’s undergraduate population identifies as Hispanic or Latino, there is currently no undergraduate major devoted to this field of study. A group of students are looking to change this, and will be holding a town hall meeting on Saturday to gather input from the Cornell community.
At the event, Mitrano mentioned that she wanted to run for public office after the 2016 presidential election, when she realized that this region needs a new voice.
Tracy Mitrano J.D. ’95 hosted a town hall on Friday afternoon, inviting questions from community members from Tompkins and some surrounding counties. Questions mainly focused on domestic issues, including infrastructure, reproductive rights and the economy.
Rep. Reed was met with another furious crowd of constituents at his town hall in Ithaca.
Mayor Svante Myrick ’09 and other Ithaca officials discussed on-campus housing, parking, Schwartz Plaza redevelopment, and campus safety at a town hall meeting held at Collegetown’s eHub.
Although the plan revolves around improving student life in Collegetown, Cornish stressed that the plan aims to balance the interests of students and permanent residents in Collegetown, which she called “a very difficult balance.”
Myrick pledged to protect residents who could be threatened by President-elect Trump’s future policies, in light of the views that he expressed on the campaign trail.