Cornell University Alumni Events: A Journey Through Campus and Beyond
Cornell University offers a diverse range of events for its alumni, providing opportunities to reconnect with the university, explore its rich history and culture, and engage with current students and faculty. From exhibits showcasing groundbreaking research to outdoor adventures and intellectual discussions, there's something for everyone during alumni events.
Exploring Cornell's History and Culture Through Exhibits
Several exhibits delve into various aspects of Cornell's history, academic pursuits, and cultural impact.
An Education for Whom?: Unveiling the History of Asian American Studies
The exhibit, "An Education for Whom?", explores the origin of the Asian American Studies Program and the broader struggle for establishing ethnic studies at Cornell University. Focusing on Asian and Asian American student experiences, this exhibit seeks to showcase oral histories and perspectives of past alumni through a re-telling of student Asian American activism and political organizing. From a look at past Daily Sun articles highlighting movements on-campus to student-led journals of the 1980s, "An Education for Whom?" invites students, faculty, and alumni alike to rethink the history of Asian American Studies. Meet Asian American Studies Program faculty, students, and staff and learn more about the program-including the ongoing Asian American Studies Oral History Project, which invites alumni to share their stories about the years prior to and during the founding of our program in 1987. Led by faculty member Derek Chang, we will continue our Asian American Studies Oral History Project by inviting alumni to share their stories about the years prior to and during the founding of our program in 1987.
Idle Frontier: A Look at the Seneca Army Depot
"Idle Frontier" is a research-based display on the history of the Seneca Army Depot. The project is a compilation of maps, images, and historical documents from many different collections within Cornell and New York State, including but not limited to the Institute for Resource Information Sciences, Seneca County Historian's Office, and New York State GIS Data.
Game Studies Collection: Celebrating the World of Games
In 2024, Cornell University Library established our Game Studies Collection. The study of games and the use of game-based media is growing both here at Cornell and at other similar institutions. At Cornell, students can learn about game histories, economics, music, cultural impacts, and influences, while also learning how to create games. This exhibit celebrates the connections games have with literature, history, and other games, as well as the relationship the Cornell community has with games. Featured in this case are materials highlighted in Cornell courses, donated by Cornell faculty, and developed here at Cornell!
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Is a Hot Dog a Sandwich?: Unraveling a Culinary Conundrum
The exhibit "Is a Hot Dog a Sandwich?" is designed as a detective’s bulletin board, this display explores the research process behind answering a seemingly simple question.
McGraw Tower Renovation: A Glimpse Behind the Scenes
This exhibit explains through graphics, architect’s assessments, newspaper articles, and artifacts what is happening with the renovation of McGraw Tower. The title was pulled from the description of the last update to the “Library Tower” roof from a 1932 article in the Cornell Daily Sun.
The Power of Food: Confronting Climate Change One Meal at a Time
Food is essential for life, but it is also emotive, personal, and deeply embedded in our cultures and family histories. The new Mann Library lobby exhibit The Power of Food: Confronting Climate Change One Meal at a Time showcases ways in which climate change is impacting the flavors, nutritional quality, and prices of the foods we love and need. Providing insight into how changes in the climate are impacting what we eat, the exhibit-a collaboration between Mann Library, the students of the course "Climate Change and Your Future" (ALS 1150), and Dr.
Library Tunnel Book Exhibit
This exhibit showcases books from the library’s collection, spanning popular fiction, religious narrative poetry, and Norse mythology. Library Student Designer, Bradley Verhelle, curated this display and co-authored an artists’ tunnel book based on an actual tunnel under the libraries just for this exhibit.
Invasive Pests: A Threat to Forest Health
Invasive pests are a growing threat to the health of forests both in the American Northeast and other regions of the world. A collaborative cross disciplinary exhibit in the Mann Library Gallery spotlights some of most concerning current cases-such as the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid and the Spotted Lantern Fly-and draws attention to the new perspectives and fresh ways of engaging that can emerge where science and the fine arts meet.
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Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes
What do crochet, math and relativity have in common? Come find out at the Mathematics Library exhibit. Adjunct Associate Professor (retired) Daina Taimina uses her creativity in crocheting hyperbolic planes to teach this mathematical concept. Professor Taimina’s crochet creations will be on display, along with her 2012 Euler Prize-winning book & second edition titled Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes: Tactile Mathematics, Art and Craft for all to Explore. Children are welcome to join their parents in the Mathematics Library. There will be a scavenger hunt among the stacks, balloon folding, button making, and perhaps some magic. We'll have lots of amazing math toys and sculptures for you to pick up, handle and play with. "Spot It!" is a quick card game for 2 to 8 players aged 6 and up. The objective is to identify the single image that two cards have in common. Each pair of cards shares exactly one image. We will explore the mathematics needed to build such a game: projective planes.
A Living Institution: ILR at 80
Celebrate the history and evolution of the ILR School, from its founding in 1945 to the present day. This exhibit features a captivating collection of historic photographs, memorabilia, and pamphlets, highlighting the remarkable individuals, significant places, and notable achievements that have shaped ILR over the past 80 years. Chat with the curators of the new exhibit A Living Institution: ILR at 80 that celebrates the history and evolution of the ILR School, from its founding in 1945 to the present day. This exhibit features a captivating collection of historic photographs, memorabilia, and pamphlets, highlighting the remarkable individuals, significant places, and notable achievements that have shaped ILR over the past 80 years.
Human Ecology Education
This exhibit is a sampling of the selected Expo designers work representing the positive change, originality, and human centered design-thinking that is a hallmark of a Cornell Human Ecology education.
Dr. Joyce Brothers '47: Bringing Psychology to the Masses
A Human Ecology alumna, Dr. Joyce Brothers ’47 brought psychology to the masses through radio, television, and magazines like Good Housekeeping, and reduced the stigma surrounding those seeking support with mental health. This exhibit, made possible by Cornell’s Rare and Manuscripts Collection, features recordings, documents and photos from her life, illustrating her many contributions to society.
Black Print: A Legacy of Black American Expression
"We struggle against opinions. Black Print draws on Cornell's rich Africana Rare and Manuscript Collections to highlight the many ways Black Americans have used print and the press as spaces for artistic expression, communication and organizing, antislavery activism, humor, education, civil rights, and imagining new worlds. Black Print offers a snapshot of a robust community of writers thinking actively about Black life and Black art-the beautiful and the sublime, politics and popular culture-primarily through periodicals, pamphlets, and other ephemeral forms. Featured are works held in Cornell University Library's Rare and Manuscript Collections by Phillis Wheatley, Frederick Douglass, Frances E. W. This exhibit was made possible through the generous support of the Stephen E.
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The World of James Baldwin
This exhibition features Baldwin’s books, essays, and plays, drawn primarily from the collection of George Bixby [1934-2023], a New York bookseller, collector, publisher, and bibliographer. While not comprehensive, the collection Bixby assembled contains remarkable depth, offering not only first editions, but proofs, advance review copies, alternate covers, foreign editions, and contributions to magazines and anthologies.
Suzi Ferrer: A Pioneering Visual Artist
A member of the Class of 1962, Suzi Ferrer (née Susan Nudelman) became a pioneering visual artist during her decade in Puerto Rico. This exhibition traces her evolution from early Art Brut and abstract expressionist influences to her 1970s works that explore issues of gender, sexuality, body politics, and pop culture. Curated by Melissa M. Ramos Borges, PhD, "Suzi Ferrer" debuted at the Museo de Arte y Diseño de Miramar in San Juan and was organized at the Johnson Museum by Andrea Inselmann, the Gale and Ira Drukier Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art.
Love is the Message, The Message is Death: Exploring Black Identity
Arthur Jafa’s 2016 video Love is the Message, The Message is Death explores Black identity, history, and culture in America. Set to Kanye West’s gospel-inspired track "Ultralight Beam," the video uses a rapidly edited montage of mostly found footage to convey the complexities of Black life in the United States. It includes images of civil rights leaders like Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., moments of Black cultural achievement, and disturbing clips of police violence against Black people. As curator Helen Molesworth describes, Jafa’s “meticulously edited seven-minute video suspends viewers in a swelling, emotional montage” that captures both the beauty and the horror of Black life in the United States.
Artistic Interpretations of the Domestic
This exhibition is a collaboration between the Johnson Museum of Art and the College of Human Ecology (CHE) in celebration of CHE’s 100th anniversary. It explores artistic interpretations of the domestic from the mid-1960s to today. Step inside a partially framed house built just for this exhibition, and take a seat-literally-by trying out the unique chairs from the Iconic Chair Collection, scattered throughout the space.
Engaging with Cornell's Academic Departments and Resources
Alumni events also provide opportunities to reconnect with academic departments and explore the university's resources.
Science and Technology Studies, and Biology & Society Open House
Open house for all Science and Technology Studies, and Biology & Society alumni who have returned to campus for Reunion weekend. Department spaces will be open for alumni to see where the department is now housed.
Language Resource Center (LRC) Visit
Any person. Any study. Any language. Come visit the Language Resource Center (LRC) on the ground floor of Stimson Hall. Check out our multilingual mural, with international expressions from Cornell's talented language teachers. See how language learning happens from a distance through Cornell's involvement in the Shared Course Initiative with Columbia and Yale Universities. Hear about exciting LRC events and initiatives, including the Lingua Mater, an annual competition for alumni and students to translate and sing Cornell's Alma Mater in many languages.
Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology Reunion
We welcome alumni to the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology. to reminisce and catch up with faculty. Located on the lower level of Olin Library, the…
Outdoor Adventures and Campus Tours
For those seeking outdoor experiences and a glimpse of Cornell's beautiful campus, several options are available.
Bus Tour of Campus
For those who want to see the campus by bus in the merry company of other alumni, this 45-minute tour is led by a current student tour guide and covers Central Campus, North Campus, and West Campus.
Botanic Gardens Tour
Enjoy a relaxing guided tour through the botanic gardens and discover the beauty and diversity of our numerous themed plant collections. This one-hour tour will highlight the Bowers Rhododendron Collection, Robison Herb Garden, Young Flower Garden, Groundcover Collection, and more.
Lindseth Climbing Center
Climb at the Lindseth Climbing Center! We have 8,000 square feet of climbing surface, including a separate bouldering wall. Cornell Outdoor Education instructors are on-hand for the adventure, all equipment is provided, no experience necessary. Some upper body strength is required for this activity. Wear flexible clothing. Minimum age eight years; must register in advance by clicking 'Additional Registration'.
Zip Line Adventure
Glide over the water on a zip line with spectacular views. Cornell Outdoor Education instructors are on-hand for the adventure, all equipment is provided, no experience necessary. Wear closed toed shoes or sneakers, pants are preferable. Minimum age eight years; must register in advance by clicking 'Additional Registration'. Spaces are limited and must be purchased at time of registration ($90 in advance only).
Beebe Lake Paddle
Paddle around beautiful Beebe Lake and explore the hidden gorge in the heart of campus. Cornell Outdoor Education instructors are on-hand for the adventure, all equipment is provided, no experience is necessary. Sessions are one hour long and start every hour, on the hour. Wear clothing that you don’t mind getting wet. Minimum age eight years; must register in advance. Click 'Additional Registration' to sign up. Meet at the College Avenue entrance to the trail, located at the northeast corner of the Schwartz Performing Arts Center.
Cascadilla Gorge Trail Hike
Join us for this guided hike to learn about the cultural and natural history of the Cascadilla Gorge Trail, the iconic greenway connecting campus with downtown Ithaca. Wear sturdy hiking shoes and dress appropriately for the weather. The round-trip one mile hike is moderately strenuous and involves some steep stair climbing.
Uris and Olin Libraries Tour
This tour will trace the history of Uris (1891) and Olin (1961) Libraries from the days of Cornell's first president, A. D. White, to their current life as a vibrant center for scholarship.
Intellectual and Professional Development Opportunities
Cornell also offers events focused on intellectual and professional development for its alumni.
AI and the Future of Work Workshop
An interactive workshop on how AI and new technologies are changing the ways we think about work. Alumni will learn and reflect on different approaches to leadership, building resilience, adapting existing and adopting new career skills, and staying rooted in our human-ness during a time of rapid technological change. Led by SC Johnson College of Business faculty and alumni, this will be an opportunity to develop tangible approaches you can use to position yourself for a future of work and leadership that has not yet been written.
Baker Institute Event: Love Animals? Learn how science helps animals and the people who care for them.
This experience goes beyond a traditional talk, offering interactive elements that invite you to think about, participate, and connect with the science that shapes the future of animal care. Whether you're passionate about animals, curious about research, or eager for a thought-provoking time, this event promises to inform and inspire. Please note, while there is no age restriction, this event is designed with adults in mind and young attendees may find the content less engaging.
Entrepreneurship Networking Event
Are you interested in entrepreneurship? Are you using your Cornell network to make connections? Join us at eHub Kennedy Hall on Friday, June 6, for a light breakfast reception to meet, greet, and network!
Corey Ryan Earle '07: The First American University
Corey Ryan Earle '07 is the unofficial university historian and teaches the popular undergraduate course AMST 2001: The First American University, on Cornell history. Corey discusses the College of Veterinary Medicine's humble beginnings and pioneering history of innovation and achievement.
Cornell Cinema Open House
Join the Cornell Cinema team for an open house in Willard Straight Theatre! Reconnect with fellow alumni over coffee and pastries, share your favorite Cornell Cinema movie memories, and enjoy a selection of vintage movie trailers from our 35mm collection. Refreshments will be served, and families are welcome.
Dining at Morrison Dining
Visit cornel.ly/morrisondining to create a Vivenu account and select your meal tickets. Cost to attend is $10.95 for guests 13 years and older, $5.50 for guests ages 7-12 years, and free for guests under 7 years of age.
Shopping at The Cornell Store
Save 10% on almost everything* at The Cornell Store during Reunion weekend, June 5-8, 2025! Visit any location of The Cornell Store and tell the cashier “I’m a Cornell alum!” to receive the discount. *Standard exclusions apply. Discounts cannot be combined. Personal purchases only. Excludes previous purchases.
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