Peters twins still a Cornell team
When a classmate suggested to Shannon Peters Schear ’04 that she and her sister become class agents, Shannon said yes without even asking Allie Peters ’04. That’s how these twin sisters roll.
They came to Cornell together, roomed together, were cheerleaders for four years together, and now both live in Phoenix, Arizona—along with a number of other Cornellians they’ve recruited to the area.
The only time they’ve been apart is when Shannon attended Drake University Law School in Des Moines.
Allie is two minutes older and 2 inches taller. She’s a marketing director for a wholesale insurance company and a financial planning firm—and a singer who won Arizona Country Idol and a new guitar in 2018.
Shannon is a criminal defense and employment law attorney and married with two sons.
At Cornell, they point out, they did find their separate paths.
Allie was a Theta, Shannon a Phi-O. Allie majored in sociology with an individualized major in advertising. Shannon studied anthropology and art history, with a minor in women’s studies.
As part of her anthropology major, Shannon researched the culture of being a twin, or twinship.
“Being a twin develops a sense of who you are. We never learned anything but sharing. My sense of what’s mine and other people’s is skewed. A big part of my identity is to think of someone else’s identity as part of my own,” Shannon says. “I had to tell my husband, ‘You’re going to have to get used to this other person.’”
After graduation, Allie moved to Arizona with Cassie Gerroll Rotunno ’04.
“I would visit Allie [in Phoenix] and I wanted to be here. I liked the weather, the job opportunities, and I could utilize my Spanish,” Shannon says. “Lots of things led me out here and she was the bonus. And she supported me while I took the bar examination.”
Shannon was a Cornell Young Trustee for four years, and now she and Allie are carrying on their Cornell connection as co-class agents, writing annual updates to their classmates. They also make a point to attend alumni events.
“Whenever something comes up out here, we attend together,” Allie says. “Younger alumni are hesitant to go, and getting young alumni engaged at these smaller networks is critical.”
The sisters have been known to recruit students as well—including Sasha Burnett ’08.
“Sasha was in high school and she was a hostess at Chili’s with us,” says Allie.
“We were like, you’re coming to Cornell!” adds Shannon.
Next up will be Shannon’s boys, Nasir and Micah.
“I have two small boys and we brought them to Homecoming,” Shannon says. “I told them, you guys are going here, no options. I loved seeing them run around on the Orange Carpet—it made me so happy to see them learning about this part of my life.”
