Cornell legacy: Naomi Bauer ’23

By Cornell Report Staff

Naomi Bauer ’23
Dan Bauer ’96 and Miranda Minton Bauer ’97, father & mother

Naomi: I have many of the same professors who taught my parents years ago. However, I know that Cornell has changed in some ways because I’ve heard my parents complain about the old ways and then get amazed every time I tell them it’s changed (it’s quite funny because it happens so often).

One of the biggest things that has stayed the same is the Cornell environment. Everyone here wants you to succeed (be it professors, staff, and even other students) and everyone cares about each other. I know that was the same when my parents went here because of how they talk about their classes, friendships, and mentors. I think it’s pretty spectacular that it stayed essentially the same for so long.

Miranda Minton Bauer ’97 and Dan Bauer ’96 on Naomi’s move-in day.

I definitely think that the fact that both my parents went to Cornell has shaped where I’m at now. I’m not sure that I ever would have found Cornell if I hadn’t heard about it from them. I can go to them for advice on how to best interact with certain professors or classes, how to manage my time on the block plan, or even just to rant about some of the crazy life that is Cornell.

Dan: When we dropped her off the first year, there were no tears of sadness, no separation or anxiety. We knew where she was, that she was going to have good friends, and she was going to be safe. I felt like we were inserting her into a bubble—the same bubble that we ourselves emerged from just a few years ago. (Ok, I concede that a quarter century is perhaps more than a few years … forgive me as I wax poetic for the alumni magazine.)

Miranda Minton Bauer ’97 and Dan Bauer ’96 on their wedding day in 1998.

To some extent, we can guide her through college better because we’ve been there. We know some of the ins and outs of the block plan. It’s also added a bit of camaraderie. We can laugh together at certain shared experiences (how loud a certain professor talks, for example), and understand the stress of the last few days of a block.

My hope for her is that she doesn’t regret a single moment on the Hilltop. That doesn’t mean mistake-free living, but really more to take opportunities that interest her and present themselves. This is a time in her life she’ll never get back, and she’s in a place she can grow, learn, and become the best version of herself.

Read about five other Cornell legacy families