Roll with Cornell wherever you go
Now you can show your Cornell pride from behind the wheel with a license plate frame. Choose how you roll with an Alumni, Mom, or Dad version. Purchase one at crnl.co/spiritstore
Choirs have something to sing about
Last fall American composer Elaine Hagenberg was in residence on the Hilltop helping prepare the Cornell choirs for a performance of her masterwork “Illuminare.”\
Then in February composer and conductor Z. Randall Stroope spent three days with the choirs for a concert of his works.
A third residency is scheduled at the end of April with the director of The Ambassadors of Harmony, a five-time Barbershop Harmony Society International Chorus Champion.
Old fire station gets new life as brewery
Things are brewing at the former fire station in uptown Mount Vernon.
The building, empty since 2012, is set to open in spring 2025 as The Old Fire Station Brewery.
Renovations received a major boost with a $100,000 challenge grant from Main Street Iowa made possible by the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Community Development Group. The planned six-tank brewery with roughly 4,500 square feet is owned by a three-person partnership, headed by local entrepreneur Meridith Hoffman. “We hope it becomes a fixture on Mount Vernon’s main street as a large gathering space to complement the businesses that are already there,” she said.
Students seek Life Design
The Berry Career Institute has worked for years to incorporate career and professional development education into class curriculum by visiting classes to teach skills. In 2023 its staff offered Life Design as an adjunct course during Blocks 5–7. The course began with a waitlist and was so popular it is being offered again this spring.
Among the comments from the 100% positive course evaluations: “This class has given me so much knowledge on how my major and connections matter”; “It helped me feel more confident in myself and my future”; and “I learned about myself, failure immunity, and various skills to use for future employment and personal endeavors and challenges.”
White Privilege Conference marks 25 years
Eddie Moore Jr. ’89 realized a dream when he founded The White Privilege Conference (WPC) at Cornell College. The year was 1999 and Moore was director of intercultural life at the college. In its second year the philosopher, theologian, and political activist Cornel West spoke from the King Chapel stage as WPC’s keynote speaker. Over 25 years the WPC has moved to many locations and is still headed by Moore. The conference addresses issues of privilege and oppression and advances social and economic justice.
Students in the Block 5 course Traveling Economists jump for joy to be studying abroad once again. David Joyce Professor of Economics Todd Knoop took the class to China, where they were the first American student group ever to visit the Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. Their host was a nomad yak farmer who now runs a textile and clothing business that employs other Tibetan nomads. Photo by Yan Liang.