Looking back over 30 years of Cornell Reports in preparation for this issue, I came across many favorite things—letters, stories, designs, even entire issues. But what most captured my interest were quotes we highlighted over the years. The thoughts Cornellians shared were poignant, perceptive, and quite often witty. They capture the spirit and culture of Cornell and connect us across generations.
Their thoughts, along with images from those three decades, are what I leave with you in my final issue.
Dee Ann Rexroat ’82
Editor, 1995–2025
Read a brief farewell from Dee Ann as she reflects on her three decades as editor of this magazine.
“My memories of Cornell are still vivid. It is a place where I learned to think, reason, write, and communicate effectively.” –Sal DiFonzo Jr. ’89, a first-generation graduate (Spring 2015)
“That’s the unique thing about a small college—you make those lifelong friends. Life after Cornell, is Cornell.’’ –Alumni Director Ruth Keefe Miller ’66 (Fall 2018)
“The block plan stops for no mere act of God.” –Politics Professor David Yamanishi when three students turned in papers during a tornado warning (Summer 2014)
“You can procrastinate on the block plan, but not for very long.” –Dennis Damon Moore, dean of the college (Fall 1996)
“Like any self-respecting alum, I turned immediately to the Class News and under the Class of ’83 I saw a listing about Kim. After reading through it several times, taking full advantage of my Cornell education, I put two and two together and determined that Kim was no longer married.” –Larry Jacobs ’80, who then wrote to his old friend and they were married 10 months later. He and Kim Miller Jacobs ’83 celebrate their 30th anniversary this year. (Winter 1996)
“It’s been as hard as anything we have had to do at Cornell, and yet it hasn’t been hard because we’ve done it together.” –President Jonathan Brand regarding the COVID-19 pandemic (Spring 2021)
“I try to steer students toward their own bliss.” –Politics Professor Craig Allin on advising (Spring 2015)
“You wouldn’t recognize [The Cornellian] … For instance, there’s a fairly large ad for pregnancy testing! Sex hadn’t been invented when we were at Cornell.” –Dorothy Dodge Rote, Class of 1929 (Summer 1997)
Spring 2011
“I think of myself as perfectly normal. Other people see me as fairly flamboyant.” –Art Professor Hugh Lifson (Fall 1998)
“My favorite thing about the block plan is that it is the last day of school every 3½ weeks.” –Rich Russo ’99 (Fall 1998)
“What I learned: the necessity to know how to work well with people, and that all people have worth and are important.” –Ben McAdams ’50 (Summer 1998)
“Merner Hall is being torn apart. That’s not new—it’s been happening for 60 years. The difference is it’s planned and is being done by professionals.” –President Les Garner on the renovation in 2001 (Spring 2001)
“He wrote that ‘making “being gay all right” will be my most important legacy to the college.’ He was the most ethical person I know, because his morality came not from beyond, but from within, from his sense of kinship with others, and from plunging exuberantly into the human condition.” –Professor of French Diane Crowder on the death of Professor of English Stephen Lacey ’65 (Summer 2000)
“I thought, ‘Wow, this is a school with the kind of past, the kind of location, the kind of values that really speak to me. That’s why I’m coming here. To join an institution that has always been forward-looking and focused on excellence and social improvement above all else.” –President Jonathan Brand (Spring 2011)
“Cornell provided education for life, friends for a lifetime.” –John Urheim ’62 (Summer 1998)
“Later, a little colony of procrastinators would gather in the lounge, pulling all-nighters to cram for an exam or to finish (or start) a paper due the next day.” –Susan Schwab Donovan ’66 regarding the women in Pfeiffer Hall after 9:15 p.m. curfew (Summer 2000; reprinted Spring 2023)
“Thanks for giving people like me the opportunity to look for a better life. I couldn’t express with words the gratitude I feel toward you, and it is for that reason that I choose to express it with actions, being active, keeping a good GPA, working hard after school, and keeping my aspirations high. May God bless you and your family for even though you may not realize it, you are angels fallen from the sky.” –Diego Verdugo ’12 to the donors of his scholarship. He was the Young Alumni Award recipient in 2024. (Fall 2010)
“Thanks to everyone who is powering this institutional dive into how to become an anti-racist institution. This takes courage; it takes brutal honesty from speakers of the truth and listeners to the truth alike. I have never been prouder of Cornell College than I am at this moment.” –Marcia Radosevich ’74 regarding the “I See You” issue, guest edited by Heather ‘Byrd’ Roberts ’09 (Fall 2021)
“The Cornell classroom taught me how to think and to create. Life outside the classroom taught me how to become a better person. Many students, if not most, come away learning more than they expected. The value of such an education cannot be measured in a price.” –Eric Van Danen ’89 (Summer 1998)
“It was new, it was strange, but I can tell you: It was wonderful. Within two days, I was had. I officially became one of those smiley, ridiculously friendly people.” –Melissa Wood ’82 on living in Iowa (Spring 2012)
Summer 2000
“Before One Course At A Time it took longer to show ‘Gone With the Wind’ than it did to fight the war.” –Professor of History Philip Lucas, who screened the film in the morning and discussed it in the afternoon during Civil War and Reconstruction (Fall 1999)
“Life will never be as convenient or as full of opportunities as it is right now. You are living, studying, socializing, dining, and learning with people from all over the world. There are incredible events right here on the Hilltop, and everyone on this campus wants you to succeed.” –John Harp, as vice president for student affairs (Fall 2015)
“If I could go back and repeat my four years at Cornell, I think the one thing I would do differently is sleep more." –Louesa Runge Fine ’80 (Summer 1998)
“I remember thinking I would never fit in and quickly realized Cornell embraces everyone and that being yourself is how you truly fit in.” –Johanna Carlisle ’89 (Summer 1998)
“Several years ago we were changing planes at Dallas-Fort Worth. I saw a young man in a purplish jacket that said Cornell Baseball. I immediately knew from the color he wasn’t from that upstart school in New York. I introduced myself. He had just graduated, roughly 50+ years after I had. I told him I had been a catcher for the team. He was a pitcher. A perfect match.” –Jim Bloom ’60 (Summer 2019)
“Sports are the perfect mirror of life. You realize that you depend on others for the success of your organization.” –Barry Boyer ’84 (Spring 2013)
“This boulder, weighing 5,000 pounds, is a symbol of solidarity, permanence, and indestructibility. Like Cornell College, despite rough handling and harsh times, the Rock survives and inspires new generations of Cornellians.” –Registrar and Classics Professor Emeritus Charles Milhauser in Cornelliana (Winter 1995)
“Today the Hilltop is unimaginable without its trees, but in 1853 it was a prairie. President Fellows used to send students into the woods to bring back trees to plant on campus.” –Peter Hoehnle ’96, in his cover article for the Sesquicentennial issue (Fall 2003)
“One simple idea—take one class, every day, for a month and then move on to the next one—has transformed into a culture, a way of life and education, and a community-wide way of approaching liberal arts education.” –Blake Rasmussen ’05 in his article on the 30th anniversary of One Course (Fall 2008)
“Half a century ago, Cornell’s scrappy and talented wrestling squad did what has never been done before or since—win a Division I NCAA title for a private school.” –[Cedar Rapids] Gazette sports editor and four-time National Wrestling Writer of the Year Mike Chapman, in his story on the 50th anniversary of the 1947 championship wrestling team (Summer 1997)
“It is important for artists to support one another. Keep doing good art work.”–Yoko Ono to Art Professor Tony Plaut ’78, when she called his “Yoko Phono” in his campus exhibit on Jan. 13, 2008 (Spring 2008)
“Diversity promotes critical thinking. We expand our knowledge base when presented with differing viewpoints.” –Professor of Sociology Tori Barnes-Brus ’97 (Fall 2011)
As we look forward, we are pioneers like our founders. We too think education is crucial to civilized society, and we are continually working to improve the Cornell experience. In the spirit of George Bowman, we believe that this college has made and will make a difference in the world.” –President Les Garner in the Sesquicentennial issue (Fall 2003)
“The Cornell College campus has, since 1853, provided the vista, the beauty, and the extremes of seasons. In 1980 it deepened its commitment and showed its respect for the historic setting and buildings by becoming the first campus to be named in its entirety as a National Register District.” –Professor Emeritus of History the Rev. Richard Thomas (Fall 2012)
“I went to get a bunch of books to prepare to teach my first college course. I had a dozen stacked up on the desk. Mrs. Higby, bless her soul, said, ‘Oh young man, we never allow students to check out more than four books at a time.’” –Professor of English and Poet-In-Residence Robert Dana about arriving to teach in 1954 (Winter 1996)
“A liberal arts education, with its variety and commitment to connection among the facets of learning, gives us equipment to design this life and understand it, and live it, and repair it.” –Professor of Education Dick Peters (Spring 1999)
