09-27-21 entire issue hi res

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

By TAMARA KAMIS Sun News Editor

In the former home of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity at 625 University Ave., visitors can now find a different kind of camaraderie — a community of student veterans.

After years of advocacy from student veterans, the new Cornell Undergraduate Veterans Association House opened this fall, housing 26 undergraduate students — including 20 undergraduate student veterans, a veteran law student, an undergraduate military family member,

two Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps undergraduates and two non-military students.

Cornell is currently home to over 90 undergraduate student veterans and current service members, and more than 400 veterans work or study at the University. Residents say the building has helped foster a sense of community as they adjust to both civilian and University life.

This Saturday, a ribbon cutting ceremony celebrated the program house through speeches and small

group tours of the building.

“This community that [student veterans] fill helps Cornell to diversify our student body,” Kotlikoff said. “It brings students with resilience, with maturity, with humility, with a sense of mission and with a can-do attitude.”

On Saturday morning, Roland Molina ’22, a United States Marine Corps veteran and current president of the Cornell Undergraduate Veterans Association, Ryan Lombardi, vice president for student and campus life, Provost Michael Kotlikoff and lecturer General George Casey, management and organizations, gave speeches at the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Veterans House.

For many student veterans, the most important resource that the new house provides is time with one another. Some said they turn to one another for advice navigating University life and have found

More Tan One Year Later, Class of 2020 Celebrates Ithaca Commencement

By ELI PALLRAND Sun Staff Writer

The Class of 2020 — Cornell’s 152nd graduating class and the first to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic — returned to campus Sunday for their commencement ceremony, 16 months after their original graduation day.

Attendance at Schoellkopf Field, where commencement was held, included around 2,000 graduates and 4,000 guests. The celebration was limited to administration and members of the Class of 2020 and their families, as well as August 2019 and December 2019 graduates. The event was also live-streamed for students and family members who couldn’t make it to Ithaca.

Traditionally, commencement marks the graduation of the current senior class, where deans of the colleges give students their diplomas.

By DONGMIN SHIN Sun Staff Writer

With recruitment underway for many pre-professional organizations, members have expressed their excitement about new goals and the opportunity to meet a diverse group of students with various interests. Many pre-professional organizations said they are relieved to shift away from Zoom and meet in-person for events after a year confined to computers.

“One of the biggest goals that we are trying to accomplish as an organization is both to grow in terms of diverse interest and diverse background, but also try to invest in our younger gener-

ation of underclassmen in helping them reach their career goals,” Elena Zeng ’22, president of the Phi Chi Theta business fraternity, said.

Zeng said her organization is planning on doing all events in-person, such as information sessions, resume workshops and networking sessions. However, Phi Chi Theta is also staying flexible and offering Zoom options for students who feel uncomfortable meeting in person.

“Especially coming out of a virtual world of COVID and Zoom, definitely we want to be there supporting [potential members] as they go through more

A LISTING OF FREE CAMPUS EVENTS

Today

Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship Entrepreneur in Residence: Marisa Sergi ’15

9 a.m. - 1 p.m., Virtual Event

Biological and Environmental Engineering Seminar - What Pathogen Genomes Can Tell Us About Epidemic Spread Noon - 1 p.m., Virtual Event

Cut out this cool FR EE MOUST ACHE and stick it to your face. You will be the envy of all your friends. Read The Corne¬ Daily Sun every day for more prizes!

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Seminar Series - Steve Grodsky

12:20 p.m. to 1:20 p.m., Corson/Mudd Hall, Morrison Room

Lunch and Learn With New Dyson Dean Jinhua Zhao 12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m., Mann Hall, 102

“Cuban Memory Wars: Retrospective Politics in Revolution and Exile,” by Michael J. Bustamante, Latin American and Caribbean Studies Weekly Seminar Series 1 p.m. - 2:15 p.m., Stimson Hall, G-01

Tomorrow

2021 Climate Jobs Summit 9:30 a.m. - 4 p.m., Virtual Event

GET SET Workshop: Supporting Student Learning 11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m., Virtual Event

LASSP and AEP Seminar - Paul CorkumUniversity of Ottowa 12:20 p.m., Virtual Event

Department of Biomedical Sciences Seminar SeriesPierre Comizzoli 4 p.m. - 5 p.m., Virtual Event

Moral Psychology Brown Bag Series - Robert Bloomfield, Nicholas H. Noyes Professor of Management - Moral Accounting: Theory and Practice 4 p.m. - 5 p.m., Warren Hall, 116

ORIE Colloquium: Andrea Lodi (Cornell Tech)Disjunctive Cuts for Mixed-Integer Conic Optimization 4:15 p.m., Frank H.T. Rhodes Hall, 253

Mastering Applications to Graduate School 4:45 p.m. - 5:45 p.m., Virtual Event

Equine Seminar Series: How Saddle Fit Affects Performance, Lameness and Shoeing 6 p.m. - 7 p.m., Virtual Event

Practicing Compassion for Stress Relief 6 p.m., Virtual Event

W W W . C O R N E L L S U N . C O M

Class of 2020 Celebrates Commencement

2020 was nearing the end of its freshman year, Pollack said that they had already made Cornell their home while she was still getting lost on campus — and that they took that connection with them when COVID-19 hit.

This time, neither of those things were true, since the Class of 2020 officially graduated over a year ago and already received their diplomas in the mail.

According to lecturer and Cornell historian Corey Ryan Earle, American studies, this commencement celebration is also the first at Cornell to be held in September.

The ceremony comes after multiple delays and cancelations of planned events for the Class of 2020, including a canceled June 2021 commencement ceremony that the University administration moved online due to COVID-19 concerns.

In March 2020, President Pollack promised graduates an in-person commencement in Ithaca, but was unable to say when or where — only that it would happen, and would be “joyous!”

Sixteen months later, that promise was finally fulfilled Sunday.

Graduates and their families heard from members of the administration throughout the ceremony on Sunday afternoon, including Provost Michael Kotlikoff, Vice President for Student and Campus Life Ryan Lombardi and President Martha Pollack — with special guest Leslie Odom Jr., who attended virtually.

Pollack began her remarks by emphasizing her gratitude for the family, teachers, mentors and friends who made commencement possible and shaped the members of the Class of 2020, before asking students to shout out “thank you” to their family in the stands and the livestream camera in whatever language they speak at home.

Acknowledging that her primary mode of communication with the University community during the pandemic has been pandemic jargon-filled emails, she promised that this speech would include none of a long list of now-familiar terms like “unprecedented,” “proactive” and “contact tracing.”

Having come to Cornell as president while the Class of

“[After being forced off campus by the pandemic] you never really got to say goodbye. As the months passed, instead of looking back, you started looking forward. You started jobs and graduate programs but Cornell came with you [in] what you had learned here,” Pollack said. “And wherever you went, no matter how far you traveled, you knew that, like Odysseus, one day you would come home again to Ithaca.”

Pollack said that, while homecoming weekend is a time to celebrate the achievements of the graduating and alumni classes and reunite on campus, it isn’t by any means the end of the Class of 2020’s relationship with their alma mater.

Odom said. “My purest and clearest intentions were determining the way my life was unfolding.”

Speaking about his family, Odom recalled his little sister’s graduation from college, and the impact it had on him to have known her all her life and see that her eyes were the same as a college graduate as they were when she was a baby.

“There was something of her that was present and knowable on the day my parents brought her home, hours old ... and that thing remained [at graduation]. I had this profound realization,” Odom said. “She was always her.”

“Wherever Cornellians are ... Cornell will always be your home.”

“What this commencement is not is a time to say goodbye, because wherever you go from here, no matter how long it’s been, each of you will always be a Cornellian,” Pollack said. “Wherever Cornellians are, Cornell will always be with you, and Cornell will always be your home.”

President Martha Pollack

As a new father, Odom said he believes parents get five lessons that they can impart to their children. He shared the three that he said he has figured out so far with the graduates: First, know that you’re enough; second, learn how to make and keep a friend; third, remember that the only thing you will ever really be ashamed of is being unkind.

After the speeches, each college dean had their respective graduating students rise to be recognized, with Pollack formally bestowing upon each set of graduates the titles that they earned at Cornell.

However, the speech was not all celebratory. Pollack took a moment of silence in honor of the community members lost to COVID-19.

Later, the Class of 2020 was joined via Zoom by actor, singer and Broadway star Leslie Odom Jr.

Speaking for just over 20 minutes, Odom told stories about his family life, recounted his beginnings in theater, life lessons and joked about getting extra credit on his speech.

Odom’s major lesson to the Class of 2020 was in the power of intentions, which he said have determined everything in his life from job opportunities to friendships to the food he ate.

“Whether or not I knew it, my life was organizing itself in front of me based on the deepest desires of my heart,”

Closing the ceremony, Associate Vice President for Alumni Affairs and Development Michelle Vaeth ’98 encouraged the Class of 2020 to continue their relationship with Cornell by planning the class reunions, volunteering and visiting campus and also by connecting with Cornellians across the world.

“The chances are pretty good that a Cornellian you may meet, whether or not you spent time together on campus, could have a profound impact upon you, your career and your life,” Vaeth said. “I know that I have found this to be true over and over again.”

After singing the alma mater, the Class of 2020 exited to the sound of the Cornell “Fight Song.”

Eli Pallrand can be reached at epallrand@cornellsun.com.

New Veteran Program House Opens, Fosters Community

transition to civilian life.

“The biggest resource, I think, is all the student veterans, just because we love to help each other out,” said Jessica Palominos ’22, a Marine Corps veteran. “Whenever there’s any opportunities available, or anything comes up, the other student vets let us know. That’s just how that’s how we operate.”

According to current army reservist and CUVA vice president Mark Minton ’23, members of the Veterans House often study together, eat together and exercise together. For some residents, including Sebastian Dunbar ’23, a current active member of the U.S. Army Reserve, living in the program house has created a community and a learning experience.

“Everybody has so many different experiences. We have people from all different branches of the military,” Dunbar said. “It’s been really great to hear the stories and various perspectives of the people who live in this house.”

The new veterans program house is the result of years of student veteran advocacy. Some other advocacy successes in recent years have been the establishment of a veteran’s advocate staff position, lighting the clocktower green on Veterans Day and a University commitment to enrolling 100 undergraduate veterans.

Many Cornell student veterans including Dunbar, Palominos and Molina are first-generation college students, many citing the GI bill’s help funding college tuition for veterans as pivotal to helping them afford a college education.

While many student veterans found the transition into college challenging, some, including Minton, cite Cornell’s Veterans Summer Bridge Program as helpful in the process of learning to navigate academic resources and civilian life.

Philip Kay ’23 said he would like to see veteran-specific mental health services at Cornell. Kay, who said he wants to pursue a career in psychology research after having served in first the Israeli army and then the United States Army, said he’s glad that Cornell has been accommodating of his PTSD service dog, Astra. However, Kay and Molina said they’d like to see Cornell hire a counselor with military-specific counseling training.

“Veterans’ mental health and mental health needs are totally different from what the general student population has,” Molina said. “We’re rising in number, and they don’t have mental health facilities to support us.”

While some student veterans say they have felt largely welcome on campus, if slightly separate from their peers, others, including Kay, reported awkward or alienating interactions with other students. Kay, who is 35 years old, said he wishes some people he has met were more familiar with the presence of older students.

“The world is changing now,” Kay said. “We’re seeing older students as undergraduates. Yes, there actually is nothing wrong with that.”

According to Molina, one future goal for veterans on campus is to create a veterans resource center. The University Assembly passed a resolution in support of this initiative that President Pollack rejected in June. The assembly has

also passed resolutions calling for transparency and accountability into the University’s process for certifying enrollment with the Department of Veteran Affairs and the hiring of a military service-related CAPS counselor.

Molina said he would like to turn one room in the house into a temporary veterans resource center. Still, he said he hopes that Cornell veterans will eventually have a resource center on Central Campus — allowing for easy access to the space for undergraduate student veterans, graduate students and faculty, while creating a space for veteran students to meet with the student veteran advocate and representatives of the department of veterans affairs.

While they still see room for improvement in the student veteran experience through initiatives including expanded mental health resources and a resource center, many Cornell student veterans and student veteran alumni said they are happy to see years of advocacy pay off through the creation of the veteran program house.

Seamus Murphy ’17 — who served in the U.S. Army from 2005 to 2012 and was one of the founding members of the Cornell Undergraduate Veterans Association — said that seeing the creation of the program house is rewarding.

“A physical space on campus is something I’ve been advocating for since I came here in 2013,” Murphy said. “To see it come to fruition is amazing.”

Tamara Kamis can be reached at tkamis@cornellsun.com.

in-person recruitment events and [exploring] those career options going into the summer, and trying to secure those summer internships,” Zeng said. Everett Sanderson ’22, president of business frater-

nity Phi Gamma Nu, said that one aspect they want to work on this semester is reaching more students with diverse interests. Sanderson ran recruitment for two semesters before becoming president.

“Cornell is not a very diverse place and the business community is an even less diverse place and the business fraternities are even less diverse than that,” Sanderson said.

To improve diversity, inclusion and equity within Phi Gamma Nu, Sanderson discussed the importance of transparency and sharing their resources, including by running workshops and information sessions for students.

Sanderson is also hoping to work on how Phi Gamma Nu markets their organization, noting that much of who joins has to do with who you know.

To continue reading this story, please visit cornellsun. com.

Bad Movie Digest:

T e Kissing Booth 3 , He’s All T at

This August must have been one of the greatest months in Netflix history. They decided to bless us with not one, but two movies in the so-bad-it’s-entertaining genre: He’s All That and The Kissing Booth 3. As someone who cannot ignore cheaply-made films with a young teen girl target audience, I had to indulge in two movie nights. But which one was better?

Let’s start with The Kissing Booth 3 The first two Kissing Booth films are the pinnacle of cringe media — the end all, be all of corny teen romance movies. They are incredibly entertaining in the so-bad-it’s-good sense and are absolutely worth watching with your friends for a good laugh.

I cannot say the same about the third movie.

Here’s the thing: it’s not as terrible as the first two, and that is precisely its downfall. The film commits the far worse crime of being boring. The plot is incredibly minimal: the characters spend the summer in the Flynn family beach house. We see Elle juggling a lot of commitments: completing a summer bucket list with her childhood best friend, Lee, spending time with her boyfriend, Noah and attending to her family and job while putting off making a decision about whether to go to Harvard with Noah or Berkeley with Lee. Overall, not much actually happens. The central conflict can be summed up as “Hey Elle! You’re spending too much time doing ____!” “I’m sorry!” Riveting.

Among all the filler, the film does feature some unironically entertaining moments. The best part of the movie has to be the flash mob scene — if you told me that The Kissing Booth 3 would contain a random dance scene before I watched it, I would probably say “that sounds terrible and makes no sense.” But I cannot lie: it was truly awesome. I don’t know how much money they spent on choreographers and dancers for that, but it was worth every penny. As a lifelong

Kart fan, I thought the real life Mario Kart

was

So yes, The Kissing Booth 3 was still a bad movie; it wasn’t as in-your-face cringeworthy as the first two, but as a result it dragged on forever and failed to capture my attention. Lucky for me, Netflix had another bad film this month to make up for the shortcomings of The Kissing Booth 3

He’s All That, starring TikTok celebrity

All

Rae, is a remake of the 1999

, with

characters’

Addison portrays an influencer named Padgett (yes, Padgett) who has turned into a meme and needs to earn her reputation back. She aims to do this by making over a “loser” and turning him into the next prom king. Why this would possibly save her internet-wide reputation is beyond me, but the film does not pause to ask these sorts of questions. You just have to roll with it. Cameron, the subject of Padgett’s makeover, seemed like an odd choice for a “loser” character right off the bat. Pre-makeover, Cameron is a perfectly fine, confident individual. Sure, he was an outcast, but in a refusing-to-conform-to-the-richpeople-of-LA-lifestyle way, not in a genuinely-needs-avisit-from-the-fabfive way. He was an outcast by choice, and there’s nothing wrong with that. It genuinely irks me that the movie implies that his choice of how to live was not valid, and I

still could not forgive the producers even after the “be yourself” messaging at the end.

And what about Addison Rae? She is part of the comedic appeal of He’s All That; it’s literally Addison Rae. If you had never downloaded TikTok and had no clue who she was, her performance would seem a bit mediocre, but on par with the acting in other lowbrow teen movies. The real star of the show is Kourtney Kardashian — it sounds like she is reading her lines from a teleprompter, and it’s hilarious.

All in all, if you’re looking for a movie to laugh at, this is the one. He’s All That is self aware of the fact that its cringe is its entire appeal, so they really lean into it. I mean, they named the main character Padgett. They know what they’re doing. They use every trope in the book: the mean girl cheerleader,the epic high school party, the unnecessary speech at the prom where everyone is told to just be themselves. It’s so predictable, but honestly, who cares? There are moments when you can’t look at the screen and moments when you’re cackling at something that was not supposed to be funny. Although the film is calculated in its terribleness, the calculations work.

The verdict is clear: skip Kissing Booth and go watch He’s All That as soon as you can. It’s the best of the worst: a top notch trash movie that I think anyone can enjoy.

Lauren Douglass is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at led94@cornell.edu.

Rainy Days, a Cornell-born and now Manhattan-based rock band, performed a lively set composed of originals and covers in homage to the musicians and sounds that most inspired them, including the Arctic Monkeys. Their growing Spotify discography will make you sway while tearing at your heart. Check out their recently released E.P. Live to See: the Night — it’s sonically gripping. Note: all captions written by the Arts and Culture Editors.

A native Ithacan group, lead by e, of SOLID, is a roots rock band that opened the concert with an evocative acoustic set. e’s ethereal voice inspires many wonderful emotions. e will also play a show on Sept. 24 at 6 p.m. at the Bernie Milton Pavilion on the Ithaca Commons.

Glimpses of Saturday’s Concert at The Sun

and

Library of Egress is an emerging indie rock band based at Ithaca College, though its band members are veterans in Ithaca College’s

rock scene. The band closed out the main lineup of the 3 p.m. - 7 p.m.concert at the Sun Building downtown with their electrifuing, driving guitar-based set. Look out for their soon-to-be released music on Instagram.

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

Independent Since 1880

139th Editorial Board

KATHRYN STAMM ’22 Editor in Chief

ANUSHYA ALANDUR ’23

Business Manager

CATHERINE ST. HILAIRE ’22

Associate Editor

PRANAV KENGERI ’24

Advertising Manager

ODEYA ROSENBAND ’22

Opinion Editor

JYOTHSNA BOLLEDULA ’24

News Editor

TAMARA KAMIS ’22

News Editor

CAMERON HAMIDI ’22

App Editor

KRISTEN D’SOUZA ’24

Design Editor

HANNAH ROSENBERG ’23

Photography Editor

OMSALAMA AYOUB ’22

Science Editor

PUJA OAK ’24

Layout Editor

ANNIE WU ’22

Production Editor

MIHIKA BADJATE ’23

Assistant News Editor

SERENA HUANG ’24

Assistant Business Editor

ANGELA BUNAY ’24

Assistant News Editor

JOHN COLIE ’23

Assistant Arts & Culture Editor

AMELIA CLUTE ’22

Assistant Dining Editor

WILLIAM BODENMAN ’23

Assistant Sports Editor

AARON SNYDER ’23

Assistant Sports Editor

MEGHANA SRIVASTAVA ’23

Compet Manager

MADELINE ROSENBERG ’23

Editor NAOMI KOH ’23

Editor ANIL OZA ’22

Editor YUBIN HEO ’24

VEE CIPPERMAN ’23

NOOREJEHAN UMAR ’23

E.D. PLOWE ’23

YOON ’23

VELANI ’22

PICHINI ’22

TYAGI ’22

MENDOZA ’24

ARANDA ’23

Editor SURITA BASU ’23

News Editor KAYLA RIGGS ’24

LEYNSE ’23

’24

’24

’24

ALPERS ’22

Working

’22

desker Catherine St. Hilaire ’22

desker Madeline Rosenberg ’23

deskers Jyothsna Bolledula ’24

Angela Bunay ’24

production desker Alexandra Kim ’24

layout deskers Kristen D’Souza ’24

Puja Oak ’24

photo desker Hannah Rosenbergl ’23

arts desker John Colie ’23

sports desker Aaron Snyder ’23

Roei Dery

Te DERY Bar

On a cold, fall night my freshman year, working with classmates on a problem set that we’d started too late, for a class we did not dedicate nearly enough time to, at a time when we did not acknowledge that our high school study habits needed to change, most of us agreed that the T.A. was to blame for not holding office hours the night before the due date. That was most of us.

One classmate, however, explained that our T.A. was an “actual adult” with other things to do. His example of one such “thing”? Mowing the lawn. It was the absurd yet insightful response I needed to hear. At that moment, for a reason I cannot explain, I reasoned that in just a few short years, when I, too, would move off campus, I’d become an “actual adult:” cooking my own food, paying my own rent and, of course, mowing the lawn. Fast forward two years, and this classmate and I now rent a house together off-campus. As a matter of fact, he’s a T.A. now, too. But we did not quite complete a full circle: we are yet to mow our lawn. If our T.A. then was anything like us now, then his single, morning office hours slot was probably to make room for more nightly Wii Tennis matches.

As an underclassmen, I envisioned adulthood at Cornell and off-campus life as one and the same. Well, now living in the heart of collegetown, I feel just as adult now as I did eating RPCC brunch freshman year. There comes a time in every off-campus student’s transition from on-campus living where we must ask ourselves: Am I an adult or do I just live off-campus?

Let’s break this down. Am I an adult because I started cooking for myself? This is far from the truth. What this really means is that instead of reasonably eating edible food at a dining hall, I choose to stir overcooked pasta with one hand while watching a youtube tutorial on a sauce I’m not capable of making with the other.

Am I an adult for paying with a card instead of Big Red Bucks? No, but I’m an idiot for missing out on a tax discount whenever I buy a sandwich at Mac’s because I am tired of eating overcooked pasta. Now, just a few weeks removed from University housing and a meal plan, I realize that choosing to opt-in or out of Cornell housing and dining has little to

do with adulthood -- or a lack thereof. I’ve met students, both in and out of the dorms, who’ve been propelled to independence by forces completely independent of Cornell -- whether it be the need to take care of their parents or help pay their family’s bills. In this sense, Cornell, as with many other colleges, does little to change the trajectory into adulthood one would otherwise take; The ways in which we perceive and approach adulthood within the American college landscape cannot be summarized by opting-out of a meal plan subscription.

I primarily noticed how gradual this shift into adulthood is when I visited family in Israel this past summer. There, all young adults serve in the military after high school for several years. Whereas 20-year-old me spends his day moving from class-to-class, essay-to-exam, my parents and their siblings spent their early 20s in intense boot camps, or on duty. For better or worse, young adults are immersed in a “real-world experience” immediately after high school, the absence of which we so often lament in the American college bubble.

However, it was just as much a culture shock for my family to hear that my friends at college weren’t locals from the area who I knew before arriving (which is more common in a small country like Israel), and that I don’t get to see my family every two weeks which is the norm there. The American idea of what a student’s ascent to adulthood looks like is vastly different. Whereas a college student’s independence here is often equated to the time spent living independent of family, in Israel I found there to be a much greater emphasis on the pursuit of authentic, real-world experiences.

Towards the end of my visit, I spoke to my uncle, who, following his military service, spontaneously bought a ticket to South America where he lived and travelled for a year, until he decided to return. I was inspired by his stories of authentic, non-touristy experiences that he sought out himself, something that a university simply cannot afford to its students. And although such trips are not feasible or appealing to everyone, the point stands that we cannot rely solely on Cornell to turn us into adults. We need to see the world outside of the Hill.

Fill in the empty cells, one number in each, so that each column, row, and region contains the numbers 1-9 exactly once. Each number in the solution therefore occurs only once in each of the three “directions,” hence the “single numbers” implied by the puzzle’s name. (Rules from wikipedia.org/wiki/ Sudoku)

I Am Going To Be Small

FOOTBALL

Football Drops Opener to Virginia Military Institute

By AARON SNYDER Sun Assistant Sports Editor

In front of an energized homecoming crowd of 12,555 spectators, Cornell football was unable to come up with a win against Virginia Military Institute.

The Red stayed in the game, but failed to convert on multiple opportunities in the fourth quarter. Cornell mustered just two first downs in the fourth quarter, despite possessing the ball four times. The lackluster fourth-quarter offense allowed VMI to hold on to its lead, eventually winning 31-21.

The big question for Cornell (0-1) coming into its first game in 665 days was how quickly it would get to game speed against a VMI (2-1) team that has played 10 games since the Red last took the field.

“I was pleased with our game speed,” Head Coach David Archer '05 said. “I saw us just be a little rusty … I've never had to prepare a team that hasn’t played football in two years before, and I think that's really what you saw.”

Cornell’s defense did not show any signs of rust to start the game. The Red immediately forced a three-and-out after VMI received the opening kick.

The Red’s offense, however, got off to a slow start. The Red was forced to punt on its first drive after a botched snap backed them up and brought up a 3rd and 15. Cornell had just two first downs and 49 yards of offense during its three possessions in the first quarter.

On the first play after Cornell’s punt, VMI starting quarterback Seth Morgan was injured after rushing up the middle and being hit by senior safety Isaiah Hogan. Freshman Collin Ironside came in to replace Morgan. Ironside finished 27-of-42 for 230 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.

Ironside came into the game and led the offense down the field with a no huddle offense. The Red defense caught a break when a 28-yard rush to the Cornell 1-yard line was called back for a hold. Cornell forced an incompletion on 3rd and 13 to keep VMI off the board.

Cornell’s offense looked more comfortable on its next possession, driving 37 yards on six plays. However, the drive ended when a fumble by senior running back Delonte Harrell was recovered by VMI’s Stone Snyder, who ran it back 20 yards to the Cornell 30-yard line.

The Red’s 4th down play came up a yard short, and the Keydets took over on Cornell’s 36-yard line. Once again finding themselves with great field position, the Keydets had no trouble putting together a six play scoring drive, capped off by a 16-yard touchdown pass to Jakob Herres that put VMI up 14-7.

The Keydets and the Red both put together defensive stands before the Red took over on its 49-yard line following an interception by senior safety Eric Diggs. On the first play of Cornell’s drive, Kenney found his new favorite target Glover for a 30-yard reception. Three plays later, a 15-yard completion to fifth-year receiver Alex Kuzy set the Red up on VMI’s 4-yard line. A 3-yard touchdown rush by fifth-year running back SK Howard evened the score with 20 seconds left in the first half.

The fumble set the Keydets up with great field position. A VMI false start and a sack by fifth-year linebacker Lance Blass and sophomore Noah Taylor gave the Cornell defense a chance to get off the field on 3rd and 13. Instead, Ironside found receiver Leroy Thomas wide open and connected for a 25-yard gain that set VMI up with first and goal. The Keydets easily punched in a 1-yard touchdown run to jump out to a 7-0 lead.

The Cornell offense was initially unable to respond, going three and out on their next two possessions. However, after the Keydets missed a 35-yard field goal, the Red offense put together a scoring drive.

Fifth-year quarterback Richie Kenney opened the drive by finding senior wide receiver Thomas Glover for a 27-yard completion. Two plays later, Kenney and Glover connected over the middle for a 45-yard touchdown to even the score. Glover had a monster first half, finishing with 159 yards on seven catches.

“We knew they were running man, so I just had to beat the man in front of me,” Glover said. “It was really just attack mode.”

After a pass-breakup by fifth-year defensive back Kenan Clarke forced a punt on VMI’s next possession, the Red took over at its own 27-yard line. The offense was unable to get anything going and found itself facing a 4th and 2 from its own 35-yard line. Archer elected to go for it.

“I use an outside company that helps me with some analytics, and they tell me the odds on [each] down and distance,” Archer said. “The odds were slightly in my favor and I was feeling pretty aggressive. I liked the defense and I liked the O-line, so we rolled the dice.”

The connection between Glover and Kenney emerged as one of the bright spots of the loss. “[Kenney] was just dropping dimes, putting it exactly where it needed to be,” Glover said. “It was easy for me. They just dropped into my hands.”

Despite having just 40 career receiving yards coming into the game, Glover’s big day was not a surprise to the Red coaching staff.

“Glover proved he was a playmaker in training camp, and did it when the bright lights were on today,” Archer said. “He’s earned the right to get the ball.”

After Cornell’s touchdown, it seemed that both teams would enter the half tied at 14, especially with just 20 seconds remaining. VMI had different plans, though, as running back and kick returner Korey Bridy took the kick for 60 yards all the way to Cornell’s 35-yard line.

Cornell only practiced one live kickoff because the risk of injuries is much higher on kickoffs than other plays. “That was our second live kick covered in two years,” Archer said. “Now that we've done a game … we can work the drills that correspond with that.”

The Red then committed a holding infraction, setting up VMI placekicker Jerry Rice with a 41-yard field goal attempt, which the sophomore proceeded to convert. The back-and-forth contest saw VMI enter the half holding a 17-14 edge.

The second half started with a pair of Cornell possessions resulting in punts before VMI put together a 53-yard drive that was capped off by Ironside taking it in himself for a 4-yard touchdown rush. The touchdown extended VMI’s lead to 24-14.

Facing a 10-point deficit, the Red offense got to work. Kenney and the offense pieced together a seven-play, 75-yard scoring drive to bring the score to 24-21 VMI. Kenney found senior receiver Curtis Raymond III for a 17-yard touchdown — Raymond’s first career touchdown as well as his first career catch.

After two punts a piece for the Red and the Keydets, VMI drove into Cornell’s red zone. The Red had a chance to hold the Keydets to a field goal attempt on 3rd and 9, but a pass interference call on Clarke set the Keydets up with first-and-goal. Ironside found Herres for a 7-yard touchdown pass to put VMI up 31-21 with 6:57 left in the fourth quarter.

“I just have to keep putting myself in a good position to make plays on the ball and trust myself with that,” Clarke said.

Down 10 with less than seven minutes left, Cornell found itself in need of some points. The Red managed to drive 56 yards down field into VMI territory. After a pair of incompletions, the Red were forced to settle for a 38-yard field goal attempt. Senior kicker’s Scott Lees’ kick had the distance, but it sailed left of the uprights.

A defensive stand gave the Red another opportunity, but the offense was unable to convert a first down, allowing the Keydets to run out the clock on a 31-21 victory.

“We’ve got to come back tomorrow to polish [some] rust off because I think we’ve got the makings of a really good team,” Archer said.

The Red will look to get back in the win column next Saturday when it opens up conference play at Yale.

Aaron Snyder can be reached at asnyder@cornellsun.com.