9-17-25 entire issue hi res

CELEBRATING THE 145TH ANNIVERSARY OF PUBLICATION

ITHACA, N.Y., SEPT. 17, 2025 Vol. 142, No. 4

Te History of Te Sun

By MARISA CEFOLA and BREANNA FERREIRA Sun Senior Writers

The Cornell Daily Sun has been an independent newspaper serving Cornell’s community since its foundation in 1880 and has continued to be enjoyed by Cornellians and Ithacans alike.

With the oldest continuously independent college daily’s 145th anniversary commencing on Sept. 16, The Sun compiled the history of its founding, its growth and the legacy its alumni have left. 1880: The Sun Rises for the First Time

On Sept. 10, 1880, Editor in Chief William Ballard Hoyt 1881 and The Sun’s first editorial board released a notice to all Cornell students. The letter announced the inception of an independent newspaper dedicated to publishing exclusive college news.

“Our books contain pledges enough already for advertisers, alumni and other former students, to pay every dollar of our expenses for the year, and we are, therefore, sure not to come to an untimely death,” the notice stated.

Six days later, the first edition of the Cornell Sun was published.

The first copy of The Sun was eight pages and measured nine inches by 12 inches. No editors’ names were listed. Eight pages was twice the size of a standard newspaper at the time and marked a bold heritage for The Sun, according to Robert Quick ’29, who was a senior editor in 1928.

“The [first copy of the Sun] gave the impression that The Sun was a noxious upstart — newspapers were hardly respectable anyway — and that all good people should avoid it,” Quick wrote in “A Half Century at Cornell,” a compilation of stories honoring the first 50 years since the paper’s founding.

The Sun’s first business manager, George F. Gifford 1880, printed the early Sun copies in the Andrus and Church Store in downtown Ithaca. He was also in charge of setting up the type, looking after the copy distribution and soliciting merchants in Ithaca.

While receiving subpar reviews in Ithaca, some daily papers described The Sun’s early copies as “bright” papers that “shine for the first time on the college world” and have “glowing promises.”

George Beebe 1882 recalled his time on The Sun’s first editorial board in “A Half Century at Cornell.” With a Cornell student body as small as 384, editors initially found generating content to be difficult.

A presidential election in 1880 was one of the first opportunities for The Sun to report breaking news content. The first editorial board worked through the night —- recruiting as many Cornell students as possible —- to be the first paper to inform Ithaca about the election result.

“Each fraternity member of the staff dug up all the news he could get about the men of his society, which gave us an unfailing supply of personals,” Beebe wrote. “After a few weeks, it became apparent that the paper will succeed and we had no fear for the future.”

None of the original editors thought the paper would last even 50 years, according to Hudson P. Rose 1884, who was the freshman editor at the time.

The Sun’s First 50 Years

The first version of the linotype machine was invented in 1885, marking a large step forward in the journalism field. It allowed editors to mass produce papers at a quicker rate than ever before.

To do so, editors used a combination of linotype and other industrialized methods to print the “type,” or words and images compiled on the paper, on a continuous sheet of paper. The newspaper business became an industry, according to Frank E. Gannett 1898, who was on The Sun editorial board from 1896 to 1897.

“Out of it all there came to be the big modern newspaper, full of news, illustrations and advertising, all produced at a low cost, and sold to the public for a few cents a copy,” Gannett wrote in “A Half Century at Cornell.”

After his time at The Sun, Gannett founded the Gannett Company, which owns USA Today and directs the third largest newspaper group in the United States, and he received high praise from President Livingston Farrand, Cornell’s president at the time.

THE SUN

is published during term time by the Students of Cornell University. It is free at 80+ on and off-campus locations every Wednesday, or will be forwarded to subscribers at the rate of $35 for the fall term, $37 for the spring term or $72.50 for both terms if paid in advance. For questions regarding advertising, classifieds, subscriptions or delivery, please call (607) 2733606 between 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday or email sunmailbox@cornellsun.com. The Sun is located at

139 W. State St., Ithaca, N.Y. 14850

Donate to Te Sun on its 145th Anniversary

In 1980, Kurt Vonnegut ’44 said: “We on The Sun were already in the midst of real life.”

145 years later, Vonnegut’s words could not ring truer.

Pressing administrators, tracking budgets and investigating both silences and statements, The Sun reports what truly happened, not just what was in the press release.

We cover the campus that Cornell wants to show and the parts that it does not, connecting the campus community into one. Our reporters profile young scientists, artists and athletes. The Sun’s opinion page captures campus dialogue and our lifestyle pages share advice that actually matters.

Our videographers bring Cornell to life, from the cheers of a hockey game to the chants of a rally and the quiet moments in between. And our photographers document the faces behind the headlines, from TCAT drivers to club leaders. The weekly weather forecasts and game recaps keep readers informed. The comics and crosswords keep them entertained. But most importantly, every word, graphic and crossword grid is produced by and for the Cornell community.

The Sun provides 24/7 breaking news coverage, uploaded on our website and posted on our Instagram, Facebook and X pages. And every Wednesday, our 16-page print issue hits over 80 on and off-campus locations, free of charge and institutional oversight.

For 145 years, The Sun has been Cornell’s independent, student-run historical record. For 145 years, Sun reporters have been the first to the scene and the last to leave.

But journalism, especially the fearless kind our newsroom carries out every day, is not free. We rely on your support to buy technical gear, to keep the lights on and to protect the one thing we won’t compromise on: our independence and your trust in it.

On The Sun’s 145th birthday, give a gift that never stops printing. Make a tax-deductible donation. Buy some exclusive anniversary merch. Advertise your club, business, event or idea in The Sun.

With your present, The Sun can shine for generations to come.

— Julia Senzon, editor-in-chief

Julia Senzon is a member of the Class of 2026 in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She is the editor-in-chief of the 143rd Editorial Board and was the managing editor of the 142nd Editorial Board. She can be reached at jsenzon@cornellsun.com or 908-672-3047.

20 Pages — Free

How Women Paved a Path at The Sun

By MARIAN CABALLO and ANUSHKA SHOREWALA Sun Senior Editor

Since 1870, women have accessed academic opportunities at Cornell — the first Ivy League institution to admit female undergraduates. Yet many organizations limited women’s participation in activities, including at The Sun.

The Sun took a look into its complex history of women’s roles on the paper, speaking to a former Sun women’s editor and former Sun women’s advertising managers about their experiences in these now-defunct positions.

Until World War I — when institutions nationwide began embracing women’s contributions while men served in the military — The Sun did not include any women on its editorial board.

Female students were then permitted to join The Sun’s editorial board as “women’s editors.” Harriet Parsons 1919 and Alice Street 1919 took on the roles of women’s business manager and women’s editor, respectively. The women’s business manager oversaw advertising that appealed to women, while women’s editors’ stories would often be featured under a dedicated “Women’s Page” or “Women’s Note” section.

The Sun examined previous issues of the newspaper housed at The Sun’s office in Ithaca Commons and the Keith R. Johnson ‘56 digital archive.

By the 1964-1965 editorial board, there was no women’s editor on the masthead, with Elizabeth Gordon ’65 serving as the last ever women’s editor at The Sun. By March of that year, only women’s advertising manager Penny Skitol ’65 was listed, and by the fall, The Sun no longer had women’s roles featured on the masthead. There was no written announcement of this decision. Despite numerous women assuming the role of women’s editor, it is noteworthy that, while rare, some women held non-gendered positions throughout the same period. The Sun broke a 63-year streak of male editors in chief with the promotion of Guinevere Griest ’44, who briefly served in this role during World War II.

Anne Morrissy Merick ’55, scorned during her term as a “lady sports editress” and a “sportswriting doll,” captured national media attention by triumphing over three male students to become The Sun’s first female sports editor in 1954.

A little less than a decade later, Elizabeth Bass ’72 was elected as editor in chief in 1971 and was deemed the “first female editor in chief” in the newspaper’s history. Bass was the first woman to be elected to the role of Sun editor in chief, though Griest had been promoted to the role during World War II. (Sun File Photo)

The Sun spoke to former students at Cornell who took on various roles within the women’s sections on The Sun as they reflected on their time as Sun employees and Cornell undergraduates.

Elizabeth Gordon ’65: The Last Women’s Editor

For Elizabeth Gordon ‘65, the last women’s editor at The Sun, serving on the editorial board was an “inevitable” decision due to her experience as an editor for both her elementary and high school papers.

“Even with the restrictions on my participation [at The Sun], I loved it,” Gordon wrote in an email to The Sun.

During her time at the helm, Gordon, who also served as president of the Panhellenic Council, covered a variety of stories about women on campus while honing her journalistic expertise.

“The most memorable article for me was the opening of Helen Newman Hall — finally a women’s athletic facility close to the girls’ dorms,” Gordon said. “As someone who had to trek all the way from Teagle to Donlon my freshman year when I took [a course in] advanced life-saving, this was nothing short of life-changing.”

Gordon said the restrictions for women on campus made it so that she had no choice but to take on the women’s editor role.

“Women had a curfew, and, therefore, could not be relied upon to cover certain stories and, most importantly, could not put the paper to bed,” Gordon wrote.

FOLLOW THE SUN

Instagram: @cornellsun

X: @cornellsun

Facebook: @Te Cornell Daily Sun

YouTube: @CornellSunVideo

TikTok: @cornellsun

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

Boeing, L3Harris Absent From Career Fair Following Last Year’s Protest

third-year Ph.D. student who is involved in pro-Palestine activism on campus.

Campus Political Org Leaders React to Activist

Charlie Kirk’s Assassination

Sept. 12 — Conservative media personality Charlie Kirk was assassinated on Wednesday while speaking at Utah Valley University as part of his “American Comeback Tour,” prompting bipartisan condemnation from campus political organization leaders at Cornell.

Kirk previously spoke in Ithaca in 2018 — an event that was originally scheduled to be at Cornell but had to be moved following bureaucratic friction.

Max Whalen ’26, president of Cornell Republicans and member of The Cornell Review Editorial Board, emphasized the “heartbreaking news” of Kirk’s death in a message he sent to members of the Cornell Republicans and later shared with The Sun.

“Regardless of politics, we must be clear: all political violence is wrong, and it has no place in our country,” Whalen wrote. “Please keep his family and loved ones in your prayers during this difficult time.”

Cornell Democrats President Niles Hite ’26 described in a statement to The Sun that he was “deeply saddened by the violence that has unfolded.”

“As much as I wish this were an isolated incident, it reflects the deep and growing polarization in our country,” Hite said. “Acts of hate like this will continue as long as we allow division and extremism to fester.”

Kirk was speaking outdoors on Wednesday, answering audience questions when he was struck in the neck by a bullet. Authorities believe the bullet came from a building roughly 200 yards away. The investigation is still ongoing, and law enforcement is working to identify the shooter.

Boeing and L3Harris, two defense contractors confronted by pro-Palestine protesters at last year’s Human Capital and Human Relations Career Fair, did not return to the event on Monday.

In Fall 2024, more than 100 students marched from Day Hall to The Statler Hotel, protesting the presence of weapons manufacturers Boeing and L3Harris Technologies at a Cornell career fair. Protesters presented a letter accusing the companies of complicity in war crimes in Gaza while chanting, banging drums and raising signs, breaking up the event.

The majority of student voters in a Spring 2025 Student Assembly referendum had voted for Cornell to divest from Boeing, L3Harris and eight other weapons manufacturers.

At the fair, protesters pushed past a police line and confronted recruiters, according to footage released by Cornell. The majority of employers packed up before the official ending of the Career Fair. In the weeks following, 19 protestors were identified and referred for disciplinary action according to the University, and a total of four individuals were referred to Ithaca City Court on criminal complaints.

President Michael Kotlikoff said that the individuals involved would “face immediate suspension or employment sanctions” and potential legal action, according to a University statement released shortly after the event.

“These intimidating tactics have no place in a university and violate our commitments to each other. Actions have consequences, on campus and in the criminal justice system,” Kotlikoff wrote.

Among those arrested in connection with the 2024 Career Fair demonstration was Sriram Parasurama, a

For Parasurama, the absence of the defense contractors in this year’s career fair represented a clear success.

“Regardless of why Boeing and L3Harris pulled out, we achieved our material goal: keeping weapons manufacturers from recruiting our peers on campus,” Parasurama said.

At Monday’s career fair, 29 companies were present for students to interact with.

Nathan Mascia ’27 was in attendance and searching for internships and human connections. For Mascia, last year’s protest presented a “tough debate,” and though he supports the right to protest, he felt that the attempt to block students from speaking with certain companies was futile.

“I think providing as many opportunities for the students is not a problem,” Mascia said. “People are going to work for these companies regardless.”

Transfer student Martin Jara ’28 agreed and said that the absence of Boeing and L3Harris from Monday’s career fair “does, in some ways, limit Cornell students’ opportunities for the future.”

He added, however, that “I don’t think it’s really my place to say if [inviting Boeing and L3Harris] was worth it or not.”

Still, other career fair attendees, including Zachary Sullivan ’26, felt some companies should not be promoted by Cornell Career Services.

“There are a lot of companies that I think shouldn’t be here,” Sullivan said. “There should be a line in the sand as to who’s allowed to come.”

To continue reading, please visit www.cornellsun.com

Kirk was known for his controversial political views and for hosting debates on college campuses. In 2012, he founded Turning Point USA, a nonprofit conservative organization.

In October 2018, Kirk and Candace Owens were slated to speak at McGraw Hall as part of their “Campus Clash” national tour, with Cornell scheduled to be the final campus stop.

In November 2018, Cornell administrators postponed the event, stating that Cornell’s TPUSA chapter failed to “take the steps required to complete the event registration process.”

However, Cornell TPUSA explained that this effectively cancelled the event, given the short notice. It further attributed the scheduling complications to administrative inflexibility and claimed the University failed to adequately support freedom of speech.

The event was ultimately relocated off campus to Hotel Ithaca at 222 South Cayuga Street.

Hite wrote that while he might hold personal political differences with Kirk, the conservative activist’s death is “nothing short of a tragedy,” especially for Kirk’s wife and two young children, whom Hite holds in his prayers.

“More importantly, the freedom of speech is one of the cornerstones of our democracy,” Hite wrote. “It should never be silenced by violence or fear.”

Following Kirk’s death, President Donald Trump ordered American flags to be flown at half-staff at the White House and on all public grounds until sunset on Sunday, Sept. 14.

Trump also announced that he will posthumously award Kirk with the Medal of Freedom — the nation’s highest civilian honor — with the date of the ceremony to be announced soon. Kirk is survived by his wife Erika and two children.

“Now more than ever, we face a critical choice: will we continue to fuel the anger and division, or will we take this moment to chart a new path; one grounded in empathy, respect, and unity,” Hite wrote.

A LISTING OF FREE CAMPUS EVENTS

Today

Cornell Career Fair Days: STEAM 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., Bartels Hall

Midday Music for Organ: Jennifer Shin and Jasmine Ngai 12:30 - 1:30 p.m., Anabel Taylor Hall

Speaker Event: David Bayer of the National Football League’s Labor Relations Counsel 12:15 - 1:15 p.m., 390 Myron Taylor Hall

Free Fitness Equipment Orientation 3:30 - 4:30p.m., Helen Newman Hall Fitness Center

Leadership Workshop Series: It’s Time to Step Up: Understanding the Spectrum of Hazing 5 - 6 p.m., 306 Hollister Hall

Tomorrow

Innovation & Entrepreneurship Workshop: Creating Investable Milestones 11:45 a.m. - 1 p.m., Online

A&S Dean’s Advisory Counsel and Student Networking Event 4 - 5 p.m., Hybrid: 130 Statler Hotel

European Colonization & the Modern Muslim World 4:30 - 7 p.m., 151 Warren Hall

“Why Luxury is a Vice (And Not Necessarily Good for the Economy Either)”: a lecture and Q&A with David Cloutier (Notre Dame) 6 - 7:30 p.m., 398 Statler Hall and Online Free ZUMBA! 6:30 - 7:15 p.m., Noyes Community Recreation Center

Cornell 2025 Annual Security Report: Slight Decline in Sexual Assault Crimes

By ARIANA SANCHEZ Sun Contributor

Sept. 11 — 23 cases of on-campus rape were reported in 2024, according to the 2025 Annual Security Report released by the Cornell Division of Public Safety Clery Compliance Office on Sept. 4.

Compared to 2023, all categories of sexual and Violence Against Women Act offenses decreased. However, some crimes — including rape and fondling — did so at a lesser rate. Hate crimes, burglary and arson were also reported at lower rates in the security report than in previous years.

Under the Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Act, all institutions of higher education across the country are required to prepare, publish and distribute campus crime statistics on a narrowly defined set of offenses. Each year, Cornell prepares a report based on Clery reportable crimes reported to Campus Security Authorities, including CUPD as well as local law enforcement agencies with jurisdiction over the campus.

Statistics on hazing, which are now a Cleryreportable crime, will begin to be included in 2026 following the passage of the 2024 Stop Campus Hazing Act.

The 23 cases of reported on-campus rape in 2024 show a decrease from the 28 reported cases in 2023 and 25 reported cases in 2022. Fondling cases on campus decreased only slightly, with 21 reports in 2024, 22 reports in 2023 and 24 reports in 2022.

By comparison, VAWA offenses — which include dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking — decreased significantly from 2023 to 2024, with cases of stalking reducing nearly by half. The VAWA is a 1994 congressional act that addresses violent crime, especially that against women, but also against all victims of domestic and dating violence.

The statistics contained within the Annual Security Report only exhibit crimes officially reported to CUPD or to designated campus officials. Survey data from the 2023 Cornell Survey of Sexual Assault and Related Misconduct show much higher rates of experienced sexual assault and non-consensual sexual contact.

According to the survey of 6,000 students, 23 percent of undergraduate women and 9 percent of undergraduate men reported experiencing sexual assault of some form during their time at Cornell. That year, 16,071 undergraduates were enrolled according to Cornell Institutional Research and Planning, with 8,763 identified as women and 7,308 identified as men.

Only 38 percent of the survey respondents stated they knew how to file an official complaint of sexual assault.

The 2025 SARM survey is currently under-

way, and students can access the report once it is published on Cornell’s Sexual Harassment and Assault Response and Education website.

On Oct. 25 of last year, an individual reported being drugged and sexually assaulted by multiple males at the Chi Phi fraternity house — leading to the temporary suspension of the fraternity and a number of students amid investigation. Students on campus felt jarred following these events, with many calling for a mental-health day and an in-depth response from the University.

Around the same time, Cornell student Noah Rebei ’25 was arrested by CUPD after being discovered hiding under a female resident’s bed in William Keeton House on Oct. 30. He faced charges of second-degree criminal trespassing and third-degree assault.

In response to these incidents, the University launched the Presidential Task Force on Campus Sexual Assault, which was announced on Feb. 6 in a statement from Kotlikoff and Provost Kavita Bala.

Hate crime data from the 2025 Security Report revealed a steep drop in hate crimes on campus compared to the previous year. In 2024, one hate crime was reported on campus, characterized by ethnicity. In contrast, 2023 data revealed seven total reports of hate crimes on campus: one characterized by race, five characterized by ethnicity and one vandalization characterized by ethnicity.

2023 was a year of heightened tensions on campus, with protests and contention over the Israel-Palestine conflict.

In late October of 2023, Patrick Dai ’24 made several antisemitic threats against Jewish institutions on campus via the anonymous discussion forum Greekrank. Several derogatory messages toward Muslim students were also posted on Greekrank at the same time.

That same year, the U.S Department of Education opened an investigation into seven universities, including Cornell, over alleged antisemitism and Islamophobia. Five universities were being investigated for antisemitic harassment, and two for islamophobic harassment. At the time, a spokesperson for the ED said they could not specify which subject the Cornell investigation covered.

In 2024, a Muslim student was spat on while walking in Collegetown during Ramadan.

Murder and non-negligent manslaughter data reveal that no cases have been reported to CUPD or other campus authorities. Data for manslaughter by negligence also has remained at zero reports. Reports for incest and statutory rape are also zero, both on-campus and other locations within Cornell’s Clery Geography.

acs327@cornell.edu.

Trump Admin Negotiations

By IRIS LIANG Sun Staff Writer

Sept. 11 — Over a month has passed since Cornell and the Trump administration were reported to be nearing a $100 million settlement deal to restore hundreds of millions in frozen federal funds.

President Donald Trump’s ongoing settlement talks with Cornell, Harvard and Northwestern have now stalled, according to the New York Times. Cornell Media Relations declined to share any updates on the current status of the University’s negotiations or why they have stalled.

Harvard was reportedly close to a $500 million settlement with the Trump administration in August, following a slew of July deals reached by Columbia, the University of Pennsylvania and Brown that restored funding that had been frozen since the spring.

The slowed negotiations come after a federal judge ruled on Sept. 3 that Trump had illegally frozen billions in Harvard’s federal funding in the name of combating antisemitism. Despite the legal victory, it remains unclear whether Harvard will see its funding restored.

One reason Harvard’s talks have slowed is disagreement among White House aides who are eager to reach a swift settlement and political victory for the administration,

and those who consider the current terms too lenient, according to the Times article. One cause of the delay is some aides insisting on an independent resolution monitor who would ensure compliance from the university. This idea has faced repeated pushback from Harvard.

Momentum has also stalled with the departure of May Mailman from her position as White House senior policy strategist. Mailman previously spearheaded the administration’s cuts to university funding, civil rights investigations and summer settlement discussions. Now, as a senior adviser for special projects, she has stepped back from leading negotiations with universities.

Despite negotiations stalling, the Trump administration may still reach eventual settlements with Cornell, Harvard and peer institutions. Columbia’s own deal was anticipated to occur in the spring, according to the New York Times, only to be delayed until July 23.

A Harvard settlement could alter how Cornell and other schools navigate their own negotiations, and “serve as a playbook for other universities to resist the government, or signal that schools will ultimately have to fall in line,” as described by the New York Times.

il297@cornell.edu.

Student Assembly Establishes Committee on AI, Technology

By EMMA SPINDLER Sun Contributor

Sept. 11 — The Student Assembly voted to establish a Technology Committee during Thursday’s meeting, setting the stage for undergraduate involvement in University technology policy.

Resolution 5: Establishing The Technology Committee, passed unanimously at the Assembly meeting. The new committee is designed to address and advise on changing technology policies in the face of generative AI and other emerging technologies.

The committee will “provide recommendations on policies, programs, and initiatives,” and will “serve as the primary student voice on issues including digital tools … and policies concerning merging technologies such as generative AI,” according to the resolution.

Hayden Watkins ’28, the Assembly vice president for finance, was one of the sponsors of the resolution, which was designed to improve channels of communication with administration regarding technology.

“The [Technology Committee] will be a fantastic avenue for us students to communicate with administration and advise the Student Assembly on student perspectives on AI, hate speech on social media, and other issues relating to technology,” Watkins wrote in a statement sent to The Sun.

According to the resolution, the University has “historically relied on ad hoc student surveys and feedback mechanisms” to learn student perspectives, “but no formal or consistent channel exists for student input on University-wide

technology governance decisions,” according to the resolution.

While formal policy decisions relating to technology and its usage are done by University administrators, Student Assembly Bylaws state that the Assembly may create committees to “review all policies and programs … that create policy directly affecting student life.”

Membership of the committee will be selected by the Assembly and the IT Governance Liaison will serve as its chair.

In an email sent on August 28 from the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, the University acknowledged that while new technologies like generative artificial intelligence tools are “changing the educational landscape,” and offer “incredible opportunities for learning” they can also present various risks if used improperly.

However, the email did not establish a uniform AI policy, leaving specific policies up to individual professors in alignment with the existing Code of Academic Integrity and the undergraduate Essential Guide to Academic Integrity.

“Faculty will likely set different parameters around the appropriate use of generative AI in their courses,” the email read. “It is your responsibility to pay close attention to their course-specific guidelines.”

This approach mirrors peer institutions which have been hesitant to issue bans on the use of generative AI, though schools including Columbia and Princeton have prohibited the use of AI for academics without instructor approval.

Emma Spindler can be reached at es2272@cornell.edu.

SUNBURSTS: 145th Sun-iversary

By SUN PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT

Ahead of its 145th birthday on Sept. 16, here is a brief pictorial history of Te Sun

T e State of the Ivies: Comparing University Settlement Talks with the Trump Administration

By

Sept. 12 — Cornell has reportedly been in settlement talks with the Trump administration this past summer to restore hundreds of millions in federal funding pulled since the spring, according to an August article by Bloomberg. Negotiations have now reportedly slowed, but a deal for Cornell to pay $100 million could still be in the works.

The University’s reported negotiations follow earlier deals struck with the federal government by Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania and Brown University, as targeted schools grapple with mounting financial and political pressure to capitulate.

Cornell’s “message on financial austerity” in June revealed the “profound financial challenges” the funding freezes have caused for the University, announcing intended staff and spending cuts. The University reiterated plans on Aug. 22 to “permanently reduce costs” through campus-wide workforce and budget reductions, with “phased implementation” beginning late this calendar year.

A University spokesperson, while not updating The Sun about the current status of negotiations between Cornell and the Trump administration, sent a statement highlighting how the University is “facing different types of disruptions in research funding.”

“Cornell has stepped in when possible to support faculty work and guarantee a measure of continuity for critical research,” the statement reads. “These up-front costs total in the tens of millions of dollars and represent Cornell’s commitment to sustaining critical research and honoring the terms of federal contracts.”

Amid the ongoing negotiations, The Sun analyzed the different settlement deals made with universities across the Ivy League and spoke to Cornell professors about what a potential agreement means for the future of academic and political freedom.

Comparing Settlement Deals

Columbia agreed to pay $221 million to the federal government in July, in addition to altering its hiring, admissions and teaching practices under the supervision of an external federal resolution monitor. These terms have been a “more intrusive [and] bigger compromise on university principles than anything we’ve seen so far,” according to Prof. James Grimmelmann, law.

Grimmelmann is critical of the idea of a possible $100 million settlement from Cornell, calling it “ransom” that could “encourage the extortionists running the federal government to take more hostages.” As several Ivy League institutions reached settlement deals this summer, the Trump administration has also moved to freeze funds for additional schools, including the University of California, Los Angeles and Duke University.

In a letter to the Brown University community following the school’s July 30 settlement, Brown President Christina Paxson wrote that, “The University’s foremost priority throughout discussions with the government was remaining true to our academic mission [and] our core values ... this is reflected in key provisions of the resolution agreement preserving our academic independence.”

Although Brown paid $50 million as part of their settlement, it was allocated to Rhode Island workforce development organizations, rather than to the federal government directly. However, the university also agreed to Title IX and

NCAA regulations that prohibit transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports and limit access to gender affirming care.

Harvard was reportedly negotiating a deal similar to Brown’s this August. According to sources cited in the New York Times, the university would pay $500 million for regional vocational and educational development, “satisfy[ing] Harvard’s wish that it not pay the government directly, as Columbia is doing.” A Sep. 3 federal court ruling has held that Trump illegally froze Harvard’s funding. It remains unclear whether the university will see its funding fully restored.

After the University of Pennsylvania agreed to ban transgender athletes from competing on its women’s sports teams, the federal government closed a Title IX Department of Education investigation into its athletic policies and restored $175 million in federal funding.

Universities’ ‘Side Deals’

Prof. David Bateman, government, who is Cornell’s president of the American Association of University Professors, expressed frustration at what he sees as a lack of solidarity among targeted schools as individual universities settle in “side deals” with Trump.

“If they all agreed that they were going to fight this and pool their resources … they would be in a much stronger position than they are now,” Bateman said.

For Grimmelmann, each deal that is reached increases the pressure on peer institutions to capitulate as well.

“[A deal] shows other universities that they can be left alone, at least for now, if they pay up,” Grimmelmann said.

Ivy League schools have not always seen eye to eye in dealing with the Trump administration. Cornell and Columbia were the only Ivies not to join a June 9 amicus brief, signed by 18 peer institutions and all other Ivy League schools, which publicly supported Harvard’s lawsuit against the Trump administration. Bateman viewed their absence as a “clear sign” of Cornell and Columbia’s “willingness to negotiate” with the Trump administration.

Dartmouth President Sian Beilock came under fire as the only Ivy League president not to sign an April 22 letter publicly condemning the Trump administration for government overreach in higher education. Her silence and close talks with the administration, according to the New York Times, may have led Dartmouth to successfully dodge antisemitism complaints and targeted funding cuts.

What’s at Stake

Grimmelmann argued that the Trump administration is pursuing a broader trend of “anti-intellectualism” and “ideological opposition” with its targeting of universities.

Bateman said that the broader goal is to “subordinate universities and diminish their role in civil society,” showing a troublingly “authoritarian” approach to academic and speech freedoms.

“This was obviously coming,” Bateman said. “We were anticipating federal attacks on higher education, and it was laid out in Project 2025 and elsewhere.”

Settlement provisions such as reporting to an external federal monitor and Columbia’s adoption of the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism raise concerns for speech and academic freedoms, according to Prof. Risa Lieberwitz, industrial and labor relations, and Cornell AAUP member.

“Cornell should not agree to adopt that definition ... its examples undermine academic freedom to speak about, to

research about [and] to teach about issues regarding criticisms of Israel or critiques of Israeli policies or Zionism,” Lieberwitz said.

The Legal Fight

Bateman argued that, beyond violating First Amendment free speech rights, Trump’s attacks bypassed Title VI procedures.

“At no point does [Title VI] allow the federal government to simply cut off money before any of the procedures are followed,” Bateman said.

Title VI prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin. Cornell faces at least two Title VI investigations, one in 2023 for alleged antisemitism and islamophobia, and another launched on March 14, which is investigating the several universities’ alleged connection with the Ph.D Project, which “purports to provide doctoral students with insights into obtaining a Ph.D. and networking opportunities, but limits eligibility based on the race of participants,” according to the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights.

In a May interview with the Sun, President Michael Kotlikoff said that the University was working to close the investigations and “satisfy [the] legitimate concerns of the government.”

Bateman pressed that educational policy formation is delegated to University faculty by Cornell’s charter and state law, meaning the federal government has no jurisdiction to alter it.

Additionally, Columbia Law professor David Pozen wrote in a blog post shared with The Sun that the university deals being struck intentionally occur beyond the sphere of legal norms.

“No established legal process was followed for the Columbia agreement; no genuine legal dispute was resolved,” Pozen wrote. “Regulation by deal” is Trump’s way of bypassing legal procedures centering academic and political freedom, according to Pozen.

Pozen also raised concerns over the efficacy of lawsuits launched by Harvard, Cornell and other universities against Trump and federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation. After a July 21 hearing for Harvard’s federal funding lawsuit, Trump wrote on Truth Social, “When [Judge Allison Burroughs] rules against us, we will IMMEDIATELY appeal, and WIN.”

‘Not Worth the Paper It’s Written On’

Some professors doubted the longevity of the settlements now being reached with universities.

“There’s no guarantee that any deal you might strike is going to be worth the paper it’s written on, because it was a lawless extortion in the first place ... where only [the University is] legally bound,” Bateman said.

Trump’s March demands on Columbia, which were framed as a “precondition” for a “continued financial relationship” and were promptly accepted, did not immediately return any federal funding. Instead, Trump moved to threaten its accreditation on June 4. It was not until the July 23 settlement — which incorporated many of the March demands — that Trump restored Columbia’s $400 million in frozen federal funding.

Cornell itself has attempted to satisfy “legitimate concerns of the government” raised in Title VI and antisemitism investigations, Kotlikoff told The Sun.. These investigations were the main cause cited for Cornell’s federal funding cuts. The Office of the President’s webpage currently details initiatives for “Fighting Antisemitism and Protecting Civil Rights.”

Prof. Alyssa Apsel, electrical and computer engineering, believes that financial concessions are a tactic to put universities’ “skin in the game,” whereas for the Trump administration, “goal posts can move constantly” as they shift their demands.

“[A deal] does not prevent the Trump administration coming back, ... and it doesn’t mean that the Trump administration won’t freeze funds in the future,” Lieberwitz said.

‘Negotiated Upon in Secret’

Bateman expressed frustration that the University’s settlement process with the Trump administration lacks faculty input. He specifically asks for the Faculty Senate to be consulted, given its jurisdiction over educational policy.

Lieberwitz added that academic freedom “relies on our independence not just from the federal government, but also ... from the University administration, from the Board of Trustees and from donors.” According to Lieberwitz, donor pressure to restore financial footing has been a strong motive for universities to accept settlements with the Trump administration.

Bateman urged the University to resist capitulation. “The leadership of this university needs to know that the faculty stand behind them when they’re fighting. ... We don’t want the fight, but the federal government has brought the fight to us,” he said.

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

Independent Since 1880

143rd Editorial Board

JULIA SENZON ’26

Editor in Chief

ERIC HAN ’26

Associate Editor

SOPHIA DASSER ’28

Opinion Editor

ILANA LIVSHITS ’27

Assistant Opinion Editor

SOPHIA TORRES ’26

Advertising Manager

SYDNEY LEVINTON ’27

Arts & Culture Editor

JAMES PALM ’27

Assistant Arts & Culture Editor

JENNA LEDLEY ’27

Assistant Arts & Culture Editor

MELISSA MOON ’28

Assistant Arts & Culture Editor

SOPHIA ROMANOV IMBER ’28

Assistant Arts & Culture Editor

KAITLYN BELL ’28

Lifestyle Editor

MAIA MEHRING ’27

Lifestyle Editor

KARLIE MCGANN ’27

Photography Editor

MATTHEW KORNICZKY ’28

Assistant Photography Editor

STEPHAN MENASCHE ’28

Assistant Photography Editor

MIRELLA BERKOWITZ ’27

Video Editor

JADE DUBUCHE ’27

Multimedia Editor

HANNIA AREVALO ’27

Graphics Editor

HUNTER PETMECKY ’28

Layout Editor

RENA GEULA ’28

Layout Editor

ALLISON HECHT ’26

Newsletter Editor

Sophia Dasser

DOROTHY FRANCE-MILLER ’27

Managing Editor

MATTHEW KIVIAT ’27

Assistant Managing Editor

VERA SUN ’27

Business Manager

ALEX LIEW ’27

Human Resources Manager

BENJAMIN LEYNSE ’27

News Editor

VARSHA BHARGAVA ’27

News Editor

ISABELLA HANSON ’27

News Editor

CEREESE QUSBA ’27

News Editor

REEM NASRALLAH ’28

Assistant News Editor

ANGELINA TANG ’28

Assistant News Editor

KATE TURK ’27

Assistant News Editor

GABRIEL MUÑOZ ’26

City Editor

JANE HAVILAND ’28

Features Editor

ZEINAB FARAJ ’28

Features Editor

JEREMIAH JUNG ’28

Assistant News Editor

KAITLIN CHUNG ’26

Science Editor

MARISSA GAUT ’27

Science Editor

ALEXIS ROGERS ’28

Sports Editor

SIMRAN LABORE ’27

Weather Editor

EMILY LEE ’27

Marketing Manager

Sophia Dasser ’28 is the Opinion Editor of the 143rd Editorial and Computer Science and Philosophy student in the College of Arts and Sciences. Her column Dass(er) Te Point explores the intersection of technology, ethics, and social justice, with a focus on the overlooked and underrepresented. She can be reached at sdasser@cornellsun.com.

Claim Tis Column — Join Opinion

Every writer knows the moment. It’s often late at night. The words are blurring together both on your screen and in your mind. You start to wonder why you ever thought you could pin down a thought so slippery. You start reading your sentence aloud, hoping that your voice might uncover what your mind is too slow to think of. And then, you feel it. The sentence that falls into place, the argument that finds its spine and that singular moment where the page feels like an extension of yourself.

Writing that matters always feels personal. It asks for more than neat grammar or wit. It asks you to place a piece of yourself into the world, knowing you will never be able to control how it will be received.

This should be terrifying, and if it’s not, you’re probably not writing something that matters.

This is Opinion writing.

We aren’t looking for the writer who churns out words for the sake of filling space, but for the one who sees writing as a part of themselves. The one who treats writing as survival: the one who is buried under assignments and obligations and knows the only way out is to wrestle the idea that refuses to leave their mind into words. The one who knows that to publish is to risk something, to let your voice slip into a public that may not want you there. To belong here, in Opinion, is to welcome that risk with open hands.

Opinion teaches you that lesson again and again.

The first time someone recognizes you from your work, you realize your writing has already stepped beyond you. A classmate you barely know says, “I read your piece,” and suddenly you are not just an-

Cornell Young Democratic Socialists

of America

Kevin Chang ’28 and Romneya Quennell ’26 are members of the Cornell Young Democratic Socialists of America in the College of Arts & Sciences and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, respectively Cornell Young Democratic Socialists of America is a chapter of the youth and student branch of the Democratic Socialists of America, the largest socialist organization in the U.S.. Te organization can be reached at cornell.ydsa@gmail.com.

Cornell’s Recruitment for ICE Endangers Immigrant Students

“Are you ready to defend the homeland?”

If you are, Cornell Career Services is advertising the Deportation Officer position with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to students. By doing this, the university is actively jeopardizing its students’ well-being and capitulating to the Trump administration. As members of Cornell’s chapter of Young Democratic Socialists of America, we denounce the university’s blatant endangerment of our immigrant community, specifically Latinx students, who are disproportionately targeted by ICE.

other face in the room. You are your words, your argument, your voice carried into the world. Opinion gives you an identity you cannot fully script or control, and that is exactly why it matters.

The first time you pitch an idea you’re not sure belongs, your voice feels thin, almost breakable. You brace for silence, for dismissal. Instead, you notice the small signs from your fellow columnists and editors: a nod, a pen scratching across paper, someone leaning forward to listen. Every pitch is fragile in this way, sharp and uncertain. But together, those pieces do not scatter; they join. By the end of the meeting, they have become a kind of stained glass — each shard fragile on its own, luminous when held to the light of the department.

The first time you sit down for a live edit, you feel the strange intimacy of another set of eyes combing through your sentences. You are told your writing has grown, but that you are still trying to say too much at once. You feel exposed, but also seen. It is the moment you understand that your writing no longer belongs to you. It belongs to the world, open to interpretation, to misreading, to dismissal and to meaning you never imagined.

And by the fifth pitch meeting, everything feels different. You are no longer measuring your words, wondering if they belong. You are pitching projects, shaping conversations, helping to decide what Opinion could be. The fear does not disappear, but it changes. It becomes part of the rhythm of the room. It becomes belonging.

And that rhythm has carried me from the very beginning. From my first piece in September of freshman year...

To continue reading, please visit www.cornellsun.com

A university that promotes enlistment in a position that actively targets our immigrant community members — and may even involve lying about your identity to detain people — fails to be an institution accessible for “any person, any study.” Cornell did not protect international Ph.D. student and pro-Palestine activist Momodou Taal when plainclothes ICE officers showed up at his house to detain him, forcing him to self-deport for his safety and ability to express himself freely. Promoting the agency that endangered Taal deepens the pre-existing atmosphere of fear and distrust for Cornell’s international and BIPOC students by platforming a role that puts their visa statuses in peril. We saw this when the Trump administration decided to haphazardly terminate over 1,840 Student and Visitor System records earlier this year, resulting in the revocation of 17 current and former Cornell students’ visas, which were later reinstated in late April as ICE prepared to work on a policy to “provide a framework for SEVIS record terminations.” This time, Cornell chose to jeopardize its student body by choosing to support ICE’s discriminatory practices through promoting recruitment efforts, demonstrating a moral ineptitude and failure to protect some of its most vulnerable students. ICE preys on young, low-income BIPOC students and recent graduates nationally. The agency is adding 10,000 new agents to its workforce and using $76 billion from the “One Big Beautiful Bill” to fund sign-on bonuses of $50,000 for

Jan Burzlaff

officers and promises of $60,000 toward student loan forgiveness. Loan forgiveness measurements alongside the defunding of college financial aid programs across the nation clearly target low-income minority groups, who are already underrepresented in higher education. Additionally, the qualifications for becoming a GL-7 Deportation Officer (who receive a larger salary than entry-level GL-5 members) include graduating in high standing from one’s college with a Bachelor’s degree, which is a requirement that singles out young college graduates. Those are the very people who may be looking for jobs through Cornell’s Career Services and Handshake sites. It is deplorable that the university is promoting a government position to its students that facilitates the spread of hate toward our immigrant neighbors and community members. Even if Cornell claims to not “promote certain jobs over others,” posting such a job listing on your central career network platform for thousands to see is not only fostering a connection with a fascist entity but a fascist move in and of itself.

It seems that Cornell only fights Trump’s fascist rebukes when they bring financial damage to the institution, not when students are harmed. While Cornell provides resources for undocumented and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students through legal help and a protocol on what to do when approached by ICE officers, they post recruitments for those very same officers they claim to protect their students from. And although Cornell signed a lawsuit against the Department of Defense as it aimed to implement a 15% cost cap on research assistance to higher education institutions, it did not support Harvard University’s litigation against the federal government that opposed the Trump administration’s move to freeze nearly $3 billion of Harvard’s federal research funding. Cornell resists only when it’s financially attractive.

To continue reading, please visit www.cornellsun.com

Jan Burzlaff is an Opinion Columnist and a Postdoctoral Associate in the Program for Jewish Studies. Office Hours (Open Door Edition) is his weekly dispatch to the Cornell community — a professor’s reflections on teaching, learning and the small moments that make a campus feel human. Readers can submit thoughts and questions anonymously through the Tip Sheet found on https://www.cornellsun.com/staff/jan-burzlaff. He can also be reached at profburzlaff@cornellsun.com.

Te Unseen Labor on Campus

The other morning, I was cutting across the Arts Quad when I noticed how beautiful the flowerbeds looked. Bursts of color softened the paths and the edges of the buildings, each corner carefully trimmed and cared for. A few gardeners were hard at work, bent over their tools. For a moment, I almost kept walking, as I usually do. But then I slowed, hesitated and finally walked up to say thank you. It was an impulse — maybe a warm memory of my childhood in the countryside, maybe just the sense that someone should give words to the beauty. It felt a little awkward, but the smile I received in return was brighter than the whole afternoon.

The very next day, I had another small moment of recognition. I ride the bus across campus all the time, and after my class, I was back on board, expecting a routine ride. Suddenly, I spotted my favorite driver from last year — this time on a different line, the 51 instead of the 10. We exchanged a smile and a few words, and for a brief moment, the campus felt a little more like home after the summer.

These encounters seem ordinary and fleeting. Yet they lingered with me. Why? I realized they reveal just how much of our community is sustained by people whose work is so often invisible. You walk into your building before class, and the floor already gleams. The heat hums in the radiators, and the microphone is set up. Outside, the snow that fell overnight has been pushed aside, the paths salted, the leaves cleared. The dining hall fills with food that seems to appear as if by magic. A book you requested is waiting at the library desk labeled with your name. All of this happens because of people. And yet so often their work — custodians, dining staff, gardeners, maintenance crews, bus drivers, librarians — is designed to stay out of view. To put it sharply: The better they do their work, the more invisible it becomes. Cleaning shifts are scheduled for nights, repairs are timed for breaks, food is ready before most of us are awake. Without them, campus life would quite literally fall apart.

To continue reading, please visit www.cornellsun.com

On Charlie Kirk’s Death

Francis Jaso

A Contrarian’s Calamity

Francis Xavier Jaso ’28 is an Opinion Columnist and a Government and Economics student in the College of Arts & Sciences. His fortnightly column A Contrarian’s Calamity defies normative, dysfunctional campus discourse in the name of reason, hedonism and most notably, satire. He can be reached at faso@cornellsun.com.

CharlieKirk was hunted. He was stalked, smeared by mainstream channels, systematically censored under years-long shadowbans and cullied by centers of debate-turned-whipping posts. And he loved it. He indulged in agitation. His very brand rested on a sub-intellectual rationale that churned out misinformation and unsympathetic vitriol, mobilizing a youth that helped return Trump to power. Whether or not he truly loved speech — as he has always claimed to — or simply the chase which followed each shady tweet and racially-tinged ‘own,’ is not of concern anymore. A hatred of speech is the consequence of bad speech. But a hatred of life itself has consumed the minds of Americans. And if our dear Cornell can barely open its mouth to a deaf executive or instill the virtues of free society in its scholars, we will be the prey in the next poaching spree. It’s easy to enjoy the game from our haughty sideline. After all, Kirk was fresh meat for the picking: conservative, staunchly irreverent, a perfect, fearless mouthpiece for the

Hunt, or Be Hunted

lone demographic of white guys who feel demoralized by the liberal hellscape: How could we ever relate?

Te internet discourse is no different. He loved the guns that killed him. He asked for it. One Sidechat leech bragged that they’d “survive that.” Our peer-reviewed opinions may keep us safe for now, but our refusal to condemn, revise or outright nullify personal worldviews more than others tells us we are more than comfortable with the status quo than the danger of contradiction. But would we survive?

Would our positions, even if we had the wherewithal to voice them, grant us immunity from an America that increasingly fears speech more than death? We’ve been steeped in a stagnant Ithacan liberalism that gifts us a decent moral backing, familiar campus politics and sympathy for every person, every struggle. Te bubble lasts but four years. Tolerance disintegrates faster in the real world, and cigarettes over Marx isn’t so fun if you’re recruited to Austin. Upon descent from the ivory pillars, our illusion of safety will crumble. A brutish national order, the quietude it has produced with divisions abound, will render us alone in thought, making us doubt that expression is still valuable.

Within months, a Ukrainian refugee was slashed in cold blood; $1 million went to Luigi Manigone, a particularly shitty, indefensible killer, and a state rep was decapitated for barely deviating from her party dialogue. Our nation is consumed by a lust for death. Charlie knew this. And this lust doesn’t discriminate between reds and blues. Unequipped with developed convictions nor a sound framework for approaching opposing ideologies, we’re destined to face the hunt, too.

If we can agree on one of Charlie’s many disagreeable points, it is the last one: campus systems have become too fraught with groupthink and blind assent, students parroting their professors’ worldly theses, instead of daring to think for ourselves. His assassination seals that argument.

Yet our dilemma persists in the form of complacency. At this rate, Cornell is no longer graduating classes of speech bastions or thought leaders, much as she promises. It is a category of American Cornell has detested historically, from

Rickford to the cruel Coulter. We’ve gone corporate. Our other norms have been corrupted further: Discussions under the pressure of screens, our NYT Mini streaks giving us false merit in the humanities. Cold stares populate social interactions, sometimes more so than the phone. We have become our founder’s worst fear: a collective erosion of “idle” minds, “like rust to iron.”

For the administration, which is likely floating some poorly attended spin-off of Ben Shapiro et. al. at Bailey Hall, will not be at the helm of addressing this expressive crisis, as has been proven time, and time and time again. If the voice of a University cannot stand to be heard by its government, who are we to expect that it can uphold that of our own?

Te hunters might be in the general public, far from provocation and unexposed to our easily deconstructed, perhaps near-destroyed, worldviews. Tis is fine and well. But they are as easily cultivated in our very midst. A mutual tolerance of speech, however bad, curbs the appetite of those hungry for a stake in the conversation from turning voracious.

Who is to say a more unstable, politically cloistered assailant will not grow out of the same campus whose speech policies turn increasingly narrow by the semester? We unknowingly let Patrick Dai spiral and spell terror within the Jewish community. Our campus watched on in dimwitted awe as ROTC cadets slayed, butchered and ultimately desecrated a wild bear. Hell, the hunter who took Kirk’s life looks a lot more like a college student than a learned anarchist.

We cannot hedge our bets on a top-down solution; it is up to us to call off the hunt before it takes more victims, more voices. Lest we push open avenues for discourse — even in its gnarliest, most provocative forms — and command each other to debates that may never come to resolution, the love of death will prevail, our future leadership (largely us) will grant commissions to the hard of hearing, and man will stoop from the tongue to the barrel in his most frivolous spats. Because speech is the last bastion against an America, a Cornell, whose affairs are policed by force, not ideas.

To continue reading, please visit www.cornellsun.com.

Silenced in the Name of Security

Pilar Seielstad A Pilar of Tought

Pilar Seielstad ’26 is an Opinion Columnist and a Biological Sciences student in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Her column A Pilar of Tought offers a fresh lens on the overlooked corners of our campus. She can be reached at pseielstad@cornellsun.com.

Itis difficult to believe that just over a year ago, Cornell University declared the 2023-2024’s official theme as “Freedom of Expression.” Te irony of that is suffocating. By January 2024, as pro-Palestinian protests surged, Cornell rolled out its Interim Expressive Activity Policy, a tangle of regulations demanding permits, registration and administrative approval before students could gather.

Protests were confined to narrow zones, reduced in volume and treated as risks. Te university claimed this was for safety, but many students felt like this was a grasp at control.

When students refused to be cowed, the punishments began. Four students were banned from setting foot on the campus for three years. Momodou Taal, a vocal pro-Palestinian activist, was suspended, while others received no trespass orders. Teir crime was not violence — it was dissent. Te administration disrupted lives, delayed degrees and fractured communities because students dared to stand on the Arts Quad and speak their convictions. Te lesson was unmistakable: Protest and you risk your future here. Te cost of expression was no longer symbolic — it was real.

What’s happening at Cornell is not unique. It’s part of a pattern that’s now playing out nationwide. In the

hours after Charlie Kirk’s assassination, a narrative took hold before investigators even named a suspect, let alone established a motive. President Trump blamed the “radical left” for political violence. Vice President J.D. Vance, speaking on Kirk’s own podcast from the White House, promised to “identify, disrupt, eliminate, and destroy” far-left networks. Senior Adviser Stephan Miller vowed to unleash the full power of the Department of Justice and Homeland Security against what he branded a “domestic terror movement.” Other officials went further, pointing to unrelated incidents — Tesla burnings, clashes with immigration officers —as supposed evidence of this movement. Tis is a strategy to redefine dissent as danger, then trying to justify sweeping punishment under the guise of security.

To continue reading, please visit www.cornellsun.com

Te Politicization of Death

Sophia Romanov Imber

Assisant Arts Editor and Columnist

Charlie Kirk’s death is not poetic justice. Nor is he a martyr.

On Wednesday, the conservative political activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at Utah Valley University during an event. Kirk has been touring college campuses through his organization, Turning Point USA, which promotes conservative politics, and his “You’re Being Brainwashed” tour. Kirk often debated undergraduates on their political views and expressed his views clearly on being pro-life, pro-gun and conservative. His words from a 2023 event stand out the most now: “I think it’s worth [it] to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights. Tat is a prudent

deal. It is rational.” In reaction to Kirk’s death, some are calling it “poetic justice.” He died a gun death on a college campus while dismissing the fatalities of mass shootings. Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson posted on X, formerly Twitter, that “Te world has a shining new martyr to free speech.” Charlie Kirk is neither. He was a man who died and is now used for political means. But people are ends in themselves, not a means to an end for any political agenda. Tis effort to label his death, attach it to a political party or view, is a degradation of humanity. We cannot resort to gun violence to end someone’s platform.

Many politicians, such as Former President Barack Obama, commented on Kirk’s death. Obama wrote on X: “We don’t yet know what motivated the person who shot and killed Charlie Kirk, but this kind of despicable violence has no place in our democracy. Michelle and I will be praying for Charlie’s family tonight, especially his wife Erika and their two young children.”

If disagreement is a good enough reason to end someone’s life, who gets to draw the line on what constitutes agreement? Although many like myself disagreed with Kirk’s views, he did not deserve to die, and his death was not some form of justice. Regardless of party, if political violence becomes normalized in the United States, then we know we have reached an absolute deterioration of our values.

Charlie Kirk is not a martyr of free speech either, as Boris Johnson might argue. Many of his debate videos from his tour feature him attacking undergraduate students and taking advantage of their stumbling or underdeveloped argumentation. His take on gun deaths makes it clear that he found mass shooting deaths to be justified in the name of the Second Amendment. His platform also featured far-right views on transgender rights and women’s rights. As Conservative politicians attempt to make a mar-

tyr of Kirk and use him as a tool against the Democrats, they’re also treating Kirk and his life as a means to their political ends.

Our shared humanity as people is threatened by this act of violence. His killing does not equate to some justice for those against his views; it threatens the security of all citizens who might express any type of dissent. A bullet does not kill an idea; it can fuel it. Tis moment of political violence in the US might only worsen. No one should rejoice or celebrate in Kirk’s death.

When he went to the University of Cambridge in England, his ideas were tested and skillfully argued against by the students and professors. Tis is how ideas are combatted: through discourse that is not dismissive but open-minded, not killing those we disagree with. His death may empower others to engage in similar acts of violence. And this will surely discourage speakers from presenting at universities.

Universities are supposed to be places for education and knowledge, yet they have become centers for violence in the US. Tis could have happened at Cornell. As university students, we must be mindful of political violence on our campuses. If something tragic happens at one university, one school, it can happen at any school.

As students, we must recognize the importance of views we might disagree with and improve our ability to disagree through discourse.

Politically-motivated deaths will never be “poetic justice.” Our humanity is in danger at this moment, and it is the only thing that can possibly get us through contentious times. I urge you to not consider a death “good” or “bad.” Death is death, and on Sept. 10, Charlie Kirk was killed. We cannot harm others just because we disagree with them. Politics in the US is so greatly divided, and the only thing that will move us past this moment is our shared humanity.

Strategic Orbit: Cornell PhD Student’s Perspective on the Rise of Space Warfare

By REBECCA RYAN Sun Contributor

When most people hear the phrase “space warfare,” they imagine science fiction battles, not real-world military strategy. But in today’s world, outer space has become a great frontier of geopolitical competition, and the United States is preparing accordingly.

According to Avishai Melamed, a government PhD candidate and expert on space policy, space has been part of U.S. foreign policy considerations since World War II, when weapons were first introduced into the domain. However, only in recent years has there been a dramatic rise in attention to space as a plausible arena for conflict.

“The idea of space as a warfighting domain has shifted from speculation to something close to a truism, and that’s reshaped American defense strategy,” Melamed said, describing the creation of a new military branch, increase in investment and capabilities of the sector and deepening partnerships with private actors.

According to Melamed, the U.S. has made space a strategic priority, especially in the face of rising tensions with China.

“Space plays a critical role in the broader competition between the U.S. and China for technological and strategic dominance. It’s both an economic and security arena, offering unique opportunities and challenges,” Melamed said.

“The idea of space as a warfighting domain has shifted from speculation to something close to a truism, and that’s reshaped American defense strategy. Space plays a critical role in the broader competition between the U.S. and China for technological and strategic dominance.”

Avishai Melamed, grad

The race to secure orbital dominance has become a matter of national security, where both nations are competing not just for resources but for influence over the future of space governance itself. Melamed points to initiatives like the Artemis Accords and China’s International Lunar Research Station as battlegrounds where the U.S. and China are vying for influence.

The competition in space isn’t just about satellites and rockets. It’s about capabilities that can shift the balance of power, particularly in military strategy. Melamed highlights key areas of investment, such as the Space Warfighting Framework for Planners, released in April.

This document from the United States Air Force focuses on improving space logistics and maneuverability.

Melamed predicts there will likely be the development of new offensive capabilities as part of the evolving military doctrine. His perspective on what the future of space holds is grounded in the reality of today’s technological race.

“The actual chances of real conflict depend largely on politics,” he said.

“Technology doesn’t determine it all on its own, so we can take meaningful steps to prevent such conflicts from breaking out in the first place.”

This preventive approach, combined with the escalation of offensive capabilities, aims to make any potential conflict in space as costly as possible, deterring adversaries through the threat of mutual destruction. But Melamed emphasizes that preventing conflict requires more than just preparing for war.

“We must prepare for the possibility of conflict to be ready for either situation,” Melamed said.“Balancing preparation with prevention is a key question of deterrence.”

Amidst the competition of military and commercial interests, the role of private companies cannot be overlooked, according to Melamed, who says that these companies have “unlocked a whole host of new technologies that directly impact international relations, the international economy and security considerations.”

With private players like SpaceX entering the space race, they become both partners and competitors with national governments. These companies are deeply embedded in the geopolitics of space, raising new security concerns as the external private systems need to meet the government’s standards for security.

There’s a delicate balance between public and private interests, according to Melamed.

“At the bare minimum, there’s an issue of fit,” Melamed said. “Private systems need to be made compatible with public needs and procedures. The government has to align them so they can provide services at a level of quality and reliability that makes outsourcing worthwhile.”

Nevertheless, Melamed points out that there’s still room for diplomacy. Treaties like the Outer Space Treaty have limited the militarization of space, but he notes that they are far from perfect. Despite limited success with historical international treaties, such as the Partial Test Ban Treaty, multilateral treaties can be difficult to implement.

This is often due to political resistance or loopholes that states can exploit.

Even with treaties in place, the realities of space warfare are complex. Melamed emphasizes how, for example, space debris and dual-use technologies raise important ethical considerations. Military planners face the challenge of ensuring that their actions in space do not harm global infrastructure.

“Conflict that generates space debris can disrupt the enormous range of services that flow through space,” Melamed said. “This creates an ethical obligation to prioritize maintaining those services and preventing conflicts from escalating to the point where they damage the infrastructure societies depend on, for communications, information and basic functioning.”

“The issue of space becoming overcrowded, and the resulting potential for service disruptions or space debris, makes attention to sustainability essential.”

Avishai Melamed, grad

Ultimately, Melamed believes that the biggest threat to space policy may not necessarily be war, but sustainability as “the issue of space becoming overcrowded, and the resulting potential for service disruptions or space debris, makes attention to sustainability essential.”

Space debris in particular is of concern because, in space, even a small collision can have catastrophic consequences. Once debris is created, it moves at incredibly high speeds and can damage satellites, spacecraft and the space environment, creating even more debris in what’s known as the Kessler Syndrome. This could render valuable parts of space unusable for generations.

To mitigate this, many nations and organizations are working to establish standards for responsible behavior in

space. The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs has long been at the forefront of promoting international cooperation to prevent such damage.

“The technologies we use in every aspect of our lives are at risk, and that’s exactly why we need students to get involved in keeping space sustainable, safe and productive.”

Avishai Melamed, grad

Moving forward, Melamed suggests a need for a combination of legal frameworks, international diplomacy and technological solutions to ensure that space remains an asset for all nations while reducing the risk of conflict. He highlights that these efforts must be complemented by ongoing technological developments, like solar power satellites to sustain both civilian and military interests in space, without undermining the environment.

The ethical, political and technological implications of space warfare are not only important for policymakers but for the public at large, according to Melamed.

“The technologies we use in every aspect of our lives are at risk, and that’s exactly why we need students to get involved in keeping space sustainable, safe and productive,” Melamed said. For students and anyone interested in learning more about space policy, Melamed points to several valuable resources.

“Space News provides very digestible and up-to-date articles on the latest developments in the space sector,” he said. “Students can learn a lot from publications like these, as well as from government reports, which outline the most urgent needs the country is facing at any given time.”

Cornell Couture: A Century of Campus Fashion

By Jessica Agran

Jessica Agran is a junior in the College of Human Ecology. She can be reached at jba76@cornell.edu.

In between hastened treks across campus in the frenzy to get to class, for a brief moment you may slow down and take a look around. It’s nearly impossible not to spot a Goyard purse, a colorful Onitsuka Tiger sneaker or even the student athletes’ signature red bags. Despite the acceptance of these established trends integrated into Cornell fashion, the representation of global trends mixed with students’ personal style brings something unique to our campus.

Although it’s hard to believe that life could have ever been so different, Cornell harbors a fascinating history surrounding expression and fashion. And you better believe that the students of the 20th century had their own form of flair when it came to their wardrobe choices.

In the late 1890s and early 1900s, Cornell had strict rules that emphasized school pride (Cornell Olin Archieves).

Wearing high school insignia was forbidden, and freshmen in particular were burdened with the harshest, and often most embarrassing, restrictions. Until the 1950s, Professor Green shared that men had to wear beanies everywhere they went. These aren’t the cool skater beanies you may think of, slouched and loose; these were tight circular caps (that originally only came in gray, but in later years came in red), and there was really no good way to style them. These less-than-fashionable head pieces signified students’ first-year status and were, to say the least, not enjoyed by those burdened with sporting them. Our archives show that in some years, first-year men had other rules that regularly changed, such as “no gouaches with buckles” or “no mustaches.”

Just five years after Cornell’s creation, women were admitted to learn alongside their male peers. For these new students, strict dress codes involving dresses were imposed. This formal dress coincided with the elitism expectation of a prestigious university, as well as societal norms. This rule stayed in place until the 1950s, when snow pants became acceptable (Professor Green). The rules were changed again in 1962 where dresses became an option in the classroom (Cornell Olin Archieve).

The mid-1900s brought with it an important moment for reform and change, with many of these restrictive dress codes debated in the Women’s SelfGovernment Association. This group discussed female student life, with one poignant debate being for the fight to wear bermuda shorts — for which I may argue that we all collectively decide to burn the bermuda short (Professor Green).

Jokes aside, this time of female liberation created a space for women students to come together. This group didn’t only work to better student life, but also participated in wardrobe rituals. During the first semester of freshman year, upperclassmen women would make the new freshman students wear a green item, ranging between scarfs, caps or even pins. Once December came, they had a Hades party (Cornell Olin Archive). Here, everyone dressed up in sadistic wear, banished the class-specific item and received the “commandments of the devil.” This fun celebratory event was a secret initiation of women into becoming official Cornellians. During the mid-1900s, expanding freedom also introduced more complex dynamics. After the end of World War II, more people were coming to college from

an unusual path. This destruction of the traditional order opened the way for exploring individuality and identity, ending the long-established dress code. But with giving any group of twenty something boys freedom, does come pranks. At this time, activities like streaking and panty raids became far too normal, and the schools concern on dress code fell to the wayside.

Each class was defined by more than just its pranksters; students also celebrated unity and upperclassmen status by coming together to design a unique class blazer in their junior year (Professor Green). They would once more replicate this tradition with another blazer after graduation. These class jackets were an insignia of pride and were often worn at future reunions.

Casual student dress has come a long way since Cornell’s beginning. The switch of the late 19th century Victorian period involved intricate and constricting dress — with gowns for all occasions expected of women and men in formal as well — to relaxation of general dress expectations: skirts and tops, as well as a simple shirt and trousers, became the norm only 50 years later. As Cornellians moved into the 60s and 70s and denim made its way into the mainstream, free-

dom to dress however one wished became a way of life — and it’s the one we know today. The next 70 years led to shoulder pads, the Y2K scene and now into a place of athleisure and global influence.

It’s easy as a modern student to scoff at the chosen outfits of our predecessors, but the truth is, there are a lot more similarities than you may believe. We may know our Canada Gooses to be the “cool” winter coat, but 100 years ago, people were showing off their raccoon coats with the same level of enthusiasm and trend adherence.

No matter the year, students are the same. We all operate in this environment of excitement relating to the hottest trends and the chicest fashions.

Stories of student life are often told within the seams, sharing secrets of those that came before them — students who were not too different from us. Cornell’s dedication to inclusivity of all different countries and genders is reflected in a way of dress that celebrates individuality and cultural traditions. Next time you are putting on your Urban Outfitters corset, think of those who were expected to wear the garment, though theirs was definitely a lot different than yours.

A special thanks to Professor Denise Green for helping on the creation and deep dive into Cornell’s archives that made this article possible. If you are interested in learning more about student life from Cornell’s history, I encourage exploration within consultation or by checking out the Cornell Sun’s digitized archive.

U-Halls and Beyond: Cornell Dorms Trough the Years

By Caitlin Gallagher

Caitlin Gallagher is a senior in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. She can be reached at cmg323@cornell.edu.

It is no secret that dorm-living is often not the most comfortable, clean or convenient experience in every college student’s life. It’s possible that you have encountered Cornell alumni waxing poetic about their time here, but frequently their tales involve some sort of exposé of their previous residence hall. I was working on campus for the most recent reunion weekend and can personally attest to hearing countless stories and debates about which dorms were bottom and top tier back in the day. Balch and Dickson had a few honorable mentions for top tier, but more often than not, alumni would take a few minutes to complain about the U-Halls.

The word “U-Hall” was repeated so often that it began to have an infamous ring even in my ears. The name eventually evoked the same visions I see whenever somebody mentions the Low-Rise residential community that I lived in my first year: cramped rooms, shower walls covered with long mystery hairs and suspicious smells of equally mysterious origin. For this anniversary edition, I decided it was finally time to get to the bottom of what made the U-Halls so infamous in the collective Cornell memory.

In my research, I discovered that the shortened “U-Hall” actually stands for “University Halls”, and they were referred to mostly by their numbers, not unlike the current Low Rise dorms. They were constructed to accommodate the influx of new students following the Second World War, but it became clear even before their erection that they were going to be immensely unpopular. Even upon merely looking at the blueprints for the buildings, a group of architecture students complained that the designs for the new buildings “ignored the sun, the wind, storms, views, orientation to existing buildings,” and that they bore a strange resemblance to army barracks, a living situation that would have been not far from the front of many students minds in the recent aftermath of the war.

As one might imagine, the dorms never became more popular. Years after their construction, students complained about the shoddy construction — infrastructure that would literally crumble, doors that would splinter should someone knock too hard and walls so thin you could have full conversations with your next-door neighbors. The interior design was downright unappealing as well: orange carpeting and cinderblock walls.

My uncle, David Gallagher ’98, lived in U-Hall

6 during his time here, and the kindest thing he could say about the dorm design was that they were “utilitarian” at best. My uncle’s stories about the U-Hall experience painted a picture very similar to the one I often conjure while describing

my first-year living arrangements — it has reached a point of hilarity actually. I cannot be certain, but it is entirely possible that I am on the receiving end of a generational curse that predetermined my less-than-optimal Low Rise 9 living situation. At least I had the consolation of Morrison Dining Hall. The U-Hall residents had a cafeteria that was affectionately nicknamed the “Barf Bar.”

The only thing that was mentioned as frequently as the grim conditions of the U-Halls, though, were the outrageous memories that students had in them. In my conversations with alumni over reunion weekend, there were countless allusions to (likely intoxicated) hinjinx in the buildings. Further investigation into the buildings revealed more specific stories: a student who managed to fit an entire Volkswagen bug into his dorm, DIY steam rooms created by running all of the bathroom showers on their highest heat, fights waged between windows of rooms stacked on top of each other, flag football games in common rooms and hundred-person snowball fights in the courtyards. In my Uncle’s memory, “one of the U-Halls was so savage that Cornell boarded up their common room.”

One thing that did strike me about the stories of the gritty shenanigans in the U-Halls were the photos that accompanied them. These photos confirmed my initial suspicions that the U-Halls were the 20th century equivalent to the LowRise residential community. I smiled looking at the messy desks cluttered with homework and corkboards pasted over with mementos, thinking about how easily it could have been me and my friends in our nasty dorms if we could only master the impossible coolness of 70s and 80s fashion.

To say that the worst dorms on campus are less than ideal is an understatement no matter when one is a student here, but the stories relayed by U-Hall survivors reveal that there will be a humorous commiseration for many years to come. Let the stories of these former students serve as evidence that you may at some point have a vague sense of nostalgia for the grime and grit of your college living, but also that your seemingly endless nights of fun and laughter will become just as notable as the dorm halls themselves.

ICSD Teachers Rally As Negotiations Loom For New Contract

By ATTICUS JOHNSON Sun Staff Writer

Sept. 12 — Over 100 teachers dressed in blue rallied outside of the Ithaca City School District offices after school to demand a better contract on Thursday.

Following negotiations with the Ithaca City School District broke down this past summer, Ithaca teachers vowed to increase pressure on the Ithaca City School District over creating a new contract.

In June, the Ithaca Teachers Association — which is Ithaca’s union of nearly 600 teachers from the district — voted to “pause” negotiations with the ICSD until October, even as their contract was set to expire at the end of the month. Since then, teachers have been working under the old collective bargaining agreement.

“It feels like we’re not getting there at the negotiating table, so that’s why we need actions like this,” said Aurora Rojer, a Lehman Alternative Community School humanities teacher.

Protesters were joined by Tompkins County legislators Deborah Dawson and Shauna Black, Mayor Robert Cantelmo, Alderperson Clyde Lederman ’26 and Common Council candidates Hannah Shvets ’27 and Jorge Defendini ’22.

Picketers chanted “we can’t take it anymore, Dr. Brown negotiate,” and “what do we want? Step and lane,” referencing ICSD superintendent Dr. Brown and the support of a Step-andLane salary structure.

“I’m interested in teaching in the

future myself,” Menzie Berkowitz, a student at LACS said, adding that “they deserve more pay.”

“It feels like we’re not getting there at the negotiating table, so that’s why we need actions like this.”

Aurora Rojer

Negotiations over a new contract concerns ICSD providing health insur -

ance to domestic partners, a “Step-andLane” salary structure, which would reward teachers staying in the district, and paid parental leave comparable to other school districts upstate.

Under a Step-and-Lane system, teachers would earn raises for each year they stay at the district and for each new certificate or degree they receive. While many U.S. school districts utilize Step-and-Lane, critics claim the policy pushes away younger candidates and keeps burnt-out teachers in classrooms.

In a June presentation, the ITA argued that 60 annual departures from the district were due to a lack of Step-

Former CUPD Police Chief Anthony Bellamy to Retire

By ZEINAB FARAJ Sun Features Editor

Sept. 12 — The Cornell University’s Police Department’s Police Chief Anthony Bellamy will retire from CUPD and join the Ithaca Police Department as a deputy chief of police on Oct. 2, according to a statement from a University spokesperson that was sent to The Sun.

Bellamy, who was CUPD’s first Black chief and has more than two decades of experience on the force, has served as police chief at CUPD for the past three years. In an email obtained by The Sun that Bellamy sent to officers, Bellamy told them that this opportunity “is a meaningful step” for himself and his family.

“I am deeply grateful for the relationships, collaboration, and dedication that define Cornell University Police.”

Anthony Bellamy

“I am deeply grateful for the relationships, collaboration, and dedication that define Cornell University Police,” Bellamy wrote.

According to the statement, CUPD Deputy Chief Eric Stickel will be appointed interim chief on Sept. 20. Stickel has worked for the CUPD for 17 years and is an alumni of nearby Lansing High School, where he works

as the girls soccer team’s head coach.

“I want to wish Chief Bellamy well in his future endeavors,” Stickel wrote in the statement. “We appreciate all his efforts in keeping us the modern, professional agency that we are, and in making the Cornell community safer. My goal is to keep that momentum going.”

“I’m a spoke in the wheel, and I want to keep that wheel moving in a great direction and support that any way I can.”

Anthony Bellamy

In another email obtained by The Sun that Bellamy sent to officers, Bellamy wrote that he is “fully committed” supporting Eric “until the transition is finalized.” Bellamy is expected to retire from CUPD on Oct. 1, before starting with the IPD the next day.

Bellamy wrote in the statement that his goal in the new role is “to collaborate and create partnerships” between the CUPD and IPD.

“I’m a spoke in the wheel, and I want to keep that wheel moving in a great direction and support that any way I can,” Bellamy told the Cornell Chronicle.

Bellamy will participate in a ceremonial “walk-out” on Sept. 19.

and-Lane system central in negotiations.

This increased pressure comes at a time where ICSD teacher turnover has reached 18 percent, compared to the New York state average of 10 percent in 2024 and a national average of just 7 percent.

“I’m interested in teaching in the future myself... they deserve more pay”

Menzie Berkowitz

While ICSD has claimed that the ITA’s demands were not financially possible, ITA members disagree.

A switch to Step-and-Lane “would be very easy. It would be no cost to them,” ITA treasurer and Northeast elementary math teacher Brian Goodman said. “They have a high-paid executive team – their job is to solve problems.”

ICSD did not respond to a request for comment.

While a strike is illegal under New York state law, in some states “teachers have only been able to achieve life-changing contracts through illegal strikes,” according to a statement sent to The Sun from ITA President Kathryn Cernera. Ithaca Mayor Robert Cantelmo said he supports “any means” for the ITA to get a fair deal.

“We are doing everything in our power … to avoid a strike,” said Cernera.

Atticus Johnson can be reached at aj639@cornell.edu.

Clocktower Renovations Stir Mixed Reactions From Students

By ASHLEY LEE Sun Senior Writer

Sept. 15 — The construction of McGraw Tower was completed July 30 welcoming students back to campus with a scaffold-free clock tower. The construction, which started in July 2023 and was initially projected to finish in November 2024, was delayed until the following summer, concealing the tower for two years.

While the University first claimed the scaffolding would be removed by the Class of 2025’s commencement weekend, the statement was quickly rescinded and revised to explain that poor weather conditions would prevent the construction from being completed in time.

In an email statement sent to The Sun this past summer, Andrew Magre ’91, associate vice president for engineering and project administration, explained the process of the clock tower being renovated.

“The installation of the lead roof took a high level of craft[s]manship, took time, and had to be a hundred percent perfect given the limited access to the roof when the scaffolding is removed,” Magre wrote.

For Claudia Slivovsky ’25, the delay in construction became a major disappointment as commencement weekend approached.

“When they first said that it would be done by graduation, I tried to plan my graduation photos to be as late as possible to get the clock tower in my photos,” said Slivovsky. “Then they announced it wouldn’t be done, and it was frustrating because I wanted to recreate pictures from when I first moved in that involved the clock tower.”

To Slivovsky, the clocktower was one of the most impressive things she saw on her tours, both as a student and as a tour guide

during her undergraduate years.

“I was in awe when I first saw the clock tower when I was a freshman,” said Slivovsky. “It’s one of my favorite places on campus and I hope freshmen and sophomores also get to experience it.”

For some underclassmen, this semester is the first time they have seen the tower without the scaffold. Ethan Pereira ’29 shared that his first impression of the clock tower during a campus tour was very underwhelming.

“One of the things about Cornell is that it’s supposed to have a beautiful campus, but it was kind of gross to see the scaffold up [close],” said Pereira. “I didn’t notice the scaffold removed when I moved in, but my friend pointed it out and it was interesting to see the construction done.”

Similarly, Mini Ge ’28 expressed her initial surprise at the completion of the clock tower and the removal of the scaffold over the summer, given the University’s statements on the delayed completion of the renovation.

“I was in Ithaca over the summer when the scaffold came off, and I was shocked because [the tower] was so pretty,” said Ge. “Campus looked so different with the clock tower raised up, but I was curious as to what changes they made during construction.”

Curiosity towards the renovations made were also shared by Ana Hoffman Sole ’26. Hoffman Sole recalled the summer the scaffold went on, explaining how she didn’t expect the construction to last so long for so little visible change.

To continue reading this article, please visit www.cornellsun.com.

ARTS & CULTURE

Editors’ Choice: 145 Nostalgic Movies

By ARTS AND CULTURE EDITORS

In honor of The Cornell Daily Sun’s 145th birthday, our Arts and Culture editors have compiled a list of 145 nostalgic movies to make you feel some way other than overwhelmed in these busy first few weeks of school.

1. The Wizard of Oz (1939)

2. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)

3. Roman Holiday (1953)

4. Sabrina (1954)

5. Lady and the Tramp (1955)

6. Funny Face (1957)

7. North by Northwest (1959)

8. The Parent Trap (1961)

9. Dr. Strangelove (1964)

10. Goldfinger (1964)

11. Mary Poppins (1964)

12. The Sound of Music (1965)

13. Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)

14. Fiddler on the Roof (1971)

15. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

16. Star Wars: A New Hope (1977)

17. The Rescuers (1977)

18. Animal House (1978)

19. Apocalypse Now (1979)

20. Airplane (1980)

21. Caddy Shack (1980)

22. E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (1982)

23. The Last Unicorn (1982)

24. War Games (1983)

25. Anne of Green Gables (1985)

26. The Breakfast Club (1985)

27. The Goonies (1985)

28. Weird Science (1985)

29. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)

30. The Adventures of Milo and Otis (1986)

31. Top Gun (1986)

32. The Princess Bride (1987)

33. Back to the Future (1988)

34. Big (1988)

35. Rain Man (1988)

36. Dead Poets Society (1989)

By JANE LOCKE Arts & Culture Writer

37. The Little Mermaid (1989)

38. When Harry Met Sally (1989)

39. Goodfellas (1990)

40. Kindergarten Cop (1990)

41. Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead (1991)

42. Hook (1991)

43. The Addams Family (1991)

44. Aladdin (1992)

45. A League of Their Own (1992)

46. My Cousin Vinny (1992)

47. Sister Act (1992)

48. A Bronx Tale (1993)

49. Hocus Pocus (1993)

50. Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)

51. Sleepless in Seattle (1993)

52. Tombstone (1993)

53. Forrest Gump (1994)

54. Interview with the Vampire (1994)

55. Pulp Fiction (1994)

56. Speed (1994)

57. Casino (1995)

58. Clueless (1995)

59. Jumanji (1995)

60. Jerry Maguire (1996)

61. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)

62. Anastasia (1997)

63. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)

64. Good Will Hunting (1997)

65. Hercules (1997)

66. Men In Black (1997)

67. My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997) Mulan (1998)

68. The Parent Trap (1998)

69. The Prince of Egypt (1998)

70. The Truman Show (1998)

71. You’ve Got Mail (1998)

72. Big Daddy (1999)

73. She’s All That (1999)

74. The Virgin Suicides (1999)

75. 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

76. Almost Famous (2000)

77. How the Grinch Stole Christmas

(2000)

78. The Emperor’s New Groove (2000)

79. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)

80. Legally Blonde (2001)

81. Monsters, Inc. (2001)

82. Ocean’s Eleven (2001)

83. The Fast and the Furious (2001)

84. The Princess Diaries (2001)

85. Scooby-Doo (2002)

86. Barbie of Swan Lake (2003)

87. Cheaper By the Dozen (2003)

88. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)

89. Peter Pan (2003)

90. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

91. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)

92. Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper (2004)

93. Mean Girls (2004)

94. Napoleon Dynamite (2004)

95. National Treasure (2004)

96. Shark Tale (2004)

97. Pride & Prejudice (2005)

98. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005)

99. Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005)

100. Borat (2006)

101. Night at the Museum (2006)

102. The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

103. The Holiday (2006)

104. Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007)

105. Enchanted (2007)

106. Hot Fuzz (2007)

107. Ratatouille (2007)

108. Another Cinderella Story (2008)

109. Barbie & the Diamond Castle (2008)

110. Barbie in a Christmas Carol (2008)

111. Bedtime Stories (2008)

112. Beverly Hills Chihuahua (2008)

113. Camp Rock (2008)

114. Kung Fu Panda (2008)

115. Mamma Mia! (2008)

116. Ponyo (2008)

117. Stepbrothers (2008)

118. He’s Just Not That Into You (2009)

119. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)

120. The Hangover (2009)

121. The Princess and the Frog (2009)

122. Easy A (2010)

123. How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

124. Starstruck (2010)

125. Tangled (2010)

126. Tinkerbell: The Great Fairy

127. Rescue (2010)

128. 16 Wishes (2010)

129. Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (2011)

130. Dolphin Tale (2011)

131. Lemonade Mouth (2011)

132. We Bought a Zoo (2011)

133. Parental Guidance (2012)

134. Pitch Perfect (2012)

135. Rags (2012)

136. Skyfall (2012)

137. Tinkerbell: Secret of the Wings (2012)

138. 21 Jump Street (2012)

139. Rush (2013)

140. Teen Beach Movie (2013)

141. Gone Girl (2014)

142. Interstellar (2014)

143. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014)

144. Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)

145. The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015)

Jane Austen’s 250th Birthday Message

When Jane Austen, a figure revered across the globe for her portraits of human nature, began her writing career, it was completely anonymous. Her first novels were simply marked as “the author,” acknowledging her previous works. Pride and Prejudice was “By the Author of ‘Sense and Sensibility.’” Emma was “By the Author of ‘Pride and Prejudice.’” Today, this unidentified individual has become a phenomenon worthy of countless movie adaptations and a nationwide organization committed to adoring her work. Her fame is only going to continue, as this year Jane Austen will be pushed further into the spotlight. Why? Come December, she turns 250 years old.

Birthdays are a time for reflection, whether it be on the lessons learned through the past or the possible adventures coming in the future. Unfortunately, Jane Austen is no longer walking the Earth, scribbling away at a desk or speaking to audiences about what she wishes to instill in new generations. Fortunately, writing gives those hungry for the lessons of Austen a peculiar opportunity: the ability to glean knowledge from the books left behind. Austen may be gone, but her novels and letters survive, amplifying her voice in the present and through to the future. With this anniversary, we should take time to pause and consider Austen’s words. When readers today think of Jane Austen, most jump

to the timeless tales of romance, like that of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice. However, an important piece of Austen’s writing that often gets overlooked is her comedy. That should be Austen’s first message on her 250th birthday: find the humor in the world around you. In Pride and Prejudice, you need look no further than the character of Mr. Collins to find a good laugh. A thoroughly ridiculous person, Mr. Collins serves as a form of comic relief in the book. He bumbles around, makes extremely long speeches about all the various positive qualities of his patroness and jumps from one woman to another in the search of a wife. Pride and Prejudice certainly has its serious moments, evidenced by the dark manipulative powers of Mr. Wickham, who convinces Elizabeth’s sister to run off with him without any intention of marrying her. Yet, Austen takes time to poke a little bit of fun at the society around her. Today, 250 years after the birth of Austen, and eventually Pride and Prejudice, we could do well to emulate her style.

Jane Austen provides us with less light-hearted advice as well. In Emma, the title character is a somewhat-spoiled, self-proclaimed matchmaker. During a picnic trip, Emma behaves rudely to Miss Bates, a poor, yet ultimately kind, woman who is mocked for her trivial speeches and unending comments. Mr. Knightley, Emma’s love interest in the novel, rebukes Emma severely, causing Emma to release her callousness towards another woman. Austen wrote this scene in Emma,

and the protagonist’s subsequent realization that she has never been “so agitated, so mortified, [so] grieved,” to remind us today to never assume the circumstances of another and decide prematurely on their character. This is a recurring theme, most easily identifiable by the title of Austen’s most beloved novel, Pride and Prejudice. The prejudice which Elizabeth initially builds up towards Mr. Darcy blinds her to the true workings of his generous and loyal heart.

However, the most crucial lesson Austen can teach us, 250 years into her life, is the value of writing. Northanger Abbey provides the greatest insight into the workings of an author’s mind, speaking on the merits of her craft. In ruminations that quickly leave the actual plot of Northanger Abbey, Austen defends the novel by calling it a “work in which the greatest powers of the mind are displayed … the liveliest effusions of wit and humor, are conveyed to the world in the best-chosen language.” Austen, as an author and reader, understood the need for language to be put to paper, writing out stories full of lively characters and eternal advice.

To continue reading, please visit www.cornellsun.com.

Jane Locke is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at jal562@cornell.edu.

Pink Floyd’s ‘Wish You Were Here 50’

HAZEL TJADEN ARTS & CULTURE WRITER

Think about your all-time favorite album. Maybe it’s the one that calms you after a long day or the one that gets you up and dancing each time without fail. Maybe it’s the album that you lip-sync to in the library as if it’s a concert; you’ve memorized every lyric, tempo change, ad-lib and drum solo. Surely, you could picture the cover of this album instantly — it greets you on Spotify or Apple Music (or whichever other streaming service you frequent) with the comfort and reliability of an old friend. Now, imagine searching for this album and its cover is nowhere to be found. Instead, you are greeted by a stranger, a minimalistic replacement cover with a white text describing the original art atop a black shrink wrapped background. The familiar album cover you once knew and loved — that had supplemented your favorite listening experience — all of a sudden stripped away.

This horror became a reality that Pink Floyd fans, myself included, lived this past Tuesday, when the ’70s psychedelic rock band’s discography was abbreviated into uniformly dull album covers that compress their certifiably iconic cover art into mere descriptions. For example, their The Dark Side of the Moon art was reduced to text reading “A prism refracts light into the spectrum.” The publicity stunt was performed on various streaming platforms, their official website and their Instagram, with unified elements of black shrink wrap and ambiguity. Despite their initial dismay and my personal outrage,

fans were certain this change was linked to a surprise celebrating a big occasion on the horizon — the 50th anniversary of the band’s Wish You Were Here album on Friday, Sept. 12. Theories circulating on Reddit, discussion forums and Pink Floyd’s comment sections recalled the black shrink wrap that the original 1975 WYWH vinyl arrived in. It had obscured the album’s famous art of “Two men in suits shaking hands one man is on fire” (per the recent description) until after purchase of the record. The “hidden” cover was a trademark of the release of the album, reflecting WYWH’s themes of isolation and the fear of losing artistic integrity in the face of the money-hungry music industry.

By Friday, Pink Floyd had announced the impending release of Wish You Were Here 50, a new multi-disc anniversary album featuring the original album, unreleased alternate versions, demos and live recordings set to release in three months on Dec. 12. Regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time, Wish You Were Here explores both the absence of founding member Syd Barrett — who had left the band seven years earlier due to his deteriorating mental health and drug use — as well as Pink Floyd’s negative experience with their newfound fame post The Dark Side of the Moon (1973) stardom. With only five tracks spanning a total of 44 minutes (including two songs over 10 minutes each), the album does what many albums today can’t — it creates a cohesion in themes that make the songs melt together into a story. As a true concept album that invites listeners into the personal world of the band, their

troubles losing a core member and their worries for the future of their music, it is a vulnerable and eerily beautiful story of absence, both personal and musical.

The album opens and closes with “Shine On You Crazy Diamond,” a nine-part tribute to former guitarist and vocalist Syd Barrett. Structurally, it is a masterpiece; it’s the type of song that consumes you with its textural variation including breathtaking guitar solos alongside synthesizers and drums. In parts 1-5 (the first 13 minutes of the album), more than eight minutes of pure instrumental genius pass before poetic lyrics regarding Barrett, the “crazy diamond,” begin. The lyrics demonstrate the tension the band faced when making the final decision to let go of Barrett due to his wearing substance abuse. They remember Barrett in a positive light, that, at the band’s conception, he “shone like the Sun.” Parts 6-9 which close out the album continue their reverence for Barrett’s creative skills that had fueled the band: “yesterday’s triumph.” Situated alongside a weeping guitar, the whole of “Shine on You Crazy Diamond” reflects the band’s interpersonal pressures that coincide with their professional and artistic struggles that are explored throughout the three middle tracks.

Track 2, “Welcome to the Machine,” transitions the album into contemplations on musical exploitation and creative captivity that confined the band as they grew in fame. The song likens the music industry and its ensuing consumerism to a machine, one which turns innocent aspiring musicians into professional cogs. Loaded with impactful lyrics characteristic

of Pink Floyd’s style, the song is emphatically explicit in the lyrics: “What did you dream? It’s all right we told you what to dream.” “Have a Cigar” — which is my personal favorite — tells a similar satire of corporate greed from the perspective of a businessman. It’s famous lyric “Oh, by the way, which one’s Pink?” caricatures a record executive whose selfish ignorance illustrates how many business-people see the band not as artists, but a monetary product. While the song is comparatively more alive in its musical aspects, it has a concept cohesive to “Welcome to the Machine.” Namely, Pink Floyd’s sprawl into fame forced them to experience firsthand the money lust of the recording industry.

The eponymous track, “Wish You Were Here” links both the personal and professional aspects of the album, acting as an elegy for Barrett as well as the band member’s younger selves that were unaware of the crippling rapacity their fame would invoke. The lyrics question what the band had to leave behind — willingly or not — as they grew into their stardom.

Fifty years later, the poignant story presented throughout Wish You Were Here is more relevant than ever, as profiteers continue to see music not for its creativity but for its possibility as a money-making scheme. When will this time-old tale of musical exploitation end? Will it be the same in another 50 years — or worse?

Hazel Tjaden is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at hlt43@cornell. edu.

‘Twilight’ at 20: A Cultural Retrospective

Nothing in pop culture is quite comparable to the phenomenon that is Twilight; since the release of Stephenie Meyer’s first novel in 2005, it has created a cultural frenzy, been panned by critics and, finally, experienced its own renaissance, successfully cementing the saga as a permanent cultural touchstone. Twilight has created some of the most diehard fans and staunch haters in all of literary and cinematic history. 20 years after the release of the novel that started it all, what is it about Twilight that has kept its fandom alive for decades, with no signs of slowing down?

Twilight notably came to Meyer in a dream. This appropriately sets the tone for the franchise as a whole, which, with each installment, begins to feel more and more like a fever dream. In the first novel, seventeen-year-old Bella moves to Forks, Washington and discovers a clan of vampires, including Edward. Forever frozen in time, Edward is a permanently-sullen teenager who, despite his commitment to a “vegetarian” diet of animal blood, is irresistibly attracted to the scent of Bella’s blood. The two fall in love, quickly, and within two years, the two get married, have a vampire-human hybrid daughter, face the nefarious council of vampire royalty, and broker peace between the vampires and their ancient enemies, the werewolves. By the last novel, which culminates in the final standoff between the Cullen clan and their werewolf allies and the royal council, the Volturi, it’s hard to remember that this is the same series that began with a high school romance. Meyer’s original novel was lauded for its portrayal of teenage love and angst, but this is quickly abandoned in favor of something much more fantastical and, at times, nonsensical.

Somehow, however, Twilight has never lost its fanbase. Three years after the book’s release, the release of

its film adaptation permanently secured Twilight’s place in pop culture. Twilight, the 2008 film by Catherine Hardwicke, might be better remembered than its source material. The blue tint applied over the entire movie, a genuinely great soundtrack and, of course, moments like the iconic baseball scene make the first Twilight movie a cult classic. They also turned Twilight into the sensation of the 2000s, mostly due to Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson’s performances. Twilight, the film, turned the franchise into a cultural touchstone, and has secured its place in the zeitgeist for years after.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a few pieces came together to create the perfect storm that is the “Twilight Renaissance.” With an increased amount of freetime, many revisited comfortable childhood favorites, including the Twilight saga. In late 2020, Stephenie Meyer released “Midnight Sun,” a reimagining of the first novel from Edward’s perspective. Finally, and most importantly, in the summer of 2021, all five movies came to Netflix, making them more accessible than ever. The subsequent boom brought the Twilight saga to a new generation of fans and reignited a passion for the franchise in those who grew up with it. Perhaps most special about Twilight is its mass appeal, across generation lines.

I first fell in love with Twilight sometime in early 2020, a few months before the Twilight Renaissance. I watched all five movies in rapid succession and quickly moved onto the books. My taste in media tends to be a bit pretentious, so my sudden (and lasting) obsession with one of the most made-fun-of franchises of all time came as a surprise, even to myself. There’s something deeply endearing about Twilight that has successfully drawn in each friend and family member I’ve forced to watch the movies with me. No matter what it is, we as a culture are unable to look away, and have been stuck in the Twilight vortex for two full decades. You’ll hear no complaints from me. As campy and ridiculous as the franchise is, my love

for Twilight is more than ironic. 20 years on, the Twilight fandom has turned into one of my favorites. I’ve spent much of the last week in the Twilight anniversary livestream, which plays all five films on a constant, 24/7 loop, chatting with, at times, 10,000 other “twihards.” This anniversary has cemented, for me, that Twilight has made it through its time of so-called “Twilight mania,” through a period of intense hatred and vitriol, out the other side to a fandom that shares a love for Twilight that is part ironic, part genuine. 20 years later, it shouldn’t be embarrassing to admit that parts of Twilight are genuinely good and that the saga has cemented itself in pop culture not just because of its so-bad-it’s-good parts, but because there’s something genuine at the heart of it all that has spoken to audiences for two decades, and, I suspect, will continue to reach new audiences for years to come.

Cornell Athletics Hires Eight New Head and Supporting Coaches

Sept. 11 — This summer, Cornell Athletics hired eight new head and assistant coaches across seven varsity sports ahead of the 2025-2026 regular season.

The Sun spoke with the new coaches to understand their goals and background experiences before their new start with the Red.

Nicolle Madonna: Equestrian, Head Coach

Nicolle Madonna is the equestrian team’s new head coach — and the only newly hired head coach this summer. Madonna told The Sun that she has been “fully immersed in the horse world” since she was five years old.

“‘Obsessed’ is a word most family members have used,” Madonna said. “I would sit at the schooling ring and watch the professionals teach, I would ride anything I was asked to. [I] watched videos upon videos of horse shows.”

Madonna founded and coached the Central New York Equitation Interscholastic Equestrian Association team in 2008 and coached it through 2023, according to Cornell Athletics. She joins Cornell Athletics with professional experience as a groom and rider for John Madden Sales and has worked with Beezie Madden, an Olympic gold medalist.

Madonna also told The Sun that she feels Cornell stands for many of her personal beliefs — most importantly, the University’s commitment to excellence and its own community.

“Some of the most influential people in the world have strong ties to Cornell,” Madonna said. “It’s an impressive and daunting resumé of humans that I am happy to have even a tiny part of.”

Chris Brown: Men’s Ice Hockey, Assistant Coach

Chris Brown became a part of the men’s hockey team staff following four seasons as an associate head coach at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. During Brown’s time with the team, UAF faced and tied or bested some difficult opponents, including No. 3 Minnesota this past season.

Prior to his time in Alaska, Brown was a head coach for roughly 15 years at Division III Augsburg University. The team appeared in the NCAA Division

III men’s hockey tournament from 2016 to 2019. Brown has also developed 12 All-Americans in his time as a head coach.

Brown wrote in an email sent from Cornell Athletics to The Sun that he is “excited to pour” his heart into the program and work with head coach Casey Jones ’90, who has replaced former head coach Mike Schaefer ’86.

“I’m honored to work with Coach Jones as he takes over the reins from Coach Schafer, who is one of the titans in our sport,” Brown wrote. “I’m inspired by the high level of motivation and talent that their student athletes have and I look forward to working with them to reach their full potential.”

Cam Clarke: Men’s Ice Hockey, Assistant Coach

Cam Clarke will join the men’s hockey coaching staff as an assistant coach after a two season stint at Norwich University. He is coming off of an impressive season with the Cadets as they took the No. 2 seed in the New England Hockey Conference.

Before coaching ice hockey, Clarke played Division I hockey at Ferris State University and was selected in the fifth round of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. He played three years of pro hockey before deciding to become a coach.

Now joining the Red, Clarke said the team goal is to win the ECAC and National Championships, as that is the team’s “standard.”

“My role within the program will be to help the student athletes work specifically on their skill development on the ice,” Clarke said. “I will also be an active recruiter helping bring future student athletes to our campus.”

Nathaniel Graham: Men’s Basketball, Assistant Coach

When asked what attracted him back to Cornell Athletics, Nathaniel Graham had one answer: head coach Jon Jaques ’10. In 2010, Jaques was the team’s senior captain while Graham was an assistant coach — now, the roles have slightly flipped, with Jaques leading the program and Graham returning to his staff. Graham returns to The Hill after spending ten seasons as head coach of men’s basketball at his alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania.

Graham recounted that when he was coaching Jaques in 2010, the team won an Ivy League Championship

and advanced to the NCAA’s Sweet 16 Tournament. Graham says he and Jaques are now friends, and he is excited to bring his knowledge from 20 years of experience as a Division I head coach, both the “good and bad,” to the team this year.

“I am excited to work with [Jaques] and to learn more about the style of play, which is one of the fastest and most innovative styles in the country,” Graham said. “[Cornell] is the college version of the Indiana Pacers.”

Marisa Runyon: Softball, Assistant Coach

The Dryden, New York native and University of Alabama All-American Marisa Runyon joins the Red’s softball coaching staff this year following three stints of coaching.

Last spring, the softball team underwent a midseason coaching change when former head coach Julie Farlow ’97 stepped down from her position and former assistant coach Tara Tembey was promoted to interim head coach. Tembey will now take the reins as head coach, with Runyon supporting her.

“Coach Tembey is very familiar with the program, and I whole-heartedly support her vision for this team,” Runyon said. “While the goal will always be to win an Ivy League Championship, I hope to have just a small part in preparing these girls for life after softball.”

Runyon told The Sun that the goal for the team this year is to “get one percent better” everyday and work with the players to reach their full potential “on and off the field.”

“Preparation breeds confidence, and I will do my due diligence to ensure I can help put these girls in a position to succeed and win games,” Runyon said. “If we can be consistent every single day with our effort and energy, the best is yet to come for this team.”

Carissa Tambroni: Field Hockey, Assistant Coach

Carissa Tambroni is no stranger to Cornell or Schoellkopf Field as she joins the women’s field hockey team as an assistant coach this fall. Her mother, Michelle Tambroni, was head coach of the field hockey team for six years and her father, Jeff Tambroni, was the head coach for men’s lacrosse for 12 years, helping lead the team to three NCAA Final Four appearances and a national runner-up finish in 2009.

“Cornell has always been a special place for me… I’ve been surrounded by Cornell athletics for as long as I can remember,” Tambroni said. “I’ve seen firsthand the pride, tradition and high standards that come with being part of this community, and I’ve always admired the culture of excellence both on and off the field. Being able to now contribute to that legacy feels incredibly meaningful.”

Tambroni spent her collegiate career at James Madison University where she played various positions on the women’s field hockey team — which she explains gives her “versatility” and a deep understanding of field hockey from numerous perspectives.

Courtnay Pilypaitis: Women’s Basketball, Assistant Coach Courtnay Pilypaitis will serve as the assistant coach for the women’s basketball team this fall. She brings roughly 20 years of collegiate basketball experience to the Red. Pilypaitis was a three-year captain at the University of Vermont, where she played shooting guard. She later competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics. After graduation, she served as the assistant coach for the Catamounts for four years.

In an email sent from Cornell Athletics to The Sun, Pilypaitis said she is “honored and excited” to join the program.

“It’s a privilege to work alongside such a talented group of student-athletes and coaches at one of the nation’s premier academic institutions,” Pilypaitis wrote. “I’m looking forward to contributing to a culture of excellence, growth, and competitiveness both on and off the court.”

Kyle Canavally: Men’s Baseball, Assistant Coach

Kyle Canavally is joining the men’s baseball staff following his four-year tenure as assistant coach at State University of New York, Brockport, where he also worked as an athletic trainer. Canavally graduated from SUNY Brockport in 2021 and played in 20 games over three years on the varsity baseball team.

To continue reading this article, please visit www.cornellsun.com.

A Student-Created Startup

Dreaming Up Business Legacy

By RAFAELA GANDOLFO BUSTAMANTE Sun Senior Writer

Sept. 10 — Adequate sleep is critical for the average college student, but according to Christian Tarala ’27, the Twin XL mattress sizes in the dormitories have made this challenging. After experiencing this issue first-hand, Tarala envisioned a solution in his freshman year dorm room: Big Red Beds.

Alongside co-founder Rohan Kumar ’27, the two created a start-up in their freshman spring that replaces Twin XL with Full XL mattresses in University dorms, launching a platform for peer-driven entrepreneurship. Big Red Beds allows University students to expand their bed size by 50 percent with a frame extender that attaches to the original bed frame, according to the company’s website. The Full XL mattress rests atop the frame extender, while the Twin XL gets stored beneath the bed frame.

“The mission is designed to be passed down to provide real business experience and learning opportunities while simultaneously improving the Cornell experience for our peers.”

Christian Tarala ’27

Big Red Beds offers multiple package options that vary in price. The most basic package starts at $240 per semester and includes a Full XL mattress, a secure frame extender and a waterproof mattress cover. For an additional cost, customers can upgrade to premium packages that include sheet sets, pillows and other bedding.

Big Red Beds manages delivery and installation, with service deliveries directly to students’ dorms.

As a student start-up, the business has not come without challenges. The biggest of which, for Tarala and Kumar, was Cornell Housing issuing a statement online discouraging the use of Big Red Beds in July 2024.

The statement from the

ClubFest Invites Students to Explore Campus Organizations

By SOPHIA KOMAN Sun Staff Writer

Sept. 13 — Cornell’s semesterly student club fair, ClubFest, was held on the Arts Quad on Saturday September 13. The event was shifted from its Barton Hall location last semester, moving to the Arts Quad

This year, ClubFest featured over 600 registered clubs and student organizations and the event was divided into two sessions to accommodate the large number of clubs. The event offers students the opportunity to explore options for extracurriculars by speaking to a variety of students tabling to represent their different campus organizations.

it,” said Chang.

Lorenzo Blanco ’27, vice president of recruitment for the Cornell Undergraduate Law and Society Review shared similar positive remarks about the outdoor location.

It’s interesting to see just how many people there are here and how many different interests are being shown and supported,” Blanco said.

“I really am glad that the freshmen, especially, are able to have this sort of experience today.”

Belicia Pinkrah ’28

University warned students to “please be aware that any rental from Big Red Beds is not an approved piece of furniture and you will be required to remove it.”

However, after spending the year in communication with University administrators and the completion of a successful fire code inspection, Big Red Beds was able to secure approval in May 2025 to operate as a “third-party vendor,” Tarala said. Since then, Big Red Beds has functioned independently, working directly with students and their families while remaining fully compliant with University regulations.

In an email to The Sun, Cornell Housing and Residential Life affirmed their approval of Big Red Beds and expanded on the nature of this relationship.

“Cornell University’s Housing and Residential Life currently works with Big Red Beds, a third-party vendor that works directly with students to provide options for expanding the size of their on-campus beds,” Cornell HRL wrote. “Housing and Residential Life does not have access to the vendor’s client list and is not involved in their business practices or bed installation.”

With the business now operating independently and officially recognized by HRL, Tarala has turned his focus to growth and innovation by channeling his entrepreneurial skillset. According to Tarala, he has experimented with “learning how to communicate the brand,” developing marketing techniques such as content creation on Instagram and Tiktok within the last year.

Compiling 26,700 views, the company’s most-viewed Instagram reel marked a turning point in gaining recognition for the brand and Tarala himself in February 2024.

Now, with his senior year quickly approaching, Tarala is looking for a successor to share the experience running a start-up at a collegiate level. For Tarala, the real legacy he hopes to leave behind is the real-world educational lessons for a new generation of students.

Cornell Club Field Hockey was one of the registered clubs in attendance at the event. Ava Faust ’27, vice president of Cornell Club Field Hockey, highlighted that there are no tryouts and the team is newly co-ed.

“We’re

super excited to get more people. …There’s no tryouts so it’s just a super fun, inclusive space.”

Caroline Darling ’26

The Cornell Undergraduate Asian Business Society was also in attendance. President Sara Chang ’27, shared how her club is focussed on professional development and providing students with exposure to different industries like real estate, venture capital and consulting.

Regarding the location shift this year, Chang shared her approval for the new outdoor venue.

“I think that having it be outdoors gives people more of a chance to see the whole layout of the clubs.”

Lorenzo Blanco ’27

“It makes it a lot easier to connect with people and it feels less tight than where we typically do

Belicia Pinkrah ’28 shared similar praise for the change of ClubFest to Arts Quad this semester, saying that the atmosphere of ClubFest felt much livelier this year. She added that she felt it was cramped inside Barton Hall.

“I really am glad that the freshmen, especially, are able to have this sort of experience today,” said Pinkrah.

Ooreofeoluwa Ogunyinka ’26, co-president of the Nigerian Students Association, said that while there were a lot of bugs on the Arts Quad, the fresh air and open space felt better than the congestion on Barton Hall.

Ivory Piskula ’29 attended ClubFest and shared that she thought the event was well organized and was impressed with the variety of clubs Cornell has to offer.

“I honestly did not expect this many clubs and it’s actually really amazing to see this,” said Piskula.

Hiba Loukssi ’27, president of the Cornell Student Union Board, shared that she was excited about the student turnout at ClubFest and the location change this year.

“It’s awesome to see everyone outside and enjoying the nice weather and being on the Arts Quad,” Loukssi said.

Sophia Koman can be reached at sck227@ cornell.edu.

No. 23 Men’s Soccer Splits Two-Game Week

By WILLIAM D. CAWLEY Sun Staff Writer

Men’s soccer split this week’s games, losing away against the University of California, Irvine before coming back strong at home against Western Michigan University.

On Monday, Sept. 8, Cornell (3-1) suffered its first loss of the season at the hands of UC Irvine. Cornell had the upper hand with 12 shots and four shots on goal, both doubling the UCI tallies, but the Anteaters put home the only goal of the game in the 59th minute.

This was the first goal conceded on the season for the Red, and led to the first defeat of 2025 while the Anteaters

remained undefeated.

On Saturday, Sept. 13, the Red had an emphatic bounce-back performance against Western Michigan.

Cornell opened the scoring in the 29th minute thanks to a goal from senior defender Andrew Johnson. Sophomore defender Aidan Martin took a short corner to senior midfielder Giorgos Diakos, who whipped the ball into the box, finding the right foot of the airborne Johnson. This goal continued a streak of set piece dominance from the Red, with four of the first five goals of the season coming during, or shortly after, set pieces.

In the 40th minute, sophomore forward Kasper Wollstein took the ball from Cornell’s own half to the Broncos’

net, slotting a shot home to the far post. This brought the Cornell lead to 2-0 at halftime.

Shortly after halftime, Diakos lofted a ball over the top of the defense for senior midfielder Westin Carnevale. Carnevale caught the keeper off of his line and chipped the ball up and over to give Cornell a commanding lead.

The final whistle blew with Cornell securing a 3-0 victory in its home opener.

The Red were dynamic on offense, taking 17 total shots and putting nine of them on frame. Diakos was the star of the game, with six shots, three on goal, and two assists in just 68 minutes.

Western Michigan took 13 total shots, none particularly daunting, and senior

goalkeeper Ryan Friedberg only had to make four saves en route to his third shutout of the season. Friedberg and the Cornell defense have only allowed one goal through four games, though it cost the Red the game against UC Irvine.

The Red returns to action at Berman Field on Saturday, Sept. 20 at 4 p.m. to face the New Jersey Institute of Technology in the second leg of a threegame homestand. The Highlanders are 1-3-1 on the year, with just one goal scored, making for a mouthwatering matchup for the Cornell defense.

William D. Cawley can be reached at wcawley@cornellsun.com.

Cornell Volleyball Shines in Home Opener, Bufalo Classic

By BUZMAEL JOANUS Sun Staff Writer

There’s no better feeling than protecting your home court, especially against a rival that competes only 90 minutes away. On Tuesday night, the Red (4-3) hosted the Colgate Raiders (4-5) in its season home opener and took the victory in four sets.

In the first set, the Red got off to a lethargic start. Errant passes and defensive gaps by the Red saw the Raiders go on a five-point scoring run and take an early 12-6 lead.

“My teammate, Meghan Gaffigan, and I talked to the team about bouncing back and building our rhythm, not by being antsy but by staying calm and confident,” said freshman setter Mikayla Gray. “Playing uptight can make us frantic, so we decided to channel our energy in a way that allowed us to play our game but [then also] kick up the intensity.”

As the set progressed, and with the Red facing a 12-16 deficit, sophomore outside hitter Haley Clark put on her superwoman cape.

Clark delivered a great set to junior libero/setter Sarita Pomar for a kill, and then followed up by generating two service aces. An error by the Raiders and a kill by senior outside/opposite hitter Nicole Mallus saw the Red’s four point deficit turn into a one point lead. The Red had found their groove.

The teams traded blows until, with the score at 22-20 in favor of the Raiders, they committed two straight errors to knot the score at 22 apiece. The Red capitalized, and after a solo block by sophomore middle blocker Mackenzie Parsons, followed by a duet block by Parsons and senior outside/opposite hitter Meghan Gaffigan, the Red took a two point lead. They would go to win the set 25-23, aided by a service error by outside hitter Milan Bayless on the final volley.

The Raiders’ focus lapsed in the following set, committing three straight errors to start. The Red followed suit and committed three errors of their own to tie the game at three apiece. From this point, it was a back-and forth-affair, with both sides displaying their offensive talent.

Gray, one of the game’s most valuable players, put her body on the line multiple times, diving for loose balls and creating second chance opportunities for the Red. This, coupled with her precise setting and strong service, ensured that the set and overall match never got out of reach.

“I think what really drives my passion on the court is seeing how hard my teammates work alongside me, and how everyone works so hard to do their job on the court,” Gray said. “It pushes me to reciprocate that energy and show them that they can rely on me, as I can [on] them.”

With the Red leading 16-13, the Raiders had another bout of three straight errors, and after an emphatic kill by Parsons, the set was effectively out of reach. The Red would go on to win 25-17 and take a 2-0 match lead.

In the third set, the Raiders got off to a quicker start, relying mainly on their outside hitters to generate offense. Both squads went on multiple scoring runs, refusing to relinquish the lead for more than a few volleys. With the Raiders leading 20-17, they again relied on their outside hitters and strong service to close the set, and Colgate would ultimately win 25-18 after a final service error by the Red.

The final set began close, with the Red holding a 17-15 lead over halfway through. At this moment, Clark took over again.

Five consecutive serves and strong defense on the back end by Clark ensured that the Raiders couldn’t execute their offense, forcing them to send over free balls

on their third hits. Coupled with this were two straight kills by senior outside/opposite hitter Eliza Konvicka and two straight blocks by Parsons.

“I think Haley Clark, our sophomore outside hitter, absolutely deserves a shout out for her remarkable performance last night,” Gray said. “She was a total difference maker, as she consistently was a go-to on the pin for when we needed a point. She was a huge asset in the back row as well, as she helped keep vital plays alive and helped us to stay in-system during serve-receive with her excellent passing performance. …[H]er aggressive serves helped us gain momentum against Colgate.”

In all, the Red rattled off six straight points and took a commanding 23-15 lead. They would go on to win 25-19, on a final kill by Konvicka, courtesy of a set by senior setter Doga Ozalp.

“Colgate has some offensive tendencies that we knew we could neutralize if we were focused as the match went on, and we did a great job of executing from the beginning of the match until the end,” said head coach Trudy Vande Berg. “They also made some adjustments and we responded well.”

Following this match, the Red traveled north to Buffalo to take part in the Buffalo Classic, where they faced off against Niagara University, Northwestern University and University at Buffalo between Sept. 12 and Sept. 14.

The Red defeated the Niagara Purple Eagles (0-8) in four sets on Friday afternoon.

In the opening set, Ozalp made her impact immediately. In delivering strong serves to start the match, along with a precise set to Parsons for a kill, she engineered a quick 4-0 lead for the Red.

To continue reading, please visit www.cornellsun.com.

Buzmael Joanus can be reached at bwj27@cornell.edu.

On its Anniversary, Te Sun Looks Back at its History

The Sun grew to be Ithaca’s only morning newspaper and a reputable source recognized by Cornell administration and major players in the journalism field. Nine years into its founding, The Sun received an invitation from Joseph Pulitzer to attend the New York World building opening in New York City. The New York Worldwas published from 1860 until 1931

and pioneered sensationalist journalism by reporting on controversial topics. For The Sun, the invite marked a precedent for both its reputation and expansion.

The early 1900s and 1910s were met with great expansion, with The Sun establishing an office at The Ithaca Journalin Spring 1912 and appearing as “Ithaca’s Morning Newspaper” that fall. Female students also joined the editorial board in the midst of World War I. Harriot

Parsons 1919 and Alice Street 1919 led as women’s manager and women’s editor.

World War I prompted a decline in editors and The Sun’s first publishing hiatus since its inception.

“The Cornell Daily Sun will not resume publication with the opening of the college year 19181919 because of conditions created by the nation’s war preparations,” a pamphlet announced to the Cornell community.

Following World War I, The

Sun struggled to rebound from its losses but passed a profitable year in 1928. At this point, Cornell Daily Sun had been changed to its modern name, The Cornell Daily Sun, after the 1927-1928 editorial board made the official change in the masthead and page captions.

The 1940s to the 1970s

This financial success carried into The Sun’s next 50 years. Much of its revenue was earned from both advertisements and subscriber fees.

“Based upon the number of ads that had been sold to The Sun on any given day, we would figure out how many pages the paper would be,” said Richard Morse ’70, business manager of The Sun in 1969. “Then we would tell the News department.”

Due to the well-established expectation for quality journalism throughout its next 30 years, it trained editors to be successful in the industry. Numerous editors and staff members grew to be large faces in the journalism field, despite the fact that Cornell does not offer a journalism major.

For example, Kurt Vonnegut ’44, a world renowned writer of the 20th century, served as an assistant managing editor and associate editor at The Sun during his time at Cornell University.

Though Vonnegut left Cornell to enlist in the army, his time with The Sun forever altered his life. Vonnegut became a famous author, publishing a wide array of literature including novels, short stories, nonfiction and plays. His book “Slaughterhouse-Five” earned a spot on the New York Times bestseller list in 1969.

Vonnegut credited The Sun as having provided him with a sense of purpose in his life.

“The Cornell Sun, thank goodness, showed me what to do with my life, and I did it,” Vonnegut remarked during a speech given at The Sun’s 125th anniversary dinner in 2005.

The paper additionally opened avenues to explore governmental and political fields. Throughout the 1960s, The Sun was recognized across the country, and college journalism was a powerful connector to U.S. governmental positions of authority. Alan Flaherty ’62, who was The Sun’s editor in chief in 1962, shook hands with two U.S. presidents during his time as an editor.

To continue reading this article, please visit www.cornellsun.

Marisa Cefola can be reached at mcefola@cornellsun.com.

Breanna Ferreira can be reached at bferreira@cornellsun.com.

T e Sun Re f ects on its Complex Gender History

Continued from page 1

Gordon recalled that during her freshman year, women were subject to a curfew of 9:30 p.m. on weeknights until Thanksgiving, after which it extended to 11 p.m. on weeknights and midnight on Friday and Saturday nights.

“Being a woman on campus was, in retrospect, difficult, though at the time I didn’t think so,” Gordon told The Sun. “There were curfews, and, until my senior year, we had to live in the dorms or sorority houses.”

On March 14, 1962, the Women’s Student Government Association voted to trial abolishing senior women’s curfews for one year. Subsequently, curfews for different years were gradually phased out until they were completely eliminated during the 1968-1969 school year.

“By my senior year, women had no curfew, so there was no limiting factor for women to have any position on The Sun,” Gordon said.

Gordon covered women’s matters — including the gradual elimination of women’s curfews — during her tenure as women’s editor at The Sun. (Sun File Photo)

After graduating from Cornell, Gordon worked in editorial and publishing roles at various publications for most of her career then served as executive director of a national nonprofit that supported libraries.

Penny Haitkin ’65: The Last Sun Women’s Advertising Manager

Penny Haitkin ’65, the last list-

ed women’s advertising manager, joined The Sun her freshman year because of a mutual friend.

“My best friend from high school went to Syracuse and her roommate — this was freshman year — had a boyfriend who was business manager for The Sun,” Haitkin said. “I met him and he said ‘You should come see The Sun, it would be fun.’”

Like Gordon, Haitkin said she remembered her curfews and how she needed permission from her parents to leave campus to go back home for breaks. These rules limited the number of women who could work across all departments of The Sun.

“[Although] there was a women’s advertising manager, I had no staff — it was just me,” Haitkin said. “There were no women photographers, there were no women in sports — this was before Title IX and there weren’t a lot of women’s sports anyway. I mean no one made to demean women in any way or make it harder, it was just, again, how things were.”

Like Gordon, Haitkin said she saw the limited positions for women on The Sun as a consequence of the University’s restrictions on women.

“We still had curfews and so [that was] one of the reasons women couldn’t be managers, especially in news,” Haitkin said. “The Sun was printed, at that time, by the Ithaca Journal, and if there were any problems the night when The Sun was printed, they could call one of the managers to come down and figure it out.”

As women’s advertising manager, Haitkin explained that her

primary responsibility involved sourcing advertisements targeted to female readers. Haitkin would drive to neighboring towns and visit stores like the Rothschild Bros’ Department Store, the main department store for women in Ithaca at the time, to inquire about advertising potential.

“If I went to Rothschilds I would try to give them some idea of what was going on on campus, something that they might be interested in [advertising for],” Haitkin said.

Haitkin said the gendered divide of leadership positions created disparities in pay. At the time, editors of The Sun got paid in terms of “stocks.” According to Haitkin, the amount of money an editor or manager got depended on their position on The Sun. Since women could not participate in higher leadership positions, they were not able to make as much as their male counterparts.

“My senior year, the editor in chief kept thanking me because he had enough stock, or money, to buy a used car. I certainly didn’t have that. I never got as much as the top three guys or anything like that,” Haitkin recalls. “I remember getting a couple hundred dollars, which I was happy to have, but it wasn’t comparable.”

Still, Haitkin described her experience on The Sun as a memorable and fulfilling journey.

“I loved it,” Haitkin said. “It was a terrific four years and I made a lot of good friends and met people in Ithaca that were interesting.”

Cynthia Wolloch ’64: Sun

Women’s Advertising Manager

“I didn’t think it was odd [to have separate women’s sections],” Cynthia Wolloch ’64 said. “The fact that The Sun was advertising for women, it didn’t faze me. I thought, ‘Oh good, I can work on the paper.”

Wolloch was a freshman studying government when she decided to join The Sun’s business board to meet interesting new people and explore places off-campus.

Wolloch reflected on how the later elimination of the position mirrored the broader increases in women’s opportunities.

“I remember one woman in my sorority was going to Harvard Law School — and I thought, ‘Women could go to law school?’” Wolloch said. “All this was new to me. You had to see it happen [to other women] before you realized it could happen to you.”

Wolloch acknowledged that these contrasting realities of both progress and pushback could co-exist.

“History happens in jumps and starts and is non-synchronous,” Wolloch said. “There were a lot of women who ended up going to grad school and getting Ph.D.s in their fields — those opportunities happened side by side with there being jobs like women’s advertising manager for The Sun.”

Wolloch mentioned that the 1960s marked a significant turning point for social progress amid the civil rights and women’s rights movements.

“When we entered in 1960, women had strict curfews, firstyear women weren’t allowed in

men’s apartments on pain of expulsion, we all had to live on campus, we couldn’t wear pants to class and had to wear stockings to Sunday lunch,” Wolloch said. “When we graduated, all of this was gone or going.”

Wolloch said that norms for women looked very different by the time she left campus.

“I lived in the Hasbrouck Apartments my senior year, with two other women, and we got away with shorts in late spring,” Wolloch said. “A few years later, everyone was reading Betty Friedan and Simone de Beauvoir.”

Reflecting on her time at Cornell and her involvement with The Sun, Wolloch expressed pride at the transformation in opportunities for women that she has witnessed over the past six decades.

“I’m just so overwhelmed whenever I visit campus and I see all these young women,” Wolloch said. “[For example] the engineering school — I didn’t know a single woman in the engineering school back then. Not one.”

With the current opportunities available, both at The Sun and elsewhere, she urged undergraduate women to embrace every opportunity.

“There are no sort of formal barriers anymore. So just do what looks interesting — take advantage of it and try a million things,” Wolloch said.

Marian Caballo can be reached at mcaballo@cornellsun.com.

Anushka Shorewala can be reached at ashorewala@cornellsun.com.

FROM OUR ALUMNI: WHAT THE SUN MEANS TO ME

Jay

Branegan Joseph Schatz

Associate Editor ’72

Two of the biggest upheavals in Cornell’s recent history, the 1969 Straight takeover and the pandemic shutdown in 2020, were separated by 51 years. But they shared one thing in common — the Cornell Sun was there to provide students, faculty and others with timely information on those momentous events.

I was a newly-minted freshman member of the Sun news board when black students seized the Straight on the eve of Parents Weekend, throwing the campus into turmoil. As rumors swirled and tensions flared, Sun staffers rushed to cover the story from all angles. Then of course there was no online edition and the print paper appeared only five days a week. But The Sun pulled out all the stops to publish a special weekend edition, and continued with extensive coverage as the crisis unfolded in the following days and weeks.

In keeping campus up-to-date during the fast-changing situation, The Sun performed a vital function in squelching rumors, providing accurate information on the actions of the occupying students, university administrators and the police, and giving voice to the students, faculty and activists reacting to events. By providing unbiased, accurate reportage, I believe The Sun helped prevent a volatile situation from spinning out of control.

Five decades later, I happened to be in Ithaca on March 13, 2020, when the administration, with no warning, cancelled classes and told students to go home be-

cause of COVID-19. Chaos and confusion reigned. With everyone looking for answers, The Sun scrambled to provide them. Editor-in-Chief Maryam Zafar ’21, who had assumed the job just a week before, rallied her troops, who were soon spread across eight time zones, to keep working the phones and provide regular online updates on the University’s ever-fluctuating plans and COVID protocols.

The Sun’s online traffic soared to unprecedented levels as parents, staff, students and incoming students struggled to learn what was happening with classes, exams, graduation, admission, dorm assignments, employment, room and board payments, and all the rest. Again, the Sun proved to be a key resource for Cornellians. I mention this history not to brag on The Sun (or, not just to brag on The Sun), but to highlight the importance of the traditional media in providing reliable, factchecked reporting about major events. These broadcast and print outlets once provided a common platform for debate which was spirited, contentious, but civil.

As the late New York Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan famously said, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.”

To continue reading, visit www. cornellsun.com.

Leslie Steinau

Assistant Managing Editor ’65

Congratulations to the 145th Editorial Board from a member of the 84th. Despite the many years of separation, we share a common bond. For most of us (like me), The Sun was and is our defining affinity group activity while at Cornell. We are all part of a great tradition of serving the oldest independent college newspaper in the country, even at the expense of studies and keeping normal hours.

While I did not go into journalism or become a writer, I did become a book publishing lawyer. Over the years I have written hundreds of contracts involving publishers and authors. My experiences at The Sun have been invaluable.

In those long-gone years, the newspaper was produced by linotype hot-metal machine. Part of the job of the night editor was to proofread the entire next-day’s edition, including advertisements and classifieds, once a week starting at 9 p.m. and ending at 2 a.m. normal closing time (or sometimes even later in the event of a late-breaking story). The pay for those five hours of proofing was 50 cents an hour, not nearly enough to pay for a fraction of law school. But it did teach me to proofread, and that skill has come in handy reviewing legal documents for “typos.”

The Sun also taught me to be a better writer, a lifelong skill that translates into almost every endeavor of working life, whether or not one becomes a journalist or an author. In those days long before personal computers and word-processing, stories had to be written directly on the typewriter, in descending order of importance, often against a deadline. No time to first write out in longhand and then

Assistant Sports Editor ’98

When I joined the Daily Sun as a sports reporter in 1994, I had no designs on a journalism career I was honestly just homesick and trying to find my place as a Cornell freshman. Three decades later, as I help shape the next chapter of political and policy journalism at POLITICO, I can’t imagine my career without the Sun.

I spent two years reporting on everything from wrestling to ice hockey before Adam Thompson ’99 and Brad Sherman ’98 pushed me to become an assistant sports editor in my junior year. At the time I was worried that I simply couldn’t take on an editing job and still pull off a demanding computer and government double major, but I took the leap and got hooked on the rhythms and energy of a daily newsroom, and the adrenaline rush of pulling an edition together on a 3 a.m. deadline.

There’s a direct line between that experience and my work now. But at this moment of dizzying change in the economy, politics and journalism, it’s worth noting that my journalism career hasn’t been a direct line — it’s been decidedly nonlinear. Upon graduating in 1998, I still didn’t think of journalism as the profession for me. But after a two-year detour into a government tech job, I desperately missed the excitement and sense of shared purpose of a newsroom — and my passion for politics and elections wouldn’t go away. So I made a gamble, parlayed my Daily Sun sports clips

transcribe. Little did I know at the time, but this skill has transferred seamlessly into word processing without having first to go through multiple contract drafts.

My most memorable experience, however, occurred in the spring of my junior year while I was competing for managing editor at The Sun. At the time I was taking a Shakespeare course taught by Arthur Mizener, a well-known professor in the English Department and an expert on F. Scott Fitzgerald. The course consisted of two papers and a final exam, each counting one-third of the grade. Professor Mizener had one major requirement … each paper had to be handed in on time, at the risk of a five-point deduction for each late day. I did reasonably well on the paper, an 80, but wound up with a 35 because it was nine days late. And that was one-third of my grade for the course! I ultimately passed the course by doing very well on the next paper and okay on the final exam.

When I went to talk to Professor Mizener about the grade on the paper, he taught me a valuable lesson that I carry with me to this day. Sometimes in life, we have to make decisions where two desired outcomes are not possible. In my case, submitting the paper on time or competing for an editorship. Part of becoming an adult, I learned, is making the decision we think is right for us at the time, while accepting responsibility for the choice not made. After all, isn’t that what “Freedom with Responsibility” is all about?

Good luck to The Sun’s 145th Editorial Board and best wishes for continued success carrying on this great tradition!

into a junior reporter job offer at Congressional Quarterly, took a pay cut, alarmed my father and began nearly a decade covering Capitol Hill during the George W. Bush and Obama administrations. Along the way, I made other gambles: quitting good journalism jobs in Washington to go overseas with my wife, first as an Associated Press stringer and journalism teacher in Zambia, and then as freelancer for the Washington Post in Myanmar. Both times I wasn’t remotely sure whether there was a career for me on the other side — and in both cases, I wouldn’t trade those experiences for the world.

At POLITICO, where I now work as Deputy Editor in Chief and help guide a global newsroom of more than 600 journalists, my Sun experience has shaped the way I lead. Starting as POLITICO’s first tax editor, I was quickly drawn to entrepreneurial roles launching newsletters, and then teams and eventually becoming intimately involved in helping build POLITICO into a strong and durable transatlantic publication particularly in the growth of our successful state capital operations in California, New York, Florida and New Jersey. I’ve had the great fortune to direct coverage of state politics, Congress and federal policymaking and often draw on my editing experience at the Sun, where I got my first taste of motivating and editing reporters who might be a little too precious about the copy they’d filed.

To continue reading, visit www.cornellsun. com.

Peter Coy

Editor-in-Chief ’79

This afternoon [Sept. 15]

I met a young man, maybe in his mid-20s, who said he wants to be a writer. He said he was thinking of breaking into the profession by signing up with an organization called Textbroker. I looked it up. Its starting rate is 1.1 cents a word. That’s $11 for 1,000 words. You could make more money in less time plucking feathers from chicken carcasses.

I tell you this, Sunnies, to wash away any thought you might have that journalism will reliably provide you with a comfortable standard of living.

It might. You might be really good or really lucky or both. But journalism isn’t the profession it was when I graduated from Cornell in 1979. Back then, even small cities such as Danbury, Conn., and Pittsfield, Mass., had wellstaffed newsrooms with frequent job openings. I know because I visited them looking for work in the winter of my senior year.

The first job I landed after college was with the Waterbury (Conn.) Republican and American. The morning and afternoon papers were unionized and I got a livable paycheck right from the start, enough to quickly pay off the loan on my used AMC Hornet. The next year I was hired by The Associated Press, also a union shop. I spent nine years there, in Albany, Rochester and New York City. After that I spent nearly 32 years at BusinessWeek and its successor, Bloomberg Businessweek. Bloomberg flew me to Davos three years in a row, business class. In 2021 I was hired by the Opinion section of The New York Times to write a newsletter on economics and business. That job, which paid very nicely, ended earlier this year. Now I’m freelancing for various publications, working on a book, and occasionally writing on Substack. (Please sign up for my newsletter. It’s free.)

I attribute my longevity in journalism in

small part to skill and hard work and in large part to having gotten started in the right place at the right time. I hate to break it to you, but here today is neither the right place nor the right time.

So my advice to you is … write your hearts out! Write because you love everything about journalism. The smell of the glue pots. The red of the grease pencils. The chug-chug-chug of the teletype machines. (I’m dating myself.)

Write because you can’t get enough of breaking news or interviewing hockey players or whatever niche you occupy. I fondly remember walking home from 109 East State Street to the Prospect of Whitby co-op at around 1 in the morning, night after night, cooling off in the dark and buzzing with excitement over the issue we had just put together.

I exaggerated a bit when I compared journalists to feather pluckers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual pay of “news analysts, reporters and journalists” last year was $60,280, which was a bit less than that of transportation security scanners but right in line with the pay of law clerks, explosives workers, hearing aid specialists, watch and clock repairers, fire alarm installers and commercial divers. And clergy, who also perceive themselves as answering a higher calling.

Sorry for harping on money. The truth is, the black hole of 1.1 cents a word that’s tugging pay downward won’t matter to most of you because most of you have no intention of making a living as journalists. Wherever your careers take you, you will remember The Sun like a first love, as warm as the sun above.

Some of you, though, do have your heart set on journalism as a profession despite everything I’ve said. I doff my hat to you. What the heck: Give it that old college try. If it works out, great. If not, you can always get a job down at the poultry plant.