As we all know, 2015 makes Cornell’s 150th birthday and the celebration is bound to be monumental. Wondering how you can join in the festivities this weekend? Here is your guide to the TOP events on-deck: (for a full list see http://150.cornell.edu/events/charterday/weekend-events/)
Friday April 24th:
Barton Hall, 7:30-9:30pm
The biggest and best birthday party ever takes over Barton Hall. Follow the Big Red Walk from Bailey Hall to start the festivities. Explore the installation Illuminating Images and experience firsthand the “Joy of Discovery.” Enjoy performances by Ithaca and Cornell groups Opus, Armstrong Dancers, Burns Sisters, and Yamatai, Bhangra, Breakfree HipHop, and many more. Have your picture taken for the virtual 150th time capsule; dance with the hockey teams; sample local foods. Many surprises are in store! Who knows what might happen or who may show up! This is a party 150 years in the making. Don’t miss this family-friendly and fun event!
Saturday April 25th:
My Cornell – A Celebration in Words and Music
Bailey Hall, 7:30-9:30pm
Join the Cornell University Symphony Orchestra, Glee Club and Chorus, actor Jimmy Smits MFA ’82, Professor David Feldshuh, and Professor Robin Davisson for an evening celebrating Cornell ideas and imagination through music and readings. The Symphony performs selections from Professor Roberto Sierra’s Carnaval and Professor Steven Stucky’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Second Concerto for Orchestra.The combined Glee Club and Chorus offer songs ranging from an American spiritual to Chinese and Finnish folksongs and a Namibian walking song. Jimmy Smits shares Andrew Dickson White’s and Ezra Cornell’s dreams and visions for the University they founded, underscoring composed by Professor Kevin Ernste, and E.B. “Andy” White’s ’21 reflections on sending his son to Cornell. The concert concludes with the combined Glee Club Chorus and the Symphony Orchestra performing a medley of Cornell songs with new orchestrations, and a surprise guest soloist. This will be an evening to remember!
Sunday April 26th:
Presidential Panel: The Future of Higher Education
Jeffrey S. Lehman ’77, Hunter R. Rawlings III, Frank H.T. Rhodes, and David J. Skorton, with guest Drew Gilpin Faust, president of Harvard University, will present.
Bailey Hall, 4:30-6:00pm
Moderator:
Frank H.T. Rhodes (Cornell President: 1977-1995)
President Emeritus; Professor Emeritus, Geological Studies
Panelists:
Hunter R. Rawlings III (Cornell President: 1995-2003; Interim: 2005-2006)
President, Association of the American Universities
Jeffrey S. Lehman ’77 (Cornell President: 2003-2005)
Vice Chancellor, NYU Shanghai
David J. Skorton (Cornell President: 2006 – Present)
Drew Gilpin Faust (Harvard University President: 2007 – Present)
Monday April 27th
Charter Day Ceremony
Formal ceremony and video premiere to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Cornell University Charter
Barton Hall. 10:00am-Noon
The weekend’s celebration of Cornell’s proud history and promising future culminates with Monday’s Charter Day Ceremony. Join us as we recognize the significance of the original Charter, signed April 27, 1865, and all it has generated. The ceremony begins with an academic procession, the world premiere of the Sequicentennial Video, and includes remarks by Cornell Chairman Robert Harrison, Professor Isaac Kramnick and Dean Glenn Altschuler, and President David Skorton. The Cornell University Wind Sympthony and Chorus/Glee Club will provide music.
P.S.
All Weekend Long: head over to the Dairy Bar to taste the designer 150th birthday flavor: Sweet CORNell