Celebrating the Legacy, Embracing the Future

Cornell Black Alumni Association celebrates its thirtieth anniversary

The Cornell Black Alumni Association (CBAA) was founded in 1976 to provide a community network for black alumni. Over the past three decades, CBAA's mission has expanded to include recruitment, mentorship, updates and reunion, scholarship, and other activities that bind CBAA alumni together.

CBAA will celebrate its thirtieth anniversary, as well as the 100th anniversary of the Alpha Phi Alpha (APA) fraternity, during Reunion Weekend, June 8–11, on the Ithaca campus. The theme of the weekend is "Celebrating the Legacy, Embracing the Future."

The weekend's activities aim to strengthen ties among CBAA alumni. On June 8, Andree-Nicola McLaughlin '70 will give a female perspective on the 1969 Willard Straight takeover at a Wari House reception. On June 9, a panel discussion and networking session at the Africana Studies and Research Center will focus on "Transcending: Any Person, Any Study, Any Profession." Also on June 9, Robert Harris, vice provost and APA's national historian, will lead a panel discussion and visual history in Olin Hall on "100 Years in Alpha Phi Alpha."

On June 10, CBAA will hold a general body meeting; Doris Davis, associate provost for admissions and enrollment, will discuss "The Recruitment Landscape for African Americans and Cornell: Opportunities and Challenges with Admissions and Financial Aid." Also on that day, Interim President Hunter Rawlings will give the State of the University address. A workshop titled "Political Potential: The Black Cornellian and Public Office" will feature attorney Cynthia Boyce '75, Dr. Duane Dyson '81, Winston Price, MD '74, former president of the American Medical Association, and Basil Smikle '93, a political campaign consultant. Other workshops include "Strengthening CBAA's Presence Among Cornell Alumni Networks, Clubs, and Organizations" and "Achieving Optimal Health: Eliminating the Disparities."

The celebration will close with a banquet featuring keynote speaker James Turner, professor of Africana studies and the first director of the Africana Center, who will address the theme "Celebrating the Legacy, Embracing the Future." Carson Carr, a former Cornell recruiter who was instrumental in the matriculation, retention, and graduation of many black alumni in the 1970s, will be honored at the banquet for his contributions. The evening will also feature a video celebrating CBAA's thirty-year history. The video will be included in a time capsule, along with materials from current events and organizations, that will be sealed at the banquet, housed at the Africana Center, and opened in 2031.

For Reunion registration information, CBAA alumni, friends, and guests can log onto www.cbaa1976.com. To RSVP, contact Reunion co-chairs Jamela Franklin '76 (770-808-8051, oyinde@ peoplepc.com), or Tonya White Hallett '96 (410-297-9466, tonya.hallett@ gm.com).

Great Things to Come

By Mort Bishop '74

Four years as an alumni-elected trustee have come to a close all too quickly. I'm appreciative to Cornellians around the globe for enabling me to represent them.

The period in which I've served, 2002–06, has been a transition in Cornell's history, with the departures and arrivals of three presidents. The years ahead will be a time of enlightenment as a result of the transition from which we are emerging. Cornell has had to pull together during this interim, and the Board in particular has had to reach out in new ways to alumni, faculty, and students to forge consensus and gain momentum. It has been a time of great dialogue and institutional examination as we explain and define where we are and where we are going. The Board and administration have worked on the Cornell Opportunity Statement and on the Cornell Campaign Case Statement during these years. With a new president aboard, we need to define even more precisely a strategic plan for the bold Cornell to be.

During my term, I recognized how rich the Cornell experience is, thanks to high caliber, talented, and motivated people who are working to make a difference not only for Cornell but for humankind. The University is now different and stronger, with greatly increased opportunities for study, a more flexible interdisciplinary curriculum, and a more caring environment that addresses students' needs holistically.

I have been involved on several committees: audit, finance, academic affairs, student affairs, alumni affairs, the most recent presidential search, and a task force on athletics. I'd like to say that I have left a mark, but in all honesty I have gained far more than I have left.

I report to you that the Board of Trustees has remarkable, approachable, and hard-working leaders with a level of commitment that is exceptional. With a new president at the helm, and with wind in our sails from this period of transition, I am confident that great things will come for all of Cornell.

A Thirty-Year Perspective

By Robert Harrison '76

As I approach the end of my four-year term as an alumni- elected trustee, I am in the unique position of being able to contrast this experience with my first term on the Board thirty years ago as a student-elected trustee. I have three principal observations.

First, the Board is more intensely focused today on understanding student, faculty, and employee perspectives on campus issues. Last year, the Board created a new Committee on Student Life, which I had the honor to chair, to ensure that trustees are current on nonacademic issues of great concern to the University, such as diversity, residential life on and off-campus, athletics, student health and safety, mentoring, career planning, civic engagement, and advising. Through this committee, trustees have held town hall meetings; met with undergraduate, graduate, and professional student leaders; and become better informed about what is on students' minds. Similarly, the Presidential Search Committee, on which I was also privileged to serve, reached out to campus constituencies in Ithaca and New York City to maximize community input on presidential selection criteria, nominations for our twelfth president, and challenges facing Cornell that the next president must address. I would also note that not a Board meeting goes by without sincere requests for insights from those trustees elected by students, faculty, and staff.

Second, the Board is less political. Trustees uniformly see themselves as fiduciaries for the University as a whole, not as advocates for any particular constituency, ideology, discipline, or agenda. Egos are checked at the boardroom door, and the only thing that matters is doing the right thing for Cornell.

Third, there is a greater sensitivity than ever to protecting central campus from excessive development. Huge commitments to the life sciences, nanotechnology, the physical sciences, residential colleges, and other yet-tobe- funded initiatives will keep Cornell at the forefront of higher education but will require extraordinary levels of capital and physical space. A master campus planning process is at the top of the Board's agenda, from both a financial and architectural perspective, so future generations of Cornellians can experience the overwhelming beauty that we did.

I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to have served as an alumnielected trustee. Cornell means more to me today than it did when I graduated in 1976. My expectations for the University are justifiably higher, and I am utterly confident that the Board and our twelfth president will exceed them.