Well, I survived yet another exhausting weekend at the Cornell Alumni Leadership Conference, and can excitedly add another thing to put on the list of 161 Things That Every Alumnus/a Must Do: build a free-standing spaghetti tower with a marshmallow pumpkin on top! Here's a picture of my team in action. I'll proudly boast that we didn't have one engineer or architect on the team, yet still made it stand tall at 36 inches... for a couple of seconds. That that MBA students!
Other highlights from the conference included Susan Murphy showing the new orientation video meant to help address student mental health issues, Trustee Andrew Tisch explaining his governance strategy as to not get involved with the management decisions of the senior administration, and an absolutely thrilling session by Risa Mish '85 detailing the challenges and opportunities of non-profit governance and volunteer motivation. Read her book on the topic if/when it comes out!
We also learned, as the Sun reported today that applications reached an all-time high again this year, if barely. And that the Washington circulator bus to Columbia Heights doesn't circulate all that frequently at night.
The one major change between this year and last was that President Skorton spoke in lieu of Dean Fuchs. Skorton hit all the right notes that was certain to please alumni, but I can't help but be partial to the inside baseball approach that Fuchs took last year detailing the specifics of the new financial aid policy and the budget model.
Finally, although it was the worst kept secret over the last decade, Cornell Outdoor Education spilled the beans and laid claim to the pumpkin prank back in 1996.
Oh, that and Corey Ryan Earle '07 has an amazing beard.
