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The Cornell Alumni Association is dedicated to fostering a mutually beneficial and enduring relationship between the college and all of its nearly 12,000 alumni. Cornell e-News is a quarterly update for alumni and friends of Cornell College. Your comments and suggestions are welcome at enews@cornellcollege.edu. To unsubscribe, click the link at the end of this newsletter.

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College News

SNAPSHOT OF THE NEW CLASS This year Cornell welcomes 381 new students to campus and 738 returners, for a total enrollment of 1,119 Cornellians for 2008-2009! Incoming students averaged a 3.44 GPA in high school, a 26.5 on their ACT, and a 1220 on their SATs. Interestingly, for the first time, Iowa is not the most represented state among new students (that honor goes to Illinois this year). Read more...
	NEW STUDENTS GIVE FLOOD ASSISTANCE Over 290 new students came out for Cornell College’s annual service day on Aug. 30, and lent a hand cleaning up areas damaged by the summer floods. All told, 346 Cornellians put in over 1,130 service hours mucking, gutting, mowing, moving, cleaning, and otherwise helping put parts of Cedar Rapids back together. Read more...
	FIRST PRESIDENTIAL FELLOW Internationally renowned playwright Naomi Wallace is the first Presidential Fellow at Cornell College this year, teaching Playwriting II in Block 1. The Presidential Fellows program seeks to bring leading scholars to campus to teach a course that enriches the curriculum. Wallace is a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship, the grant popularly known as the genius award. Read more...
	NEW VP FOR BUSINESS Karen Mercer joined Cornell College as the vice president for business affairs/treasurer and chief financial officer on Sept. 8. Karen served as vice president of business and administrative services for Graceland University for three years and brings many years of experience in other senior finance roles. She has an MBA from Texas Christian University and is a certified public account. Read more...
	NEW FACES IN STUDENT AFFAIRS Cornell welcomed new Dean of Students Dr. Heidi Levine and several new Student Affairs staff members to campus this summer. After spending the summer learning about Cornell and preparing for the upcoming year, new staff in Residence Life, Career Services, Civic Engagement, and Intercultural Life are excited to have students back on campus! Read more...
	NEW, IMPROVED ADMISSION CENTER The Peter Paul Luce Admission Center at Wade House is nearing completion. Admission has already moved into their nice, new offices, and Financial Aid hopes to join them this month. The interior colors include purple, of course.
	CAMPUS READS BOOK “One Book, One Campus, One Community” has been living up to its name, bringing the campus and community together over Debra Marquart’s The Horizontal World: Growing Up Wild in the Middle of Nowhere. Cornellians are raving about the book, a Facebook group has been created, and a number of events have highlighted the program.

Campaign News

	TRUMAN & LINDA JORDAN GIFT A $60,000 gift from Linda and Truman Jordan, professor emeritus of chemistry, will help endow the Cornell College chaplain position and further improvements to King Chapel. The bulk of the gift will fund the chaplain endowment, with the remaining $10,000 used to supplement the Annual Fund and purchase wireless headphones for the hearing impaired for King Chapel. Read more...
UPCOMING CAMPAIGN EVENTS Mark your calendars for November 15, 2008! Interlachen Country Club in Edina, MN, will be the site of the Minneapolis Area Event for Extraordinary Opportunities: The Campaign for Cornell College. Further events include: Feb. 5, 2009 – Florida Campaign Event, Home of John Smith ’71 and Dyan Smith, Naples, FL March 14, 2009 – Missouri Campaign Event, Windows on Washington, St. Louis, MO April 25, 2009 – Washington D.C. Campaign Event, Home of John McGrane ’73 and Martha Benson McGrane ‘73, McLean, VA

Cornell in the News

Alumni News

A PROUD TRADITION, A BRILLIANT FUTURE All alumni are invited to attend Homecoming 2008 “A Proud Tradition, A Brilliant Future” October 9-12.  Dr. Herbert Hendriks ’40 will receive an honorary doctorate at this year’s homecoming convocation, along with the presentation of alumni awards to David Loebsack, Gib Drendel ’58, Jason Kolowski ’98, and Aleta Grillos Trauger ’68. Attend a faculty-alumni panel on sustainable energy, view a campus master plan update on the OC, and cheer on the Rams as they play Simpson. To view the Homecoming schedule, click here.
	EXHIBIT TO FEATURE WORKS OF ALUMNI From Sept. 14 through Oct. 19, the Peter Paul Luce Gallery will host a featured exhibit bringing together an impressive range of painting styles, themes and mediums from a number of its most prominent alumni. Read more...
SPORTS HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES The Athletics Hall of Fame recognizes former athletes, coaches, and those who have made outstanding and unique contributions to Cornell athletics. Inductees are Charlie Bray ’58, Gary Blanks ’79, Steve Dean ’79, Joe Vernon ’81, Rich Ray ’82, Jackie Clark ’83, Robin Dye Wall ’87, Phil Pfeifer ’92, Matt Miller ’94, Abe Tubbs ’94, John Martin ’95, coach Ellen Whale, coach Steve DeVries, and coach Fred Burke ’70. There will be a Hall of Fame reception on Friday of Homecoming at 6 p.m. followed by dinner and induction ceremony at 6:30 p.m. in The Commons.
CLASS LETTERS GOING GREEN In a continued effort to become more environmentally responsible, the Alumni Office will introduce a new electronic format for Class Agent Letters. Beginning this fall, all alumni in classes 1993-2008 with an e-mail address on file will receive their class agent letter in electronic format. For more information, contact the Alumni Office.
	WE WANT TO TALK WITH YOU! Soon you will receive a call from Cornell students asking for your support. They are eager to tell you about the campus, answer your questions, update your information, and ask for your gift to Cornell. Your support provides extraordinary opportunities for our students, ranging from close interaction with top-notch faculty to important study abroad, internship, and research opportunities. Thank you in advance for answering the call and for making a difference for Cornell. We look forward to talking with you! If you prefer, you can make an impact immediately with an online gift at our secure giving site, wwwcornellcollege.edu/giving or call toll free 1-877-683-7666.

Coming Up

	WILLIAMS FUND BRINGS POLITICAL COMEDY TO KING CHAPEL Nationally renowned political comedy group Capitol Steps will appear Oct. 1 in King Chapel. Capitol Steps will perform skits and routines updated to reflect our changing political times. The performance is the second event and first this year in an annual series of performances and lectures funded by a donation from alumnus Richard Williams ’63 and his wife, Marlene. Read more...
	ROE HOWARD FREEDOM LECTURE Amity Shlaes, senior fellow in economic history at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression, will deliver Cornell College’s third Roe Howard Freedom Lecture on Tuesday, Oct. 7, in The Commons. The lecture series is funded through the generosity of the Riesen Foundation and Cornell trustee Dean Riesen '79 and Barbara Hull Riesen '82. Read more...
NATIONAL SECURITY LECTURE SERIES National security experts will speak at Cornell this fall as part of a National Security Network’s “Around the Country” series. The National Security Network, based in Washington, D.C., is a foreign policy organization dedicated to strengthening public understanding and support of international relations, global affairs, and national security. The speaker series is sponsored by The Berry Center for Economics, Business, and Public Policy. Read more...
	GO RAMS! Fall means football, volleyball, soccer, cross country, and women’s tennis around Cornell. Be sure to catch all the action! Athletics calendar