University Statements

Dear Cornellians,

Welcome to the beginning of the academic year, and for those of you new to our community, welcome to Cornell! I’m glad to be setting out with you on another year of learning, exploration, and discovery, and particularly glad to welcome so many new students, from across the country and around the world, here to Ithaca.

The Cornell Class of 2029 is one of the largest in our history, with 3,862 undergraduates from all 50 U.S. states and 97 countries. Nearly 20% of our first-year students will also be from the first generation in their families to earn a college degree. Together with our thousands of new graduate and professional students, they join a community that has, for 160 years, embodied Ezra Cornell’s vision of “an institution where any person can find instruction in any study”: a world-class university with a land-grant commitment, embracing diversity as a driver of our excellence, and seeking always “to do the greatest good.”

Cornell was designed to be a place of openness and opportunity—a place where talented scholars from every background would find the freedom to pursue their curiosity, and where the boundaries of human knowledge would broaden to the benefit of all. Since our founding, we have encountered challenges, from wars to pandemics to social and political stresses—and we have continued to thrive, becoming stronger and more capable with every generation. Cornell has succeeded, and achieved the stature it has today, because of our rock-solid commitment to our shared values, and to the community that makes our ambitions possible—celebrating our differences and respecting the diversity of opinions, backgrounds, and ideas that make up Cornell.

The year ahead will bring us its own challenges—of that, we can be confident. But I am confident, as well, that we will weather these challenges, as we have those in the past: together, as a community.

I look forward with you to the work of the year ahead, and hope that you will take some time, before the semester gets too busy, to get out and enjoy the beautiful region we are fortunate to call home.

Sincerely,

Mike Kotlikoff
President