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PETER MEINIG: Well, good morning. Good morning, everybody. If the president would sit down, we can get started. Well, good morning again, and thank you for joining Nancy and me for this historic and wonderful, meaningful celebration. And it looks as though Ithaca has cooperated, at least if you're standing in the sun. It might be a little cool in the shade.
It's very fitting that this dedication is part of the combined Trustee Council and Homecoming weekends, when you, our most engaged and loyal alumni are here with us on campus. This is an exciting year for Cornell as this weekend will begin the on-campus celebrations for Cornell's sesquicentennial, 150 years in the making.
Nancy and I are very proud to have been asked to serve as the sesquicentennial co-chairs, and we thank everyone here who has or will play a role in making this a spectacular year in Cornell's history. Before we get to the business at hand, I'd like to encourage you all to visit the sesquicentennial website to learn more about the regional alumni events, the on-campus Charter Day celebration this coming April, and all things sesquicentennial.
We are here to formally dedicate this newest addition to our beautiful campus, made possible by the commitment and work of many people on and off campus. I have a special affinity for one member of the planning committee and that's my lovely wife, Nancy, who has been actively involved in this project since its inception. Nancy.
[APPLAUSE]
NANCY MEINIG: Thank you, Pete.
It was indeed a pleasure and a great honor to be a part of such an esteemed group representing many areas of the campus in developing a plan, which is what you see before you. The sesquicentennial will conclude in 2015, but this grove will be an ongoing reminder to students, faculty, alumni, and staff of Cornell's rich history.
It all began with two very visionary men, and what you have before you is what has evolved, a thriving, highly-respected, world-class university dedicated to teaching the best and the brightest at making discoveries that have and will continue to change the world.
When I was fortunate enough to be invited to join the commemorative project committee, I seized the opportunity immediately, knowing how educational and how exciting it would be. I was not disappointed. The committee was enthusiastic, thorough and collaborative, but one man worked tirelessly to make his vision a reality. Isaac Kramnick, the Richard J. Schwartz Professor of History.
[APPLAUSE]
Isaac is a beloved faculty member who will retire from the University in June of 2015 after a very distinguished academic career. Thank you, Isaac.
And thanks to all members of the committee who were part of this effort. Please note the full listing in your commemorative programs. And may I ask any of the members of the committee who are here, I was going to ask you to stand, but you're already standing, I'm sure. So please wave so that we can thank you for your service.
[APPLAUSE]
Isaac had the idea that this important project needed a world-class architect in order to make the idea become a reality. We were very fortunate to secure the firm of Weiss/Manfredi. Special thanks to Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi March, class of 1980, and to all from the firm who worked on this project for the wonderful product they produced and for the wonderful partnership we developed in the process.
[APPLAUSE]
And by the way, as you probably noticed, there were coincidentally some Cornell connections.
I would now like to ask Isaac to come forward to make some remarks about the history of this project.
[APPLAUSE]
ISAAC KRAMNICK: Thank you, Nancy, for those kind words, and thank whoever is responsible for this day. I think I've been looking at the weather report for the last three weeks. At Cornell's centennial Charter Day celebration in April 1965, Nelson Rockefeller, then the governor of New York State, was booed and heckled by angry students because of his support of President Johnson's recent escalation three months earlier of the war in Vietnam. That historical memory would soon fade away as it merged with all of the other campus protests against the war in the next decade.
As for Cornell's centennial itself, there is no building, no marker, not even a plaque to be found anywhere on campus to indicate that the University ever had celebrated its 100th birthday in 1965. So it was, that four years ago, in 2010, when a small subcommittee set out to plan the sesquicentennial for this year, we were very mindful of that historical absence.
One of our first decisions was that the 150th birthday, unlike the 100th, would leave its mark, would leave a permanent physical legacy to be noticed by and meaningful to subsequent generations of Cornellians. That committee then decided that the overall theme of the yet undetermined legacy marker, be it a building, a set of plaques, whatever it would be, its theme would be an effort to capture and represent Cornell's unique history and spirit, the features that make it so special among institutions of higher learning in America.
How, then, to do this? That was the problem. Four years of hard work by umpteen different committees is how. Tireless and thoughtful contributions from countless members of the Cornell community that included students, faculty, staff, librarians, directors, alumni, vice presidents, and trustees is how it was done.
The turning point in this institutional success story was the competitive selection of the New York architectural design firm of Weiss/Manfredi to plan what was then nothing more than something or someplace on campus that would represent, embody, or just tell the Cornell story. Their firm, headed by Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi, who was himself a graduate of Cornell's School of Architecture, had a reputation for innovative blending of structural and landscape design.
It was their genius that came up with the idea of this magnificent grove as the way to convey the rich tapestry of Cornell history with its engraved benches, its timeline underfoot, and its plantings. And it was they who picked its striking location, here on the upper edge of Libe Slope as an extension of the commemorative axis defined by the statues of Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White.
Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi cannot be here today. They are in New Delhi, India, where they are redesigning the American embassy. But we do have present several of their associates-- Michael Steiner and Darius Woo, who were the hands-on operational designers of the project and Allison Wicks, research director. Let me acknowledge them.
[APPLAUSE]
We also have present Andrew Magre, Cornell's architect and operational manager of the project and Art Fives, the construction manager. Would you guys indicate yourself?
[APPLAUSE]
While I am thanking people, I and the various committees that have worked on this project must say how grateful we are for the support that Pete and Nancy Meinig, the co-chairs of the Sesquicentennial Steering Committee, have given over these past four years to the idea of there being a physical legacy of this year's celebration.
I also particularly want to thank Nancy for her work during that time on the grove planning committee. Her aesthetic discernment was invaluable to the majestic marriage of the written word with hill, tree, and stone.
And I must acknowledge as well, the members of the Cornell Board of Trustees, who collectively came together to fund the project. This grove will serve as a reminder of their commitment and their dedication to the sesquicentennial celebration.
What we have here with these quotations from the founders to recent presidents, quotations which capture Cornell's special character, and what we have here with these dates, demarking great moments in Cornell's history from 1862 to this year, is not only an everlasting legacy of the sesquicentennial celebration but what will become an almost hallowed place for all Cornellians, for all campus visitors, and for all our neighbors in the bustling town below.
Here, they may come to know Cornell's historical character and special soul. Set here in granite and on this eternal hill, these words will stand as the years pass. With some benches still empty of inscription and with much blank space after the timeline's last entry, the grove will, in years to come, expand and evolve with newer voices and newer landmark moments and Cornell's story will forever be glorious to view far above Cayuga's waters. Thank you.
[APPLAUSE]
Let me now introduce members of the Cornell University Glee Club and Cornell Chorus, who will sing "The Evening Song."
CORNELL GLEE CLUB AND CHORUS: (SINGING) When the sun fades far away in the crimson of the West. And the voices of the day murmur low and sink to rest.
Music with the twilight falls. O'er the dreaming lake and dell. 'Tis an echo from the walls of our own, our fair Cornell.
Welcome night and welcome rest. Fading music fare thee well. Joy to all we love the best. Love to thee, our fair Cornell.
Music with the twilight falls. O'er the dreaming lake and dell. 'Tis an echo from the walls of our own, our fair Cornell.
[APPLAUSE]
BOB HARRISON: Thank you for that beautiful rendition of "The Evening Song." I'm Bob Harrison, class of 1976, and I have the privilege of serving as Chairman of the Board of Trustees during the sesquicentennial. One of the quotes engraved in this monument behind me is by Morris Bishop, the author of the first seminal history of Cornell. He said, "it is your duty to look forward and not back and without forgetting old wisdom, to seek a wisdom ever new to prepare an even greater Cornell."
This grove is an embodiment of that calling, brought up to date by the authors of the second seminal history of Cornell, Isaac Kramnick and Glenn Altschuler. Isaac was convinced that the Cornell campus needed a very special place at a very special time. He believed not only that a great American institution like Cornell deserves a monument to its past but that the people who come here should experience a welcoming place that evokes feelings of inspiration and continuity and future possibility. And he was absolutely right. His persistence is one reason why we are here. Thank you, Isaac.
Another key reason that we are here--
[APPLAUSE]
--is Nancy and Pete Meinig's extraordinary leadership as national sesquicentennial co-chairs. They embraced this project, and they have been tireless partners in shaping the vision for the Sesquicentennial Grove. I know it's hard to believe but Pete and Nancy are working even harder for Cornell since Pete stepped down as chairman three years ago, and we are all very grateful to both of them.
[APPLAUSE]
And finally, I'd like to echo Isaac's thanks to the Sesquicentennial Board of Trustees, who agreed that this grove should be built and that we should give it as a gift to the University. Many future generations of Cornellians will benefit from this generous birthday present to Cornell. Thank you, everyone. Happy 150th. And now, please join me in welcoming Natalie Rosseau, class of 2016.
NATALIE ROSSEAU: Good morning, everyone. My name is Natalie Rosseau. I am a student in the College of Arts and Sciences in the class of 2016, and I serve as the undergraduate student representative to the Sesquicentennial Steering Committee. My involvement in the Sesquicentennial Grove Project has been the opportunity of a lifetime, as it has afforded me the chance to explore Cornell's rich history and to search for ways to connect past, current, and future members of the campus community with our founders and their principles. It has been an honor and a privilege to be able to work so closely with such dedicated members of Cornell's trustees, faculty, and staff.
The 15 quotations and 26 events engraved in these benches were carefully selected by the Steering Committee in the hopes of capturing-- excuse me-- in the hopes of capturing the spirit and history of this special university. As a premed history major, I am particularly passionate about the inclusion of Ezra Cornell's famous quotation, "I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study." I have long been drawn to the Cornell commitment of a cross-disciplinary education and I am thrilled that this emphasis has been immortalized for future generations.
In addition, my decision to attend Cornell was inspired by my feeling that the intellectual curiosity of my peers matched the innovation and expertise of my professors. This idea has only been strengthened by my three years on campus. I currently live on West Campus and have walked by this grove every day on my way to class.
This memorial is a lasting testament to the scholarship, passion, ingenuity, and idealism of a university students have come to love. It is my hope that this memorial will serve as a special place for all members of the Cornell and Ithaca communities past, present, and future. This location, in the shadows of the statues of our founders and overlooking West Campus, Cayuga Lake, and the bustling town of Ithaca prompts quiet reflection about the legacy of our great university.
Now, it is only fitting that I close my remarks with a brief excerpt from Constantine Cavafy's poem, "Ithaka." "Have Ithaka always in your mind. Your arrival there is what you are destined for, but don't in the least hurry the journey. Better it last for years so that when you reach the island, you are old, rich with all that you've gained on the way not expecting Ithaka to give you wealth.
Ithaca gave you a splendid journey. Without her, you would not have set out. She hasn't anything else to give you. And if you find her poor, Ithaka hasn't deceived you. So wise you have become of such experience that already you'll have understood what these Ithakas mean."
Thank you and have a wonderful weekend.
[APPLAUSE]
NANCY MEINIG: Thank you, Isaac, Bob, and Natalie for your comments and perspectives. As with all projects of this nature, it did indeed take a village. It's now time for the formal dedication would David and Rob Skorton-- Robin Davison and David Skorton, Frank Rhodes, Glenn Altschuler Isaac Kramnick, Bob Harrison, Natalie Rosseau, and Michael Steiner, please join me at the podium.
[APPLAUSE]
[SIDE CONVERSATION]
I invite a member of the Cornell University Glee Club and a member of the Cornell Chorus to please come forward to open the gates that will formally dedicate this beautiful Sesquicentennial Commemorative Grove.
[APPLAUSE]
[SIDE CONVERSATION]
Please join the Glee Club and the Chorus as we conclude this dedication with the "Alma Mater."
CORNELL GLEE CLUB AND CHORUS: (SINGING) Far above Cayuga's waters, with its waves of blue, stands our noble alma mater, glorious to view.
Lift the chorus, speed it onward, loud her praises tell. Hail to thee, our alma mater. Hail, all hail, Cornell.
Far above the busy humming of the bustling town. Reared against the arch of heaven, looks she proudly down.
Lift the chorus, speed it onward, loud her praises tell. Hail to thee, our alma mater. Hail, all hail, Cornell.
NANCY MEINIG: Thank you to our two singing groups for adding such a special touch to today's dedication, and thanks to all of you for coming. We all wish you a wonderful Cornell weekend.
The Sesquicentennial Commemorative Grove was formally dedicated Oct.17, 2014, as part of the Trustee Council Annual Meeting and Homecoming weekend.
Sitting on the upper rim of Libe Slope with a view of Cayuga Lake, West Campus, and countless sunsets to come, the grove honors the university's first 150 years with a timeline of key events in Cornell's history engraved into a walkway, and memorable quotes from Cornellians carved onto benches. The landmark was made possible through generous gifts by members of the Cornell University Board of Trustees.
The ceremony included remarks by Peter Meinig '61, Nancy Meinig '62, Isaac Kramnick, Robert Harrison '76 and Natalie Rosseau '16, with a performance by members of the Cornell Glee Club and Chorus.
