Cornell Reunion drew 7,000 alumni and friends back to Ithaca on June 5 through 8, 2025.
A highlight of the weekend was President Kotlikoff’s first State of the University Address that had Bailey Hall about 80% full. He said:
“There’s a deeply distorted image out there of the Ivy League university—a caricature that’s become its own dogma. It’s a place where the thinking is liberal and woke, but where antisemitism gets a pass. A place where protests and pronouns are the priorities, where a flood of DEI and identity politics have washed away any commitment to education, knowledge, or truth.”
Instead Kotlikoff offered six ways that Cornell is different from all other schools. First, Cornell is the only Ivy or private university with both a College of Agriculture and Vet School. Second, “Cornell is by far the largest of the need-blind/meet full need universities, graduating more low-income Pell grant students every year than any of our peers.” Third, “Cornell trains more officers through our ROTC programs than any top-ranked private university.” Fourth, Cornell is ranked the #1 university for veterans. Fifth, the Jacobs Institute at Cornell Tech is the top collaboration between a U.S. and Israeli university. Finally, Cornell operates the only high energy X-ray source at a private university.
Kotlikoff used the event to launch “Cornell Matters” which is an outreach effort that uses alumni to spread Cornell’s message about the value of its research and extension efforts to policy makers. Alumni are asked to sign up to participate on the website and over 3,000 alumni have joined so far.
Other speakers included Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne ’95, R-Texas in conversation with Brooks School Dean Colleen Berry discussing politics and civic engagement.
From left: Boothe, Kinkhabwala, Touchdown, Mozia, Koszyk, and Chen
The 2025 Olin Lecture was a panel discussion of Cornellians who went to the Olympics. The panel was introduced by NFL offensive lineman Kevin Boothe ’05 and moderated by NFL and CBS sports broadcaster Aditi Kinkhabwala ’00. The panelists were: Stephen Ogochukwu Mozia ’15 (track and field), Sorin Koszyk ’20 (rowing), and Karen Chen ’23, BS ’25 (figure skating).
In terms of active sport events, there was an alumni row on the Cayuga Inlet. The annual Reunion 5K was held at the Cornell Plantations. The top five finishers were: 1st, Baxter Demers; 2nd, Derek Mauro; 3rd, Margaret Geary: 4th, Jacob Mensah; and 5th, Duncan Howes. In addition, the Cornell Track Team held a separate event on the Robert J. Kane Track to memorialize Eric Ryan ‘09. Following remarks from Eric’s mother, a highly competitive field ranging in age from 8 to 73 raced a mile on the track.
Musical events included live music at the tents on the Arts Quad. Cornelliana Night with the Cornell Glee Club & Glee Club Alumni on Saturday night, and the Cornell University Chorus and Glee Club Show on Friday night. Special for this year was a Friday night “Slope Day 2020” in Barton Hall to make up for COVID. The event was financed by a $25,000 donation from the Class of 1960.
