Around the Hilltop

Professor Emeritus of Art Tony Plaut ’78 exhibited “An Array of Wonders: Past, Present, and Future,” at Peter Paul Luce Gallery in McWethy Hall this fall. Among the more than 100 works in the show is the self portrait figure, “Now,” seen in the foreground.

A century of Phi Beta Kappa

For exactly 100 years Cornell’s Phi Beta Kappa inductees have signed this historic book, graduated, and left to do great things. The inaugural 1922 cohort included:

Governor of Iowa and Secretary of Treasury under President Theodore Roosevelt, Leslie Shaw, Class of 1874.

Chief engineer for Chicago’s Navy Pier, Edward Shankland, Class of 1875.

Cornell’s first female faculty member with an endowed professorship, Professor of Mathematics

Mary Burr Norton, Class of

1877.

Goodwill founder Edgar J. Helms, Class of 1889.

Although there are too many outstanding Phi Beta Kappa members since then to list them all, we offer these three notables: Pulitzer Prize-winning Lincoln scholar Don Fehrenbacher ’44; the first woman appointed as a U.S. District Court judge in the Middle District of Tennessee, Aleta Grillos Trauger ’68; and Black Engineer magazine Scientist of the Year Tahllee Baynard ’97.

And one of our most recent Phi Betes: Sunny Kahn ’21, a Pakistani native now attending Harvard Divinity School and serving as a Cornell College Young Trustee.

A closeup of the first page of Cornell’s official Phi Beta Kappa signature book shows Cornell’s first female faculty member with an endowed professorship, Mary Burr Norton, Class of 1877.

Where are they now?

10 years ago the Cornell Report featured a cover story on several promising graduates. We caught up with four of them and are delighted to report on their lives today.

Lisa Chen ’12

MAJORS: International relations, women’s studies, and politics LIVES: New York City CAREER: Chen is the interim chief people officer at Prospect Schools, a kindergarten through 12th grade, diverse-bydesign charter network that serves students in New York City. Before joining Prospect Schools, she was managing director of operations at the six-campus Harlem Village Academies. Prior to that, she was a director of operations manager with Uncommon Schools. She began in education when she joined Teach For America. Chen also taught middle school at Achievement First and was an assistant principal at Success Academy. She holds a master’s degree in teaching. PERSONAL: Chen is an avid traveler, foodie, and is training with her husband to run their first New York City Marathon in November 2022.

Jonathan Frazier ’12

MAJORS: International relations and environmental policy LIVES: Seattle, Washington CAREER: Frazier worked for the U.S. Department of Transportation until 2017, when he became a student at the University of Washington’s Master of Urban Planning program in Seattle. Since graduating in 2019 he has worked for the city of Seattle as a transportation planner. He works on the early phases of transportation projects, typically those that address roadway safety and building out the city’s network of bicycle lanes. PERSONAL: Frazier is married to Emily Krauter Frazier ’11 and they have an infant son.

Kayla Prestel ’12

MAJOR: Theatre LIVES: New York City CAREER: Prestel joined Actors Equity Association, the professional actor’s union, in 2019. After a two-year pandemic hiatus when live theater was paused in New York City, she was a puppeteer with Bated Breath Theatre Company in their production “Chasing Andy Warhol” (above). Three years ago Prestel also opened Feel Good Pilates, a boutique pilates studio in lower Manhattan. She reports the business survived the pandemic and continues to grow. In 2021 she earned her 200-hour yoga certification. PERSONAL: She ran a half marathon in Rocky Mountain National Park in July. In November she marks her eighth anniversary in New York City and reports: “I love it more as each year passes.”

Diego Verdugo ’12

MAJORS: Economics and business, Spanish LIVES: Phoenix, Arizona CAREER: After 10 years with Principal, Verdugo’s career in the financial services industry continues to evolve as he advances through the ranks. In 2020, he joined the InvestmentNews 40 Under 40 list. He now serves as executive vice president for the Phoenix chapter of the Association of Latino Professionals for America. As a board director for Junior Achievement, Diego also remains committed to helping address the needs of underrepresented communities. In 2021 he obtained the status of certified financial planner and is now pursuing a master’s degree in financial planning. PERSONAL: He and his wife are raising two daughters.

FIRST INFORMAL PRIVATE MEETINGS FOR GAY CORNELL STUDENTS AT LACEY’S HOME 1978

PROFESSOR LACEY ESTABLISHED THE LITERATURE OF AIDS CLASS c. 1996

1977

FIRST “OUT” GAY FACULTY MEMBER HIRED: STEPHEN LACEY ‘65, ENGLISH 1980

1979

LESBIANS JOINED THE MEETINGS WITH THE SUPPORT OF DIANE CROWDER, FRENCH AND WOMEN’S STUDIES

1993

THE LESBIAN, GAY, AND BISEXUAL CORNELL ORGANIZATION FAMILY AND FRIENDS FIRST MET ON-CAMPUS

1996–97

FAMILY AND FRIENDS CHANGED ITS NAME TO ALLIANCE

During Pride Month in June 2022 Cornell College shared stories and celebrated along with our LGBTQIA+ community by uplifting their voices on social media. Professor of Art History Chris Penn-Goetsch helped create this timeline, which provides a proud history from 1977 to 2022.

2000

Alumni bring Norton the dino to the Hilltop

In the 1980s Cornell students established a tradition of taking pictures with Sinclair dinosaurs around eastern Iowa. So when a group of alumni noticed a Facebook post about a gas station removing one of the green dinosaurs, they set out on a mission to try to buy it.

“It started six months into COVID lockdown as a silly conversation of ‘What if

FIRST OPPOSITE-SEX MARRIAGE INCLUDING A TRANSGENDER PERSON IN CORNELL’S ALLEE CHAPEL ON FEB. 14 2005

2003

STUDENTS ACROSS CAMPUS HELD A CANDLE-LIT RALLY TO SUPPORT THE PRODUCTION OF “THE LARAMIE PROJECT“ FIRST SAME-SEX MARRIAGE IN CORNELL’S ALLEE CHAPEL ON MAY 2 2009

2010

2011

PROFESSOR CROWDER TAUGHT CLASSICS OF LGBT LITERATURE AND FILM; PROFESSOR OF SOCIOLOGY ERIN DAVIS TAUGHT TRANSGENDERED LIVES AND GENDER DIVERSITY FIRST RAINBOW (LGBTQIA+) GRADUATION 2018

RUPERT KINNARD ’79, “FROM CORNELL TO CATHARTICA: A HISTORY OF CATHARTIC COMICS” EXHIBITION 2022

2020

2018

CORNELL’S THEATRE DEPARTMENT PRODUCED THE MUSICAL “RENT”

2021

PROFESSOR OF ART HISTORY CHRISTINA PENN-GOETSCH TAUGHT QUEER EYE FOR ART HISTORY

we could put that dinosaur on campus!’” says Mandy Landuyt ’99. “It gave us something to focus on that was fun and exciting, and was a very uniting thing for those of us who wanted to be involved.”

What began as a diversion ended after a two-year journey during which the alumni learned that Sinclair Oil and law enforcement were looking for the exact dinosaur they were in line to purchase.

Months and many phone calls into this saga, they discovered they couldn’t legally purchase the dino. But after helping Sinclair locate the dinosaur, Landuyt says the company donated one to the group to thank them for unintentionally solving the puzzle of their missing dino.

“I say we’re like the Scooby Doo gang—that we pulled the mask off the villain and revealed the truth of the situation, even though we initially had no idea what we were really involved in,” Landuyt says.

The alumni named the dinosaur Norton, after Norton Geology Center. In July 2022 Norton was installed in Cole Library, where its director, Greg Cotton, says he’s amused and more than happy to have it: “I like that vibe that it’s going to give off that we are not stuffy, and we’re fun and approachable.”

Alumni who supported this project are excited to take new pictures with the dinosaur and see the next generation of Cornellians experience some of the fun they had as students. One of those new students is Landuyt’s daughter, Emma Landuyt-Krueger, who arrived in August with the Class of 2026.

“She’ll be able to say, ‘Hey, my mom and her friends brought that dinosaur here!’ It’s extra awesome to think maybe she’ll have as much fun with it,” says Landuyt.

Mandy Landuyt ’99 poses with Norton in Cole Library after moving her daughter in as a new student.

DEE ANN REXROAT ’82

Center for the Literary Arts

A conversation between generations of Cornellians

ON THE FIREPLACE mantle inside the literary home, the Van Etten-Lacey House, you can read a rather famous piece of work—a recipe for a strong cocktail called the Archbishop, often mixed up and served by the late English Professor Stephen Lacey ’65 during one of the many literary soirees held when he lived in the historic home. VEL, as it’s known, opened 10 years ago but has a history of being “home” on campus for students. Today, students participate in FreeWrite Fridays while baked goods’ delicious smells waft from the kitchen’s oven doors. Before Lacey’s legendary gatherings, Winifred

Mayne Van Etten, Class

of 1925, lived in the home and hosted tea parties for students.

WEB EXTRA

Want to mix up Lacey’s cocktail? crnl.co/lit-mix

Do you have memories you’d like to share about the literary arts at Cornell? If so, email cornellreport@cornellcollege.edu “NOTHING exemplifies lifelong learning like the literary arts,” Professor of English and Creative Writing and Robert P. Dana Director of the Center Rebecca Entel says. “It’s so essential to everything we do—lifelong reader, lifelong writer, and someone who seeks community with other readers and writers.”

Entel says that former visiting writer and novelist Lauren Groff is attributed with saying, “Art is a long, unending conversation between generations.”

WEB EXTRA

View CLA’s visiting and distinguished writers at crnl.co/cla

THE CENTER HOSTS a Visiting Writer Series that includes interdisciplinary class visits and readings that serve the greater campus community in a way that is not common at small colleges. The Center is essential to student engagement; it allows firstyear students and non-majors to get involved in the world of literary arts.

The Center hosts Distinguished Visiting Writer courses in rotating topics and genres, often with a social justice component and taught by writers of color. It also sponsors professional panels composed of publishers, freelancers, journalists, editors, and agents. Classes make use of the VEL, for writing, workshop, performances, and printshop projects.

Three student-led publications are hosted by the Center: Open Field, BOOM, and a research-based chapbook with varying themes. The chapbook series publishes both faculty and students; the first theme was “Poetry for Your Mama” and a later theme included “Poetry for Resistance.”

Students have benefited from numerous opportunities, such as the creation of the Student Literary Arts Board (SLAB), which hosts events, write-ins, a chapbook, and fosters community.

Internships have provided students with opportunities not common for undergraduates and in conjunction with Cornell’s Ingenuity in Action (experiential learning component of the Ingenuity core curriculum), students earn credits toward their degree with funded internships. Students also complete work-study projects in arts administration and events planning and publicity. Donors from the Class of 1958 funded arts administration internships where each summer two students work and learn at the historic Chautauqua Institution. The Center offers internships with Cleaver Magazine, allowing

Working in the Van Etten-Lacey House, home of the Center for the Literary Arts, Professor of English Leslie Hankins and her students republished three Winifred Van Etten short stories.

a deeper understanding of the editorial and publishing industry.

Former vice president of SLAB Kendra Aquino ’19 held two internships while at Cornell, at the Chautauqua Institution and Cleaver Magazine, where she is an editor today.

“My internship at the Chautauqua Institution was a formative and rewarding experience,” says Aquino. “While you are there you are immersed in inspiring lectures and small group writing workshops with world-renowned authors and poets. Being a literary arts intern gave me the confidence to pursue my craft and helped me create genuine and lasting connections to the literary community.”

After Cornell, students have gone on to earn Fulbright awards, M.F.A., and M.A. degrees.

Alumni have published their work and gone into careers in editing, journalism, library science, freelance writing, education, story development for video game companies, and grant writing. ENTEL HOPES that in the future the Center for the Literary Arts will fund more internships for students, be able to fairly pay more high-profile visiting writers and publishing professionals to work with students, and fund students to attend undergraduate editorial conferences, and make the Van Etten-Lacey House more accessible.

WEB EXTRA

Read Clare McCarthy’s ’16 reportage for Iowa Watch on the history of refugees in Iowa at crnl.co/refugees FORMER SLAB member and Fulbright award winner Randy Santiago ’18 is in an M.F.A. program at the University of Miami, has numerous publications, and started a podcast with his brother called Homies of Lit, which Entel says introduces literature to people who might not live somewhere where they can get connected to the literary scene. Novelist Sandra Cisneros reached out to be on the podcast. Cisneros, like Santiago, is from Humboldt Park, a neighborhood in Chicago.

WEB EXTRA

Homies of Lit is on hiatus but you can listen to the episode with Cisneros at crnl.co/homies

WEB EXTRA

Read how Van Etten-Lacey House was built by a book at crnl.co/vel

One

COURSE

Soccer player Tyler Davis ’21 embodies Professor Johnson’s advice that confidence is the foundation to motivation.

Did you take a course at Cornell that has stuck with you during your life after Cornell? Email us at cornellreport@cornellcollege.edu with the subject line One Course to share your story.

PSYCHOLOGY OF SPORT

Associate Professor of Kinesiology Christi Johnson’s Psychology of Sport course is not just for the sport obsessed, but applicable across life–anywhere a person encounters stress and anxiety along with the pressure to perform. What motivates us as individuals and teams of people? What creates cohesion among the group? What can enhance performance? What triggers aggressive behavior?

“Because of the title of the course, it draws a large number of athletes, and sports is the first thing that comes to mind. But then they start brainstorming about situations where they really are facing pressure in the same way that they would face in sports, and once we start doing that we can break open the skill-set that people use to deal with those situations more effectively,” Johnson says.

She kicks off the course by asking students to imagine contexts in their lives where they face pressure or judgment, or places in their lives where someone else is evaluating the quality of their work. Then she leads the students through the block spending a week each on three aspects of dealing with challenging situations.

“I am so proud of students who get excited about this work,” Johnson says. “Recently, Sophia Hollingsworth and Nina Deer recognized the need for sport psych services on campus. Both advocated for it, and this year we’ve brought in an outside consultant to support our athletes.”

That type of support could be useful to students like junior Colin Konicek, who found the course helpful to him as a Rams baseball player.

“There is a lot more that goes into sports than the physical aspect of the game,” says Konicek. “That is something that gets overlooked. Being able to look into the mindset piece of sports helps identify ways the athlete can perform better with less pressure and anxiety.”

Sophia Hollingsworth ’21 presented her sport psychology honors work at the Association for Applied Sport Psychology’s (AASP) regional conference in 2019 and the national conference in 2020, and Nina Deer ’22 presented her honors project at AASP’s national conference. Deer has also started graduate school at Illinois State.

“It is really remarkable for undergraduate students to present at the national level and is a testament to the passion that they have for this work,” Johnson says.

SPORT PSYCHOLOGY TIPS FOR EVERYONE

By Christi Johnson

MOTIVATION

Find something you feel confident about and keep your focus on that. Build new skills by “stair-stepping” up from the thing that you already feel confident about. Confidence is the foundation to motivation.

Look for joy in your activities. When we find activities to be fun, we gravitate toward them.

Build community around your pursuits. Having a supportive team or group can help pick you up when your confidence gets rattled and help you find the fun in otherwise challenging activities.

Keep competition to a healthy level. A little competition can enliven motivation, but too much becomes a burden.

WORKING WITH GROUPS

The assumption that most people are just trying to do their best allows us to see others as potential allies. So, assume good intentions until definitively proven otherwise, and then try again anyway.

Work on assertive communication. Very few people will accurately guess how you feel, what you want, or what you need to be successful. Practicing self-advocacy in a non-confrontational yet assertive way can help you navigate competing needs.

Don’t fear the leader/ boss/coach/teacher … just remember that person is someone who has a special skill set for focusing on a broad picture. If you or the leader are not invested in the group’s goals, find a new group.

ANXIETY

Breathe. Take a deep breath, slowly exhale, and see if you can fix the situation with a calm mind.

Ask yourself how important a high-pressure situation really is. What would happen if you failed? Is it helpful to be so stressed?

Establish a practice (meditation, exercise, yoga, deep breathing, prayer if it fits your beliefs) that allows you to embrace stillness.

You and you alone are responsible for your emotions. No one has the power to “make you feel” a certain way. We have patterned responses to certain situations, and unpacking those can really help us to figure out why those emotions get triggered. But, ultimately, you are responsible for your emotions.

Associate Professor of Kinesiology Christi Johnson

Gabrielle Zeger ’21 and Gabie Campbell ‘18 meditate inside Allee Chapel in 2018, a practice that Professor Johnson recommends to increase stillness in an anxious mind.

ROBYN SCHWAB AARON ’07

A pocket park has opened in Mount Vernon, bringing life to an alley in the uptown business district. It’s part of a long-term streetscape plan the city funded, but was languishing in the design stage until the Mount VernonLisbon Community Development Group donated the final $50,000–after winning that amount in a community smoking cessation contest. The Mount Vernon Area Arts Council purchased and installed the art. FROM LEFT: Director of Equity and Compliance Samantha Hebel Perkins ’12, Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Residence Life Dan Chou, and Assistant Director of Residence Life Nicole Casal ’18.

MEGAN AMR

Residence Life Fun Facts

Emma, Jackson, Gabriel

TOP POPULAR NAMES FOR CLASS OF 2026:

31:

NUMBER OF COMMUNITY SPACES IN THE RESIDENCE HALLS

34:

NUMBER OF RESIDENT ASSISTANTS

365:

NUMBER OF DAYS PER YEAR RESIDENCE HALLS HOST STUDENTS

3,380:

NUMBER OF KEYS MANAGED BY RESIDENCE LIFE OFFICE

9:

NUMBER OF RESIDENCE HALLS ON CAMPUS

4:

STUDENT APARTMENT BUILDINGS AND HOUSES ON THE CAMPUS PERIMETER

1,000:

NUMBER OF MATTRESSES

16:

NUMBER OF TRIPLE ROOMS

12:

NUMBER OF QUAD ROOMS

200:

NUMBER OF STUDENTS HOUSED IN OLIN HALL, OUR LARGEST RESIDENTIAL BUILDING

The Office of Residence Life in Old Sem keeps sets of all the keys to campus. This background image is from one key drawer.