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The Corne¬ Daily Sun

Aspiring Astronaut Priya Abiram ’26 of the Cornell Rocketry Project Team is working to become an aerospace engineer. | Page 8 Science

‘Mike

By ZEINAB FARAJ Sun Features Editor

... Was Just Hoping the Number Would Be More’

During a Cornell-hosted March panel on the Israel-Palestine conflict, 17 protesters were detained or arrested for disrupting the event with coordinated chanting and a walkout.

Now, released body camera footage shows the chief administrator for the Office of the President, Kristin Hopkins, expressing dissatisfaction over the number of detainments on behalf of an individual referred to as “Mike.” She stated in an interaction with police that he “was just hoping the number would be

more than eight.”

The University declined to confirm whether Hopkins’ mention of “Mike” was in reference to President Michael Kotlikoff.

The panel, named Pathways to wwPeace, brought together leading scholars, policymakers and regional experts to discuss the paths forward for Israel and Palestine.

Prior to the event, Students for Justice in Palestine announced a walkout, publishing an opinion piece in The Sun denouncing the University for hosting “alleged war criminals and collaborators.” SJP later faced suspension for its role in “advertising and organizing” the walkout, according to a statement released by

Kotlikoff.

After initially interrupting the panelists and an onstage warning from Kotlikoff that further disturbance would result in removal, protesters escalated their disruption as they began the walk-out, resulting in their detainment, and in some cases, arrests.

Police body camera footage released in court shows Hopkins asking police officers about the number of “IDs” collected.

“Do you feel like you’ve gotten a decent amount?” Hopkins asked the police officers in reference to the number of IDs the officers had collected from protesters at the event. One officer replied, “six to eight,” and Hopkins can then be seen texting on a cell phone following the response. She then explained to the officer that “Mike” was asking about the number of protesters detained.

Later, Hopkins tells the officer that “Mike” was “just hoping the number would be more than eight,” according to the body camera footage. Another officer assures that “there probably is more,” in reference to additional protesters they could detain.

In total, “Cornell University Police identified 17 people responsible” for the disruption and nine students were referred to the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards, according to Kotlikoff’s statement about the disruption.

Kotlikoff told The Sun directly after the panel that the protesters caused a “disruptive event” and that their demonstration was “not freedom of speech,” but rather “infringing on someone else’s freedom of speech.”

“I find that very unfortunate that people

come not to listen to individuals that have significant expertise, but rather to disrupt the event,” Kotlikoff told The Sun. “I don’t think that’s how learning occurs, and I expect more from Cornell students.

Daniel Creamer, a non-student protester who was detained at the panel, told The Sun that he “was not surprised” by the body camera footage.

“I was not under the impression that Kotlikoff liked protesters … or that he was a neutral party simply doing his job,” Creamer, an Ithaca local, said. “He has sided with the right wing many times, as is very typical for an elitist university that funds genocide.”

Creamer also told The Sun that he believes that the police officers “were under a ton of pressure” to arrest a “significant number of people” at the event.

“The process of being detained was very unorganized, and it felt like they wanted to hit a certain number of people in [hand]cuffs,” Creamer said. “I remember them taking me out to the car and talking about locking me to the floor. The process was just so strange.”

In Ithaca City Court, Creamer declined the six-month adjournment in contemplation of dismissal that he was offered. An ACD refers to a deal where a criminal case is dismissed following a predetermined period without future legal trouble.

To continue reading this article, please visit www.cornellsun.com

By SOPHIA RILEY-SIM Sun Contributor

Aug. 29 — Nearly 125 protesters marched in the “Take Back Our University” rally from Ho Plaza to Day Hall on Thursday afternoon, petitioning the University in support of a plethora of different causes.

The rally, which was jointly organized by Cornell American Association of University Professors, Cornell Collective for Justice in Palestine, Cornell Graduate Students United and Cornell on Fire, protested against the war in Gaza, climate change, and for the rights of graduate, international and transgender students.

The protesters first gathered on Ho Plaza at 12 p.m. to hear introductory speeches before marching to Day Hall at around 12:30 p.m., where speeches continued as a small group of onlookers confronted the demonstrators.

While protesting, demonstrators from across the four organizations held signs that read “Stop making deals with Trump,” “Viva viva Palestina” and “CGSU-UE is powered by queer workers,” among others.

Rally organizer Prof. Tracy McNulty,

French and comparative literature, emphasized the unity of these organizations.

“One thing that was important for us in planning this protest was to get involvement from a lot of different groups on campus who have not been working together in the past, or who have not been perceived as working towards the same thing,” McNulty said. “The aim is that this [rally] would be kind of a big tent protest, really urging the need to support one another across these different causes.”

McNulty said that going into the 2025-2026 academic year, Cornell’s campus can expect to see more collective action protests featuring several united organizations.

On several occasions, the protest faced backlash while in front of Day Hall from onlookers. One driver yelled, “terrorists, pieces of sh*t, f*ck you” through the window of their moving car to the demonstrators.

To continue reading this article,

Detaining disruption | Seventeen student protesters were detained at the Pathways to Peace event for disrupting the panel.

STEPHAN MENASCHE / SUN ASSISTANT PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

A LISTING OF FREE CAMPUS EVENTS

SUNBURSTS: Sunny First Days

By SUN PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT

As Te Sun rises on a new semester, Cornellians celebrate move-in and their frst week of classes

MOVING IN | First-year students move in on North Campus the week of Aug. 18.

STUDY BUDDIES | Students wasted no time in filling the newly opened spaces, getting a head start on readings and homework before the first day of classes.

BEAR-Y EXCITED | First Year Festival attendees enjoyed food, fun activities and their very own Touchdown teddy bears.

FIRST-YEAR FEST | Freshmen and transfer students alike celebrate their last Friday before classes at the First-Year Festival in Bartels Hall.

GOING GLOBAL | Students gathered on the Uris Hall Terrace to learn more about study abroad opportunities during the annual International Fair on Wednesday.

OLIN OPENING | After months of renovation, Olin Library held a re-opening celebration on Aug. 27.

Matthew Korniczky / Sun Assistant Photography Editor

Photo

Matthew Korniczky / Sun Assistant Photography Editor

Jaein Ku / Sun Staf Photographer

Matthew Korniczky / Sun Assistant Photography Editor

Danica Lee / Sun Staf Photographer

Stephan Menasche / Sun Assistant Photography Editor

MR. WORLDWIDE | A student studies a map of the world at the International Fair on Aug. 27.

SLOPE-SET | Class Councils hosted an event celebrating the first week of classes on Libe Slope on Friday, Aug. 30, at sunset.

Danica Lee / Sun Staf Photographer

Stephan Menasche / Sun Assistant Photography Editor

Te Ceriale Center for Cornell Health Opens With $20M Gift

Te donation will broaden the reach of the center’s mental health services across campus.

By EVERETT CHAMBALA Sun Staff Writer

Aug. 27 Campusgoers seeking health services this fall will be greeted by a sign for the newly named Ceriale Center for Cornell Health, which opened its doors on July 17 after a $20 million donation from its namesake, the Ceriale Family. Their donation will broaden the reach of the center’s mental health services, expanding the reach of two key programs at several locations across campus.

College students often struggle with mental health issues based on social and economic factors alongside academic demands and the stress of moving to a new environment, according to the American Psychological Association. Cornell students have also previously expressed frustration over a perceived lack of mental health resources on campus, noting the long waiting periods for mental health appointments and potential understaffing.

Now, Cornell Health is attempting to change that with two new mental health programs that are currently expanding their reach across campus: Well-being Coaching and Embedded Therapy.

In a 2020 Mental Health & Well-being Survey, 47.7 percent of Cornell Students reported experiencing moderate or serious psychological distress. Last year, students on Cornell’s campus also expressed distress after a series of tragedies shook the community, stating a feeling of increased pressure yet a lack of support from the administration. Students have also reported a need to access mental health services out of state and around Tompkins County.

These new services are carrying forward Cornell’s aim to be a Health Promoting Campus, a goal set after the University

signed the Okanagan Charter in 2022. The Okanagan Charter, developed internationally in 2015, provides a framework for universities to make healthcare services more available to students and faculty by diversifying locations and services.

A $20 million gift was given in October 2024 by Cornellian parents John and Melissa Ceriale, hoping to provide resources “to recognize and address the needs of those in distress in a caring and compassionate manner.”

John Ceriale is also a member of the Cornell Board of Trustees, and the couple has four children, all of whom are Cornell alumni.

According to Julie Edwards, assistant vice president for student health and wellbeing, the donation is a “restricted gift,” meaning the $20 million can only be used to expand both Cornell’s Well-being Coaching Program for students and the Embedded Therapist program to more locations on campus.

The Well-being Coaching program, launched in 2024 from a Class of 1965 gift, is a program that offers free one-on-one meetings with faculty and community members at Cornell who serve as coaches. Students can book these sessions directly through a form on the Cornell Health website.

In an email to The Sun, Sheila Singh, program director for Well-being Coaching, wrote that the program “complements — rather than replaces — traditional health care” with an evidence-based style of communication training known as Motivational Interviewing. This communication style is designed for people to “explore their goals, values, and motivation for change, along with ongoing supervision, training, and professional development.” Coaches are not licensed therapists and instead offer non-clinical services to students.

Well-being Coaching has also received

positive feedback from its participants. Abigail Dubovi, director of strategic planning and data analysis at Cornell Health, wrote that “more than 90% of students” who participated in the program reported making progress towards achieving their goals.

Coaches will now be available at multiple locations around campus where students can book meetings, including buildings on West and Central Campus.

With 11 new coaches becoming available this fall, 24 total coaches will be available across campus. According to Singh, the Ceriale donation will allow Cornell Health to add “up to 10-15 coaches each academic year.” Students can book coaching on Cornell Health’s website.

Students seeking clinical support for mental health challenges will also see an increase in support around campus with the growth of the Embedded Therapy Program.

According to Wahieñhawi Hall, assistant director of Embedded Therapy, this program will be “community-based,” locating licensed therapists in multiple locations across campus for students to access. In an email to The Sun, she wrote that therapists will assimilate into their target locations by partnering with colleges to offer “workshops, presentations, [and] collaborations with students, staff, and faculty.”

Currently, the Cornell Health website only offers links to Embedded Therapists at Lynah Rink for Cornell Athletics, Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine and Cornell Tech. These services are technically available to any student, however they are “designed to meet the needs” of students in their respective locations’ programs.

However, Cornell Health is in the process of hiring three new therapists this fall, to be located in Ives Hall, Martha Van Rensselaer Hall and Rhodes Hall. According

to Edwards, the locations were strategically chosen so that students who have classes in multiple areas of campus will have access to the program.

Hall also explained the program’s goal to create a systematic solution to mental health problems on campus, explaining that Embedded Therapy works to “not only deliver clinical services to students across campus,” but also to “impact and support the system of which the student operates within.”

Therapists will offer similar services to what is located at the Ceriale Center — such as individual and group services and Let’s Talk Counseling, a confidential, drop-in service providing informal consultation.

“We’re trying to provide as much flexibility as possible so that we can meet students where they are and provide the care they need to support them,” Edwards said.

Cornell Health also has plans to add four therapists in fall 2026, totaling seven new therapists added in the next two years. Students can learn more about the program and book appointments at the Cornell Health Website.

Currently, Cornell Health is creating an evaluation measure for the Embedded Therapy Program, which is similar to the one used for the Well-being Coaching Program, according to Edwards. This measure will also implement qualitative categories, such as the program’s ability to reduce barriers to patients and change cultures in academic settings.

“[The Ceriale Family] wanted to support mental health and well-being in a transformative way, and I truly believe this gift will allow us to do that,” Edwards said.

Everett Chambala can be reached at echambala@cornellsun.com.

Cornell Among 32 Elite Schools Sued Over Alleged Illegal Early Decision Conspiracy

By ANANT SRINIVASAN

Aug. 10 — Cornell is among 32 prestigious U.S. colleges and universities named in a federal antitrust lawsuit filed on August 8. The lawsuit accuses the institutions of collusion through the sharing of admitted student lists and misleading applicants by falsely portraying their early decision policies as binding.

The lawsuit, seeking class-action status, was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts by three current college students and a recent graduate, all from defendant schools.

The plaintiffs allege that Cornell and other defendant colleges have engaged in an illegal “horizontal agreement to reduce or eliminate competition” for students accepted through early decision programs at peer institutions.

The lawsuit also targets the Consortium on Financing Higher Education, the Common Application and Scoir Inc., operators of the Coalition Application, alleging that these entities facilitated the sharing of admitted early decision student lists among member colleges, helping schools avoid recruiting each other’s accepted candidates.

The complaint outlines that “customer allocation and group boycotts” as well as “information sharing,” with the purpose of reducing competition in the market for elite higher education, violate Section One of the 1890 Sherman Anti-Trust Act, which prohibits conspiracies designed to restrict trade.

Under early decision programs, students can apply early to one school of their

choice while agreeing to attend if accepted. In return, they benefit from a higher chance of admission and receive advanced notification of their decision, typically by mid-December.

The plaintiffs claim that the defendant colleges misrepresent early decision as a binding agreement to students, despite admissions experts and school officials widely acknowledging that early decision is merely an “honor-bound agreement” with no legal standing, according to the lawsuit.

The defendant colleges require early decision applicants to sign documents that resemble contracts through application platforms, stating they must withdraw all other applications if admitted. These documents create a “false impression” of a legal obligation, the lawsuit alleges.

Schools systematically circulate early decision admit lists with competitors, according to the lawsuit. Once a school admits a student, “it notifies the student, and also sends a list of the students it has admitted ED to all of its competitor schools,” wrote Ruby Shellaway, now defendant Vanderbilt University’s general counsel, in a 2006 Yale Law Journal article.

Receiving schools then remove those students from their own application pools. If they discover a student applied early decision to multiple institutions, “they notify the first school—and all involved typically revoke the student’s admission,” according to the journal article.

The coordinated enforcement of early decision makes it practically binding for the student, but not for the college offering admission. The complaint acknowledges that colleges “retain the right to change

their programs of study, available amenities and other terms of service without facing legal recourse from admitted students,” including revoking offers of admission altogether.

Included in the list of defendants are all five Ivy League schools that offer early decision admission tracks: Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth and The University of Pennsylvania.

However, as detailed in the Ivy League’s “Joint Statement,” all member schools — including Harvard, Yale and Princeton, which do not offer early decision plans — pledge to “honor any required commitment to matriculate” under any other

college’s early decision plan.

In 1991, the eight Ivy League schools agreed to a Department of Justice consent decree after being charged with violating federal antitrust laws through annual “overlap meetings,” during which they shared financial aid information for students accepted to multiple institutions to “ensure uniform aid offers.”

To continue reading this article, please visit www.cornellsun.com.

Sun Contributor

Ithaca Police Department Announces ‘Increased Enforcement’ of Ithaca Commons Ordinances

Te city cracks down on rules such as no smoking, biking or unleashed pets

By ZEINAB FARAJ Sun Features Editor

July 31 — The Ithaca Police Department has announced that it will practice “increased enforcement” of the Downtown Ithaca Commons Ordinances and Community Expectations, according to the City of Ithaca website. The new effort went into effect earlier this month.

According to Ithaca Police Chief Thomas Kelly, the goal of increasing the enforcement of the ordinances is to maintain the safety of visitors and residents.

“Our goal is to support a safe, welcoming environment on the Commons and surrounding community,” Kelly said, thanking both the Community Outreach Worker Program and local businesses for their ongoing support.

“Our goal is to support a safe, welcoming environment on the Commons and surrounding community.”

Thomas Kelly

IPD will step up enforcement of pre-existing laws such as the

Commons smoking ban, which includes vaping. Violators could face a fine if caught — $75 for their first offense, $150 for a second and $250 for the third offense and beyond.

“We will keep communicating with our downtown business owners and ... finding creative and practical ways to make our shared urban spaces shine.”

Deb Mohlenhoff

In addition, biking, skateboarding and scooter riding is not allowed on the Commons with the first violation punishable by a fine of at most $50. A second offense within three years may lead to a fine up to $150 or a conditional discharge with 15 to 40 hours of community service. A third offense within three years may result in a fine up to $250 or a conditional discharge requiring 25–60 hours of community service, according to the City of Ithaca code.

Drinking or selling alcohol and playing amplified music is also not allowed on the Commons “except by special permit,” according to the code.

Pets are only permitted in the Commons if kept on a leash. There

is a limit of two dogs per person and handheld or retractable leashes “will be no longer than six feet” per the City of Ithaca code. It is not permissible to tether a dog to “a stationary object” and dog owners “promptly clean up their dogs’ waste.”

City Manager Deb Mohlenhoff stated that Ithaca officials want to “ensure that everyone can enjoy our Commons” through the ordinances.

“We will keep communicating

with our downtown business owners and visitors and look forward to finding creative and practical ways to make our shared urban spaces shine,” Mohlenhoff said. “We thank IPD for all of their efforts to bring more awareness to our Commons ordinances and focusing on community well-being.”

Zeinab Faraj can be reached at zfaraj@cornellsun.com.

Coyote Biting Attack

By GABRIEL MUNOZ Sun City Editor

Aug. 27 — A coyote attack was reported on the Upper Cascadilla Gorge trail on Monday, according to a University-wide email sent Monday evening. According to the email, an adult unaffiliated with the University was traveling west on the northern side of the trail — near the Trolley Foot Bridge by Oak Avenue — when the attack occurred. The Sun obtained visual confirmation of the coyote roaming around campus into the night,

with sightings around Teagle Hall at 11 p.m.

The University is currently working with campus, local and state wildlife experts to address the coyote on campus, according to a Tuesday email statement by the Cornell University Division of Public Safety. The statement additionally urged readers to avoid contact with any wild animals and to report bites to the Tompkins County Whole Health Environmental Health Division to see if any post-exposure rabies infection treatment is necessary.

“We urge all members of our community to keep a safe distance from and avoid any contact with this coyote,” the email statement wrote. “Please do not feed or approach any wildlife.”

The DEC recommends waving arms and making noise, such as clapping, to deter coyotes from approaching.

To continue reading this article, please visit www.cornellsun.com.

Gabriel Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@ cornellsun.com.

Cascadilla coyote | A coyote reportedly bit an adult on the Upper Cascadilla Gorge

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

Independent Since 1880

143rd Editorial Board

JULIA SENZON ’26

Editor in Chief

ERIC HAN ’26

Associate Editor

SOPHIA DASSER ’28

Opinion Editor

ILANA LIVSHITS ’27

Assistant Opinion Editor

SOPHIA TORRES ’26

Marketing Manager

SYDNEY LEVINTON ’27

Arts & Culture Editor

JAMES PALM ’27

Assistant Arts & Culture Editor

JENNA LEDLEY ’27

Assistant Arts & Culture Editor

MELISSA MOON ’28

Assistant Arts & Culture Editor

SOPHIA ROMANOV IMBER ’28

Assistant Arts & Culture Editor

KAITLYN BELL ’28

Lifestyle Editor

MAIA MEHRING ’27

Lifestyle Editor

ZEINAB FARAJ ’28

Features Editor

KARLIE MCGANN ’27

Photography Editor

MATTHEW KORNICZKY ’28

Assistant Photography Editor

STEPHAN MENASCHE ’28

Assistant Photography Editor

MIRELLA BERKOWITZ ’27

Multimedia Editor

HANNIA AREVALO ’27

Graphics Editor

JADE DUBUCHE ’27

Social Media Editor

HUNTER PETMECKY ’28

Layout Editor

Letter From the Editor

DOROTHY FRANCE-MILLER ’27

Managing Editor

MATTHEW KIVIAT ’27

Assistant Managing Editor

VERA SUN ’27

Business Manager

ALEX LIEW ’27

Human Resources Manager

BENJAMIN LEYNSE ’27

News Editor

VARSHA BHARGAVA ’27

News Editor

ISABELLA HANSON ’27

News Editor

CEREESE QUSBA ’27

News Editor

REEM NASRALLAH ’28

Assistant News Editor

ANGELINA TANG ’28

Assistant News Editor

KATE TURK ’27

Assistant News Editor

GABRIEL MUÑOZ ’26

City Editor

JANE HAVILAND ’28

Features Editor

JEREMIAH JUNG ’28

Assistant News Editor

KAITLIN CHUNG ’26

Science Editor

MARISSA GAUT ’27

Science Editor

ALEXIS ROGERS ’28

Sports Editor

SIMRAN LABORE ’27

Weather Editor

RENA GEULA ’28

Layout Editor

HECHT ’26 Newsletter Editor

Join Te Sun

Te Sun’s applications have officially opened.

I could tell you why I joined Te Sun, but more importantly, here’s why I never left.

It’s the feeling of sitting down for an interview with a fellow student, and pulling out the anecdotes behind their accolades.

It’s the spark of a pitch turning into a paragraph, a headline, a published piece and then three more ideas by morning.

It’s the joy of watching someone’s first draft turn into their first byline.

It’s learning from editors I once admired from afar, and now mentoring the next generation of fiercely independent writers, artists, debaters and entrepreneurs.

It’s the friendships formed over tinkering with word choice, grammar and front page placement into the depths of the night.

It’s the reward of pressing publish on an article after rounds and rounds of scrutinizing edits.

It’s the connection I feel with my campus when I can point out why something is the way it is, or better yet, being the one to ask the question no one else thought to.

It is the singular moment when the words begin to write themselves, the piece falls into place, the clarity becomes truth and that truth becomes power.

Whether you are a writer, artist, photographer, scientist, videographer, debater, weather forecaster or crossword creator, there is a place for you at Te Sun.

Te Sun is both a learning paper and a professional newsroom, meaning you can enter with no experience and walk out with a portfolio, a voice and a purpose.

Our alumni go on to become Pulitzer finalists, editors at some of the top papers in the world, bestselling authors and esteemed lawyers. Your path might be different. But it can start here.

Find one reason to apply to Te Sun by Sept. 26. You will find an infinite more reasons to stay. Julia Senzon Cell: +1.908.672.3047

Yihun Stith

Yihun Stith is a senior studying Computer Science and Government. His biweekly column, Stand Up, Fight Back, explores the political structures and power dynamics that shape life at Cornell. Trough analysis, critique, and calls to action, the column challenges Cornellians to engage with the world beyond the campus bubble and to fight for a more just and accountable university.

NEWS ANALYSIS: Te Corporate University at Work

On March 10, 2025, Cornell hosted “Pathways to Peace”, moderated by former U.S. ambassador Ryan Crocker and featuring Tzipi Livni, Salam Fayyad and Daniel B. Shapiro. The event was billed as a wide-ranging conversation on Israel, Palestine and “potential paths forward.”

17 protesters, a mixture of students and Ithacan locals, were detained that evening after disrupting the panel with a walkout and chants, organized by Students for Justice in Palestine, that focused on Livni’s role during Operation Cast Lead in 20082009, a three-week war that human rights groups say killed about 1,400 Palestinians, including roughly 300 children. A role that earned her an arrest warrant in 2009 and ongoing interest from Belgian prosecutors in 2017. Though many of the arrests were later placed on paths to dismissal, the University maintained that the disruption had violated University policy. Kotlikoff had described the protest as “not freedom of speech,” and said that those involved had been “warned, warned again and then swiftly removed.”

But new reporting by The Sun, based on police body camera footage, casts doubt on the alleged neutrality of that night’s enforcement.

In the footage, Kristin Hopkins, chief administrator for the Office of the President and Provost, is seen asking officers how many IDs had been taken. When the officer replies, “probably eight,” Hopkins responds, “Mike’s asking,” and adds that he “was just hoping the number would be more than eight-ish.” Below is the footage: [view the footage on www.cornellsun.com]

Cornell declined to confirm whether “Mike” referred to President Michael Kotlikoff, who attended and facilitated the event. But the implications are claimed. If the University president was indeed checking for an arrest count and hoping it was higher, then this wasn’t about campus policy. It was about performance. How many students can you catch?

This moment on tape is not damning because it is dramatic, it is damning because it is dull, bureaucratic, routine. A senior official checking in with police to tally IDs like checking inventory. And this directly contradicts the image Cornell has tried to project to the rest of the nation.

Following this mired event, Kotlikoff published a national op-ed praising Cornell as an institution of “debate and dissent.” But what students experienced couldn’t be more polar: detention and dispersal. Hopkins’ monotonic exchange with police reveals what the administration actually wanted from that night: not dialogue, not de-escalation but numbers.

This is not your regular column. My aim is not simply to recount events or to convince you one way or another, but to contextualize them, to examine what the March 10 arrests and released footage really reveal about Cornell’s institutional priorities and how they reflect broader national dynamics.

This footage arrives amid Cornell’s quiet but sweeping expansion of surveillance infrastructure under Policy 8.1. A policy that centralizes control over campus cameras, including academic and research, and installs them across new construction zones, including common protest sites like the Arts Quad and Day Hall. When an administrator is caught on tape treating arrests like a quota, it reflects more than disciplinary impulse. It reflects something much more dangerous: surveillance logic. If campus officials are only counting IDs, what are the cameras counting? Pixels? Patterns? Faces filed away for future scrutiny? And if the federal government asks for those tapes, will Cornell hand them over? When protest is reduced to metrics and dissent is managed through a quiet yet boundless observation,

the question is no longer “whether we are being watched” according to the news headline, it is how that footage will be used and more importantly, against whom.

To contextualize further, Cornell currently ranks 215th out of 257 universities in the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression free speech rankings. The Council on America-Islamic Relations recently designated Cornell as a “‘hostile campus’ for systematic repression of pro-Palestinian students.” Hopkins’ words only cement these damning criticisms. If our president is the “Mike” in question, then it becomes clear that Cornell’s objective is not “peace” but instead a tally that pleases some higher power, whether that be the Trump administration or our Board of Trustees.

Universities, especially those in the famed Ivy League, must push back against federal administrative oversight and the corporate university structure if they seek to truly promote discourse, diversity and free speech. Both Biden and Trump have extended consistent, sweeping support to Israel’s military campaigns in Gaza. That federal posture has shaped how institutions respond to pro-Palestinian speech, resulting in trickle-down complicity: national pressure translates into campus discipline, donor message and versions of risk mitigation frameworks disguised as restorative justice.

Cornell has not been exempt from this influence and, at key moments, has aligned itself with it. Cornell’s former Vice President of University Relations Joel Malina labeled student chants of intifada, an Arabic word in this context meaning shaking off occupation, as “antisemitic.” Yet months later, when the federal government came seeking to revoke federal funding on the grounds of antisemitism, Cornell reversed course, downplaying the same claims.

Our central administration may seem confused but in reality it’s ominously strategic. What looks like free speech enforcement to us, is truly liability control, furthering the real implications of the released footage. The University’s original claims of antisemitism were overblown, calculated attacks on their students used to squash dissent. Cornell did not stumble into this moment. It engineered it. This is the corporate university at work. Protect the brand. Control the optics. Minimize legal exposure. Keep federal dollars flowing. Effectively creating the pretext used to freeze our funding, and the university is still in one of its most precarious moments in history.

It is now up to the University to implement real safeguards to stop the authoritarian tilt. Vice President for Student and Campus Life Ryan Lombardi’s promise to revise the Student Code of Conduct must go beyond appearances. Reforms must include an independent review of disciplinary actions, a clear separation between protest policy and government lobbying and transparent reporting of administrative decisions. Require a faculty governance supermajority to change speech rules. Concentrated, unreviewable discretion created this mess; only hard rules, transparent data and shared power can end it.

The first steps of this work could already be in motion. On Sept. 10, faculty at Cornell, through the Faculty Senate, are proposing a resolution to censure the central administration from enacting draconian disciplinary policies on their students. Our students have fallen, our administration has folded and now faculty, the responsibility is on your shoulders to protect the last vestiges of free speech on this campus before it’s lost forever.

If Cornell is to reclaim trust, it must not do so with slogans and insincere statements but with a consistent structure.

ALLISON

Liam Harney

Liam Harney is a third-year student at Cornell Law School. His column “Objection!” discusses contemporary legal and political issues through a critical lens. He has interned at the Louisiana Capital Assistance Center in New Orleans and at the Legal Aid Society’s Criminal Appeals Division in New York City. He can be reached at ldh55@cornell.edu.

Trump’s Henchman is Done Defying Court Orders: Now He Issues Tem

Emil Bove, who instructed Department of Justice lawyers to tell courts to “fuck off,” is now a federal appeals court judge. A federal judge is a principal officer of the United States of America. Under Article 2, Clause 2 of the Constitution, they must be appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate. Requiring both the President and Congress to agree on an appointment was meant to guarantee that only the most qualified candidates would be given the honor of serving as a federal judge. This is a position that, once obtained, cannot be taken away absent impeachment. Only eight judges have been removed in this manner throughout our nation’s history. As Justice Scalia reportedly once put it, “[s]o long as you stay awake on the bench and don’t drool, there’s nothing they can do about it.”

So what kind of a man have Trump and the Republicans in Congress deemed meritorious enough to serve as a Court of Appeals judge, amongst some of the most distinguished jurists in the country? A man who fired Department of Justice prosecutors for charging people who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, riots; a man who oversaw the embarrassingly corrupt quid pro quo with New York City Mayor Eric Adams; and, clearly, a man with no respect for the rule of law.

To the endless misfortune of our country, and now our federal courts, naked partisanship has rendered inefficient or counterproductive many of the key forces against forces depended upon by the Constitution to preserve the rule of law. The founders did not envision Senators who would act in the interest of their party rather than the interests of the people in their state. As a result, impeachment, even of the most corrupt actors, has become an

Henry Schechter

apparently impossible bar to clear, because that same blind loyalty to party makes getting two-thirds of Congress to agree on anything impossible.

Emil Bove is loyal to Trump, not to the Constitution. He’s capable of blatantly disobeying clear court orders that, in accordance with the basic premises of ordered liberty, sought to preserve minimum due process rights for individuals sent to a torturous prison camp. Such a henchman can do great evil in a role with the discretionary power of a federal circuit court judge.

Our Judiciary, though imperfect, has so far done the most of any branch to enforce compliance with the law in an era of a lawless executive. Mr. Bove transparently lacks the integrity and character to be a federal judge. All he cares about is power. This flaw was not ignored by the Senators who voted him in, but accepted. They, no less than he, bear responsibility for the chaos his presence will wreak on our most steadfast branch. As Justice Brandeis once said, “if the government becomes a law-breaker, it breeds contempt for the law: it invites every man to become a law unto himself, it invites anarchy.”

In short: Mr. Bove is the worst kind of lawyer. Ambitious enough to elbow his way up the ranks, and cynical enough to treat court orders protecting fundamental rights as if they were mere complicated airflow. He is an embarrassment to a profession that already has the unpleasant reputation of producing too many individuals who see the law merely as a means of obtaining personal power and narcissistic supply. The worst lawyers make the most dangerous judges.

To continue reading, visit www.cornellsun.com.

Henry Schechter B.A. ‘26, J.D. ‘28 is a senior editor on the 143rd Editorial Board and was the opinion editor on the 142nd Editorial Board. He is a J.D. candidate at Cornell Law School and was a government and American studies major in the College of Arts and Sciences. A native Texan, Henry feels a little out of place in the Ithaca winters — but he kind of likes them. His column Onward focuses on politics, history and how they come together in Ithaca. He can be reached at schechter@ cornellsun.com.

Cornell Can’t Write the Rules of this Game

In the real world, negotiation is how we settle our differences. And in a Sun column published a few days ago, a columnist was wrong to attack Cornell for negotiating to secure a favorable settlement with the Trump administration. At a time when our University is locked in an existential battle for its soul, it cannot sit on the sideline and simply hope for the best. It must engage with and persuade the administration of its worth. And negotiation that maintains core values is the most effective avenue to do so. Universities like our own lack unilateral power. They aren’t political branches with the ability to check others. They definitely aren’t above the fray of politics. They are interest groups like any other business or nonprofit. And Cornell, by negotiating to restore its federal funding, is strategizing to preserve its core purpose: the generation of new knowledge. In the face of a president at the peak of his power, that goal will require playing a purely political game.

In his column last week, Yihun Stith described Cornell’s shifted relationship with the White House as a “secret summer affair.”

But Stith’s analogy of Cornell’s lobbying efforts reflects a misunderstanding of the American political system and the role institutions like Cornell occupy within it. There is nothing inherently nefarious about lobbying the federal government. Rather, it’s simply a critical (if imperfect) mechanism through which private actors participate in politics.

Timothy Mulderrig

Timothy Mulderrig is a fourth year PhD student at Cornell in Plant Breeding and Genetics. He can be reached at tm639@cornell.edu.

I Told Students to Dream Big. Now I’m Not So Sure.

Did I sell these kids a pipe dream? It is hard to know, and I take solace that my motives were noble. Recently, however, I wonder if my words have led people down a road to nowhere. Tis path to no definite destination is a place I have grown much more acquainted with in recent months, feeling uncertain about the scientific ecosystem that awaits me after the culmination of my PhD program.

Growing up during the rise of the STEM era, my formative years were shaped by the messaging of the future of innovation. Te vision of the American Dream was shifting from climbing the corporate ladder of Wall Street to launching a biotech startup in any coastal mid-sized city of choice.

I took the bait: hook, line and sinker. My niche was agriculture, so I enrolled in various plant science and biology courses. By my sophomore year of high school, I was heavily involved in a leadership organization for students taking agricultural education courses. Te group was amazing: Te community was rich, and learning was deep. I found the state and national conventions especially compelling. My takeaway message from such events was clear: I can have a meaningful career in agriculture.

Soon enough, it was me up on the stage at workshops and conferences espousing the same message to impressionable young ears. Over my time in leadership, I facilitated content to over 5000 students across the nation. It was a beautiful time of my life; I can name so many positive impacts that were sparked by those students and that organization.

Now, having progressed through three years of a PhD program here at Cornell, I have taken steps that my younger self felt were essential milestones towards a career with meaning. I stand at the precipice of this long-awaited career in STEM, yet the job market appears bleak at best.

Te recent gutting of the federal scientific

Sophie Gross

The United States has a self-regulating policymaking mechanism of “iron-triangles” where the executive branch, Congress and interest groups shape policy in a channeled and predictable way. All three groups “check” each other in a soft sense, where private support is traded for friendly policies. The triangles are inhabited by both socially beneficial interest groups like the Sierra Club and the NAACP, and more insidious ones like Exxon Mobil or the National Rifle Association. Whether you like it or not, these triangles are where power operates. And interest groups know that. Choosing not to participate doesn’t make an institution more virtuous, just less effective.

Cornell, just another one of those interest groups, has to navigate this reality. It has hired Trump-aligned firms like Miller Strategies not because it endorses Trump’s agenda, but because these firms can open doors that would otherwise remain shut through their networks of federal officials. It is not a gesture of loyalty. It is a calculated move within the only game available.

Absent a massive upswell of public protest, which has yet to materialize on college campuses, the spaces in American politics where policy actually gets formed are often not the public squares. They’re the quiet places like iron triangles, where skilled and deep-pocketed institutions like our own can use knowledge of government to their advantage.

To continue reading, visit www.cornellsun.com.

workforce and infrastructure, as well as the dissolution of grant funding from agencies such as the National Science Foundation, has left me feeling a range of emotions. Tough I have spent hours with beloved colleagues processing what to do upon losing research funding, the selfish part of me has spent more time grieving the loss of a career that I never had. In some ways, I feel tricked — robbed of an anticipated outcome that I convinced myself was owed to me. Before I even got my chance, a meaningful career slipped through my fingers.

Rapid disruptions to longstanding systems are often meant to confuse and destabilize. Tis has been super effective on me recently. I feel scared for how the students I led in workshops and conferences, most of whom are now also out in the workforce, may be responding to the chaos. Are they feeling this weight, too? However, in the moments where I can think past the histrionic self-pitying state I am often in, I am starting to examine more carefully why these events have stirred up such a big reaction in me.

Tere is danger in staking personal meaning in systems that seem impenetrable but, in reality, are extremely fragile. Clearly, career has taken a position in my life that it has no place occupying. A career is meaningful because it is occupied by a human being who has innate meaning. I bring the meaning to a career, not vice versa. Unemployment rates or partisan budget debates do not reindex my inherent meaning as a person, but they sure can change my career trajectory in a snap. Where in our lives do we stake unfounded meaning in things of impermanence? Is there something bigger we should be looking to?

Tis is a foundational paradigm shift in how we need to instruct young people to view the role of a career in their internal value structure.

To continue reading, visit www.cornellsun.com.

Sophie Gross ‘27 is an opinion columnist studying Comparative Literature and Psychologyin the College of Arts and Sciences. Her fortnightly column Observing aims to analyze popular and academic culture at Cornell in an attempt to understand current social and political trends sweeping the country. She can be reached at sgross@cornellsun.com.

Te Research University has Reached its Limit

Described by historian Frederick Rudolph as “the first American university,” Cornell pioneered a transformative vision of higher education in the United States. It was the first in many respects: the first coeducational university, the first nonsectarian institution and among the earliest land-grant colleges. Cornell helped “free” different subjects from their previously strict constraints, allowing them — and their students and faculty — to become more specialized. Tis was a wonderful development in education in many ways, but it came at a price: “Cornell University forced utility into the minds of American Educators,” which some might consider the greatest advancement in higher education, or a great misstep.

Although the research university is not the only model of higher education in America, it currently has the most power and influence in American academia and beyond. Tis is due, in large part, to the volume and significance of the research that it produces, particularly in the realms of STEM. Tat research is often groundbreaking and socially valuable. But the model built around it has significant flaws.

Research universities have become machines for producing grant-funded knowledge and advanced degrees, sidelining the undergraduate experience in the process. Faculty are evaluated on publications not pedagogy. Graduate students are trained to conduct research not teach. Te result is a mismatch: graduate students who want to teach but must publish, and researchers who are obligated to teach but unprepared (or worse yet uninclined) to teach, with undergraduates caught in between, receiving a fragmented and inconsistent education.

President Donald Trump’s interference with the federal grants for American research universities (including Cornell) has exposed some of the greatest weaknesses of the American research university model. Research must be paid for by someone, and that someone will only pay for research that they deem valuable. Te government pays for things like medical, agricultural and military-related research because that is what it has [historically] deemed necessary for the survival of our country.

To continue reading, visit www.cornellsun.com.

SC I ENCE & TECH

GradeWhiz: The Startup Using AI to Give Teachers Their Time Back

By REBECCA RYAN Sun Contributor

What began as a frustrating teaching assistant experience has since transformed into one of the most promising student-led startups in educational technology as two Cornellians forge into the world of digital tools and innovations to improve teaching and learning.

GradeWhiz, an AI-powered grading assistant, is reshaping how educators manage one of the most time-consuming tasks in their profession: grading. Founded by two Cornell students, Max Bohun ’25 and Aman Garg ’26, the company is now a graduate of Y Combinator, a world-renowned startup accelerator in Silicon Valley that has helped launch companies like Airbnb, Dropbox and Doordash.

Since its founding, GradeWhiz has processed over 30,000 assignments, cut grading time by more than 60 percent for users and continues to expand its impact on classrooms worldwide, according to Bohun.

“We’re building an assistant for every teacher,” Bohun said. “Grading is just the first step. Teachers spend less than half their time actually teaching. We want to help them reclaim that time.”

The idea for GradeWhiz was sparked in a Cornell data science course. While the teaching team enjoyed supporting students during lectures and office hours, the grading proved repetitive and inefficient.

“I’d be starting my next assignment without even knowing how I did on the last one,” Bohun said. “From both the student and teacher perspective, the process was broken.”

GradeWhiz’s platform leverages AI and computer vision to evaluate different mediums of student work, from handwritten notes and diagrams to tables and graphs. Once limited to structured assignments with QR codes and

COURTESY OF MAX BOHUN ’25

designated writing spaces, the technology has already evolved to handle a much wider range of student work.

“Now, students can submit almost anything — scanned notebook pages, PDFs, even slide decks — and we can grade it,” Bohun said.

The system currently boasts a 97 percent accuracy rate, with fewer than 3 percent of assignments requiring manual intervention, according to Bohun. On average, assignments are graded in two days, significantly faster than the turnaround time for most TAs or professors.

This growth hasn’t gone unnoticed.

GradeWhiz has expanded beyond Cornell, with deployments in courses across several colleges, including Penn State, Drew University, Hunter College, Syracuse University, Cal Poly Humboldt, Alfred University and Occidental

College. Recently, the company has begun expanding into the K–12 space, where overworked teachers often handle grading late into the night and on weekends.

YC’s support has been instrumental. After three attempts, GradeWhiz was finally accepted into the prestigious startup accelerator.

“We applied once with a basic idea, and again after some progress. But by the third time, we had real traction and a working product,” Bohun said. “YC isn’t about nailing the interview, it’s about building something that people genuinely want.”

Through YC, the GradeWhiz team gained access to weekly guidance from Tom Blomfield, founder of Monzo Bank, and met leaders like OpenAI’s Greg Brockman, Airbnb’s Brian Chesky and Twitch co-founder Michael Seibel.

“The network is life-changing,” Bohun

said.

Though the product is still in development, major technical hurdles have largely been overcome.

“A few years ago, AI couldn’t handle handwritten input,” Bohun explained. “Now, we’re at the point where we can process virtually any student submission.” According to Bohun, the current focus is to keep improving the experience for users while expanding the platform to meet rising demand.

When asked about academic integrity and bias, Bohun emphasized that GradeWhiz may offer an improvement over human grading by eliminating bias.

“AI doesn’t know which student it’s grading. That removes unconscious bias from the equation,” Bohun said. “And we work under strict zero-data retention agreements, so student work isn’t stored or reused.”

While the grading automation market is still in its infancy, GradeWhiz sees its main competition not in other startups, but in the pen-and-paper systems many teachers still use. However, Bohun thinks that Gradewiz is “way ahead of paper.”

In the next five to ten years, the team envisions GradeWhiz as the go-to AI assistant for teachers everywhere, allowing educators to “focus on what really matters: teaching, mentoring, and connecting with their students.” Everything else, we’ll handle.”

As artificial intelligence continues to evolve, the team sees tools like GradeWhiz not as replacements for teachers, but as allies, streamlining routine tasks so that educators can focus on what really matters: connecting with students. And so, what started as a TA’s inconvenience could reflect the future of education.

Rebecca Ryan can be reached at rar352@cornell.edu

Shooting for the Stars: Priya Abiram’s ’26 Journey in Aerospace Engineering

By BHAVYA ANOOP Sun Contributor

When Priya Abiram ’26 visited NASA for the first time at seven years old, her father pointed to a rocket and told her, “Rockets are the hardest thing man has ever built, and it is even harder to fly in one.” In that moment, a deep fascination with space was born, leading to her mission to become an astronaut and help lead the nation towards solving its greatest challenges.

As a member of the Cornell Rocketry Project Team’s Recovery and Payload subteam, Abiram designs, assembles and launches high-powered rockets. She has contributed to key systems on the rockets, such as the guided recovery system — which steers a rocket to a precise landing point after launch, the deployment mechanism for the rocket’s main stage separation — or the catalyst for takeoff, as well as the overall launch vehicle layout.

“The ability to conquer areas outside our comfort zone excites me to not just build civilizations on other celestial bodies, but to bring our planet to a common vision.”

Priya Abiram ’26

Abiram also worked on a ram-air parachute that can autonomously land at a target site. Cornell Rocketry is striving to achieve

guided descent, a process where a rocket actively steers and decelerates the rocket for a controlled landing at a specific point. They have been close to achieving this advancement, a proud accomplishment of Abiram and the team.

Abiram dreams of landing on Mars, not only to explore, but also to act as a bridge for the next generation of explorers.

“The ability to conquer areas outside our comfort zone excites me to not just build civilizations on other celestial bodies, but to bring our planet to a common vision,” she wrote in an email statement to The Sun. “Through the journey, I look forward to leaving a mark by showing the next generation, and our future alien friends, what our species did with our time here.”

Abiram has already had significant experiences in the aerospace industry through internships at organizations such as NASA, Blue Origin and Inversion Space. These experiences have allowed her to experience firsthand the structured, systems-driven approach of major aerospace organizations. One of her favorite projects was designing and testing a full-scale drop test vehicle for parachute recovery systems at Inversion Space.

Drop-test vehicles are designed to be dropped from a certain height to determine how a prototype reacts to impact. Often, these vehicles are used as trials to see if safety and structural standards are being met. Abiram worked on a prototype designed to simulate how a real payload or spacecraft would land with a parachute.

Public speaking and scientific communication are key markers of Abiram’s journey. Through speaking to aspiring engineers at conferences or presenting her research at

the International Astronautical Congress — where she won second place — she aims to inspire others and share her unique perspectives on space exploration and beyond.

“I enjoy breaking the stereotype and being the inspiration to young girls as I rise above social and cultural norms,” she wrote. “I take pleasure in sharing my unique perspective of our planet, redefining our limits, and inspiring others about their passion.”

“When opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door. Don’t take no for an answer. Show up as your full, authentic self, and don’t be afraid to take up space—literally and figuratively. Make noise, make moves, and remember that you belong in this industry.”

Priya Abiram ’26

Abiram also emphasized that, at its core, the aerospace industry is a human frontier. Though the industry involves satellites, rockets and other technical aspects, people are behind these advancements. She thus emphasizes the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, mentioning groups such as policy experts, public affairs teams, business professionals and more. In the future, she plans to

work towards making the aerospace industry more collaborative and human-centered.

“When opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door. Don’t take no for an answer,” Abiram wrote as advice to those aspiring towards goals similar to hers, especially women and other underrepresented groups in the industry. “Show up as your full, authentic self, and don’t be afraid to take up space—literally and figuratively. Make noise, make moves, and remember that you belong in this industry.”

Bhavya Anoop can be reached at ba436@cornell.edu

COURTESY OF PRIYA ABIRAM ’25

Fascinating frontier | Priya Abiram ’26 works on the frontier of aerospace engineering as she prepares to become an astronaut.

Savvy startup | Max Bohun ’25 and Aman Garg ’26 founded an AI startup to assist teachers with grading.

Big Red Bucket List: Senior Edition

By Eirian Huang

Eirian Huang is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. They can be reached at ehh56@cornell.edu.

As I enter my final year of college, I notice a lot of lasts occurring around me and my peers scramble to do as much as they can in these last couple of semesters. For some reason, I prefer the mundanity of Cornell routine over seeking adventure in the surrounding Finger Lakes region. As a result, I, surprisingly, have not done many of the essential Ithaca activities as some others. However, I am determined to make my last two semesters here worthwhile.

We are all well aware of the Sun’s 161 Things Every Cornellian Should Do list as well as Lifestyle’s take on it, but here are some of my bucket list items for my senior year, as well as some things I’ve done that I think every Cornell student should consider doing in their short four years here.

1. Take a COE PE overnight trip class (or just spend more time outside!)

After taking Introduction to Outdoor Rock Climbing last semester, I am not a firm believer that Cornell Outdoor Education courses are the best way to satisfy the PE requirement or just try new activities you may not usually have the chance to. The outdoor rock climbing course involved a weekend overnight trip in Minnewaska State Park, which was also the first time I camped since I was a kid, and of course, a lot of fun outdoor climbing.

If overnight trips are not your fancy, COE offers a host of classes including day hiking, biking, paddling and many more opportunities to engage with the nature around you. Regardless, spending more time outdoors when the weather is still good is always a great idea.

2. Go to a session of Astronomy on Tap

Ithaca’s chapter of Astronomy on Tap (a public lecture series) meets on the second Thursday of every month at 7 p.m. at Liquid State Brewing. Attendees can hear from local graduate students, professors, astronomers and other experts on all things astronomy while enjoying a beverage at Liquid State.

3. Ice cream at Frosty Cow and Spotted Duck

While Dairy Bar ice cream is the norm on campus, nearby establishments like Frosty Cow, located in Dryden and Spotted Duck on Seneca Lake are worth the visit. I went to Spotted Duck (which specializes in ice cream made from duck eggs) in my freshman year and it was a wonderful experience and great ice cream. While it’s certainly a drive away, if you ever find yourself in the area, I recommend it as a cool opportunity to try some new flavors. This year, I look forward to making the shorter trek to Frosty Cow and enjoying some ice cream while staring wistfully out into the lush pastures surrounding the area.

4. Stone Bend Farm

I discovered this community-focused

greenhouse which doubles as a pizza joint, taproom and venue last semester. The ambience inside is cozy and their wood-fire pizza was one of the few things I’ve eaten and immediately thought, “wow, Upstate New York is a wonderful place.” There is also no bathroom, with real plumbing on site, which really adds to the charm of it all.

5. Book Barn

The Book Barn of the Finger Lakes is a barn full of used books. As someone who can easily spend hours in any bookstore and who is an avid believer in buying books secondhand, I look forward to carving out a good few hours and making the trip to Dryden this year.

6. Corning Museum of Glass

While certainly not the most underground thing on this list, I will be prioritizing visiting the glass museum and maybe even participating in a glass making workshop. Located about 50 minutes away, Corning Museum of Glass is indeed the world’s largest museum with a focus on glass art and design.

7. Gourdlandia

Located just a 15 minute drive from campus, Gourdlandia is an eccentric oasis all about gourds. A truly unique and wacky destination to visit, you can learn everything there is to know about growing, drying and carving gourds.

8. South Hill Cider

If you take one of my recommendations, it should be South Hill Cider. Not only a spot to indulge in a cider flight paired with some small bites but South Hill is a truly quintessential place to visit, especially in the fall when apples are in season. Besides tasty ciders, they also serve snacks, cheese boards and sandwiches, often hosting live events on weekends. I love it for the ambience, reasonable pricing, and because enjoying the beautiful views of South Hill while sipping on a cider flight is a quintessential Ithaca autumn activity.

Beyond Freshman Year: What No One Talks About

By Martha Dolan

Martha Dolan is a sophomore in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She can be reached at mmd289@cornell.edu.

Fall on campus always feels like a fresh start. There is a buzz that surrounds the new freshman class, who step into the unknown with a mix of excitement and uncertainty. Each year in college brings its own transitions for everyone. Freshman year gets attention for its novelty and senior year for its nostalgia, but the truth is that change is happening all the time, just in quieter ways. Moving from one year to the next brings subtle and heavy changes, with every one requiring its own set of adjustments. These transitional years rarely get the spotlight, but they matter just as much and it is important to recognize the parts that no one talks about.

Freshman and senior years are the ones that typically are glamorized. But what about the years in the middle? If anything, they are the most formative and quietly shape your identity, unfolding in the background of your life. The initial excitement has worn off and you’re left standing in an in between,”, no longer just starting out, but not yet at the finish line. You aren’t a beginner anymore, but let’s be honest, we all still have things we’re figuring out, no matter how long you’ve been here. New roommates, living environments and classes — these changes are what shapes you and allow you to come into yourself. They may seem insignificant at the time, but they remind us that college is an ever-changing experience and you will change with it.

It has been exactly one year since the one of the most daunting experiences of my life — the day that I first moved into Cornell University. To be honest, I think I blocked the day out of my memory, as to protect myself from the sheer dread that I felt concerning the entire situation. It was such an uneasy feeling, not know-

ing who my friends would be or how long it would take for things to feel normal. Now that I am returning for my sophomore year, I feel a great sense of gratitude that I have already settled into life at school. Now, the freshmen (Class of 2029), are currently the ones that carry that weight on their shoulders. The pressure is now on a different group of people and I get to experience the new year from a different perspective. While it is intimidating to begin college in a new place, freshmen generally know the fundamentals of what to expect when arriving. There are checklists of dorm essentials, plenty of orientation week activities to make new connections and a million TikTok videos revolving around tips for freshman year. What no one warns you about is the transition that comes after — freshman year to sophomore year, to junior year and so on. What I have come to realize upon starting my second year is that change does not come all at once. It sneaks in gradually in the form of new routines and new faces. Friend groups shift, or you even might feel the need to change your major. There is a realization that some things about last year will never be the same.

I remember the day I was picked up to go home last summer. I started crying the minute I walked out of my dorm room for the last time, knowing that I would never be back again. Maybe that’s just my emotional side, but I know others felt a similar heaviness when closing the door on freshman year. Change is something that’s hard to grasp, especially in this fast paced environment that college brings and it’s often difficult to keep up. While I loved the comfort of being home for the summer, I was eager to return back to school. I missed the proxim-

ity of my friends, my classes and even the late night study sessions. I was ready to jump back into the high-speed lifestyle that Cornell has to offer. I craved the feeling of being back on campus, and when I saw the first sign for Ithaca, it felt like slipping back into a routine I had been craving. Since moving in a week ago, I can say that many things have remained the same. I still enjoy an iced coffee from Bus Stop Bagels in the morning and still sit in my favorite seat at Mann Library. But I’ve also come to terms with the fact that some of my favorite parts of freshman year are gone. I miss the constant chaos of Mary Donlon Hall and having my best friend just a flight of stairs away. I miss the morning walks to class across the bridge overlooking Beebe Lake and the way everything around me felt brand new. These micro changes may seem insignificant and less dramatic than the leap into freshman year, but they are still an adjustment.

I am nostalgic for the life I lived last year, but also excited to create new experiences and traditions in the future. It is bittersweet, but it reminds me to appreciate the moment I’m in and accept that change is a part of life. Even the best things must come to an end, but endings open the door to new beginnings — ones that may turn out to be even better than you expected. To the new class: everything feels like it’s moving fast, but take a moment to pause and appreciate where you are right now. Before long, the scenery will shift and what once felt ordinary will turn into the moments you miss the most. The days you’re in now won’t last forever, but that’s the beauty of it all. Learn to embrace the change and make the most of each season of life.

Senior year is your last opportunity to bask in all that Cornell and the surrounding region has to offer. Since most of us can now drink legally, many seniors may have cars and coursework is usually lighter, senior year is the perfect time to explore and make the most of our last few semesters!

MARTHA DOLAN / LIFESTYLE STAFF

EIRIAN HUANG / LIFESTYLE STAFF

City Charter Shields Ithaca From Nearly All Pothole Damage Claims

By CEREESE QUSBA Sun News Editor

Potholes, one of Ithaca’s most contested issues, have become a notable part of the city’s landscape. However, while city roads are riddled with cracks, pits and ruptures, the City of Ithaca doesn’t need to pay for damage caused by these road imperfections — including for injuries or vehicle damage — according to its charter.

Potholes are the product of uneven and cracked roads. They occur when water seeps into cracks in the road and expands when temperatures drop. When vehicles drive over these cracks filled with frozen water, the area pops, creating a pothole. Potholes can cause injuries or damage when they create an uneven surface for riders and vehicles.

Preventative road fixes, such as crack sealing and surface treatments, can be short-term fixes. Major rehabilitation to roads and complete reconstruction have longer-term benefits, but can be more costly.

Denise Katzman, an Ithaca resident of seven years, filed an insurance claim in June after hitting a pothole with her bike. Katzman travels by bike as her primary mode of transport around the city, she told The Sun in an interview.

Katzman was biking when she hit a pothole on North Plain and West Buffalo Street in March. The pothole caused her bike’s back tire to split open, with the inner tube completely destroyed. But after filing an insurance claim, Katzman was not granted any money.

Katzman was one of 49 individuals who submitted insurance

claims for potholes or road imperfections that caused damage or injury in Ithaca since 2021, according to Travelers General Liability loss runs obtained by The Sun. Only two individuals ended up receiving money for their claim.

According to Katzman, under a rarely known section of the Ithaca City Charter, individuals can only win these claims if they can prove the city had formal written notice, delivered by mail or in person, of the pothole at least 24 hours before the incident.

§ C-107 of the Ithaca City Charter: “Liability for damage or injury occurring on City property,” states that the city is not liable for damage or injury that is a consequence of city-owned property, such as any street, highway, sidewalk or crosswalk. This includes damages due to city-owned property or structures being out of repair, unsafe or “obstructed by snow, ice or otherwise or in any way or manner, including but not limited to protruding pipes, metal plates or covers or other objects,” as written in the charter.

This exemption applies unless written notice of the “defective, unsafe, dangerous, obstructed or concealed conditions” is given to the City of Ithaca by delivery to the office of the City Clerk at least 24 hours prior to the damage or injury.

The Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council, which is in charge of facilitating county-wide transportation planning, does not own or control infrastructure like roads or bridges. Instead, the ITCTC collaborates with state, county and municipal staff to help them secure federal funding for projects they identify as necessary.

According to Fernando de Aragón, staff director of ITCTC, federal funds are limited and their use is highly regulated.

According to de Aragón, the federal funds are usually programmed with larger projects that need the extra financing assistance.

“Federal funds are not targeted to address pothole prevention specifically,” de Aragón wrote. “That comes along with adequate construction and maintenance of pavement.”

Only projects using federal funds are included in the IthacaTompkins County Transportation Improvement Program, while state and local funds can also be used by local governments for other projects. The TIP is a five-year program of federally funded surface transportation projects, which is updated every two to three years.

The new TIP takes effect Oct. 1, 2025 to Sept. 31, 2030. The program includes 18 highway projects, 14 of which are continuations of the current TIP, while four were identified through the ITCTC’s project proposal, evaluation and selection process. The projects total $56,674,743.

None of those millions of dollars goes directly towards repairing potholes, which remain an ongoing issue to Ithaca residents.

Now, while she still rides her bike to commute, if Katzman sees something that is too difficult to traverse around, she will “stop and get off [her bike], because riding on the streets is more than enough of a challenge.”

“I have been in Ithaca seven years,” Katzman said. “My bike is my primary form of transportation. I’ve been traversing all of this. It’s not just potholes — it’s sinkholes, craters, streets that are splitting down the middle.”

Cereese Qusba can be reached a cqusba@cornellsun.com

K-HOUSE Karaoke Lounge Closed Due to Mold, Maintenance TC3 Agriculture Students Now Have Transfer Path to Cornell CALS

Te community college graduates will have priority applications

By SHUBHA GAUTAM Sun Staff Writer

Aug. 22 — Tompkins Cortland Community College graduates in the Sustainable Farming and Food Systems Program now have a direct transfer path to Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. TC3 President Amy Kremenek and Benjamin Houlton, dean of CALS, signed the new articulation agreement on Aug. 7 at the TC3 farm.

TC3’s Sustainable Farming and Food Systems Program provides students with a foundation in sustainable agriculture practices by teaching them how to manage a farm, develop solutions to food system challenges and build relationships with the community. According to a TC3 press release, students who complete their Associate of Applied Science degree in the program with a minimum grade point average of 3.0 and a B or better in all transferable courses will receive priority consideration for transfer admission to CALS’ Agricultural Sciences B.S. program. Admission into the B.S. program builds on students’ knowledge of crops and soil sciences, animal science, agricultural economics and food science. They will also gain handson experience through lab and field courses, access to world-class faculty and research opportunities. Kremenek said the agreement “creates a clear, achievable pathway for students to start strong at TC3 and earn a degree

from an Ivy League University.”

“There is a strong legacy of collaboration between TC3 and Cornell. We know that Cornell is the dream for many of our students, and this agreement formalizes what we have always known to be true: that dream can be reality,” Kremenek said in a press release.

“I applaud the efforts of TC3’s faculty and am grateful to our colleagues at Cornell for creating this tremendous opportunity for our students.”

This agreement is part of TC3’s larger goal to expand opportunities for students. For example, the college offers tuition-free education for adults seeking an associate degree in high-demand fields such as healthcare, advanced manufacturing, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, engineering and others. Enrollees must be New York residents within the 25-55 year age range, but they do not need prior college experience or credits to participate.

Additionally, the agreement is part of CALS’ Signature Pathway Program, which forges opportunities for New York community college students to earn degrees at CALS. It is part of the college’s Land-Grant mission, which aims to improve the lives of people globally through community partnerships and research focussed on serving the public good.

Houlton said CALS is proud to partner with the State University of New York network and TC3, subsequently expanding opportunities for New York state students.

“This new articulation agreement reflects our Land-Grant mission and shared commitment to building strong academic pathways for students, in service of all New Yorkers,” Houlton said in a press release. “By welcoming TC3 transfer students into our community, we’re investing in the next generation of agricultural and life sciences leaders—offering them access to world-class research, hands-on learning, and real-world impact that can spark innovation and improve lives here at home and around the world.”

By ZEINAB FARAJ Sun Features Editor

Aug. 8 — K-HOUSE Karaoke Lounge & Suites announced in June that it was closing its operations “effective immediately” due to “unresolved building issues” that “compromised the health and safety” of the property.

K-HOUSE is a “premier karaoke destination” located on 15 Catherwood Rd., according to the business’s website.

The Sun found that K-HOUSE closed due to unresolved mold and structural issues, after reviewing obtained reports and emails.

In a Services Residential Report conducted by Kincaid Home Inspections on Dec. 31, 2024, an inspectors “uncovered numerous deficiencies,” including high levels of moisture that led to damage on the walls and staining across the building.

The report also lists “structural deficiencies,” including the floors sloping, with some areas displaying moisture readings at a reported “99%” — indicating that the material was extremely damp. The metal support columns in the basement of the K-HOUSE were found to be rusted, which indicated “long-term exposure to moisture” according to the report.

The report also states that the roof had serious structural issues, including “evidence of multiple leaks” due to temporary repairs and patches.

To continue reading this article, please visit www.cornellsun.com.

Zeinab Faraj can be reached at zfaraj@cornellsun.com.

ZEINAB

‘Put Yourself Out There’: Members of the Class of 2025 Reflect on Cornell Experience

By JONATHAN McCORMACK Sun Contributor

July 2 — With Senior Convocation and Commencement Weekend under their belts, six members of Cornell’s graduating Class of 2025 spoke with The Sun, sharing thoughts about their time in Ithaca and future plans.

Isabella Suffredini ’25, Nolan School of Hotel Administration

Suffredini, graduating from the Nolan School of Hotel Administration, hopes to pursue a career focused on improving the senior housing industry. After graduation, Suffredini plans to work for Wells Fargo in senior housing commercial real estate.

When she was 12, Suffredini volunteered at a nursing home. Both this experience, and being very close with her own nana, sparked her passion.

“I enjoyed the feeling of having a direct impact on someone’s life, and I wanted to improve how elderly people were treated in society,” Suffrendini told The Sun.

Accordingly, she was drawn to Cornell’s Nolan School and shared how she valued the culture of giving back, captured in the school’s motto “Life is Service.” She explained how the hotel school community practiced this, including alumni and faculty.

Suffredini said she chose to come to Cornell because she thought that the Hotel School was “the best in the world” — but the highlight of her time on campus ended up being her contributions to making it better. In December 2022, she was asked to restart the Hotel Student Mentorship Program, which pairs newer students with upperclassmen mentors who hold similar interests.

The program has grown to accommodate over 250 hotel undergraduates since

Suffredini relaunched the program in the fall of 2023. She said that she takes pride in contributing to fostering student connections, helping students discover their interests and strengthening the Cornell community.

“It was amazing. I could see all these connections being formed, first-years and transfers, finding commonality across over 200 people,” Suffredini said. “It has been a highlight for me to both help people find their communities and their paths.”

Brady Weyble ’25, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Weyble studied plant sciences in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. After graduation, he would like to travel before potentially returning to his alma mater to work at Cornell’s Plant Harvest Biology center. He hopes to pursue work in controlled environment agriculture before heading to graduate school.

Weyble was enrolled into Cornell as a biological studies major, but pivoted into plant sciences.

“I was thinking about genetics, but after a conversation with an upperclassman, I decided I wanted to try plant science,” Weyble said. “I enjoyed plant evolution and diversity, and started taking more classes.”

Weyble served as a captain of Shake Ultimate — one of four ultimate frisbee teams at Cornell. It is the second men’s team and emphasizes inviting and training people who have never played ultimate before.

The seniors on the team helped Weyble integrate into college, he said. They made his time on campus special.

“I wanted to give back to people seeking an introduction to college, like myself at first,” he said. “Finding a group like

Shake my freshman year was very important and I hope that for some people I was able to open up college to them through the team.”

Chris Ho Kim ’25, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Kim studied biology and society in CALS. After transferring to Cornell from the University of Virginia, Kim concentrated in biomedical ethics on a pre-med track.

After graduating, Kim intends to take two years to study for the MCAT and work in a hospital in Boston before applying to medical school and becoming a doctor.

During his time at Cornell, Kim found that medicine was an intersection of his passion for science and his desire to help others heal through spirituality. e.

Medicine and religion are not mutually exclusive things. … Healing is not separate from faith,” he said. “I think bioethics is where my interests in spirituality and medicine crossed, because fundamentally, medicine is a human-centered profession.”

Kim helped start Ignite, a semesterly event that brings Christians together for music and prayer.

“In just attending the event myself, I felt blessed by it,” he said. “So it was a full-circle moment, where I thought it would be helpful for other people, but in the end, I benefited from it as well.”

Mattie Nguyen ’25, College of Human Ecology

Nguyen studied fashion management with a minor in applied economics at the College of Human Ecology. He hopes to work in the luxury business.

After graduating, he will work as a business development associate at Sotheby’s, an auction house dealing with fine art and

luxury objects in New York City.

Cornell helped Nguyen realize his interests extended beyond the scope of just the fashion industry.

“At Cornell, I kind of pivoted from focusing on fashion business to the broader luxury and fine arts market, and while I love fashion, Cornell helped me realize there were many other things I could also be interested in,” Nguyen said.

Nguyen was a co-president of the Cornell Fashion Collective, a member of the Cornell Fashion Industry Network and Hotel Ezra Cornell. His favorite memory at Cornell was walking on the runway at the Cornell Fashion Collective Show this year after designing for it in years prior.

“It was an inspiring moment to walk onto that stage and get to see how many people were getting to appreciate and experience what my team and I had put together,” he said.

Ethan Ordower ’25, College of Architecture, Art and Planning Ordower studied in urban and regional studies in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning. Ordower is interested in transportation and infrastructure planning — however, at Cornell, he also discovered a passion for theater. In the future, he will likely pursue either a career in urban planning or theater.

“I always had a passion for both, … but I had the opportunity to really explore theater in depth [at Cornell], especially around lighting design, so I am interested in exploring that further,” he said.

To continue reading this article, please visit www.cornellsun.com

McCormack can be reached at jjm538@ cornell.edu

Raven Schwam-Curtis ’20: Gen Z Influencer, Social Education Content Creator

By ANJELINA GONZALEZ Sun Senior Writer

Aug. 8 — Raven Schwam-Curtis ’20 — or @ ravenreveals — has amassed more than 290,000 collective followers across her Instagram, TikTok and YouTube accounts, where she labels herself a “Gen Z Black and Jewish Educator.”

Schwam-Curtis’ content creation landed her the opportunity to interview former Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff on the rise in antisemitism in spring 2023.

Her educational content spotlights instances of social injustice, contextualizing situations within history and contemporary United States politics.

Schwam-Curtis posted a video on July 22, drawing attention to a Black man who was punched during a traffic stop. She also criticized conservative podcast host Charlie Kirk for attributing the high death count from Texas floods to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in a video posted on July 9.

Schwam-Curtis began generating humanities-focused lifestyle content on YouTube in 2021 as an M.A.-Ph.D. candidate in African American Studies at Northwestern University after finding most Ph.D. content online was STEM-focused. She has since amassed more than 12,000 subscribers on the platform.

However, Schwam-Curtis said her undergraduate education in feminist, gender and sexuality studies and Asian studies at Cornell was integral to both her content and graduate degree pursuits.

“I started to feel just this strong sense of urgency about what we were learning in the classroom,” she said, referencing her transition from lifestyle to an education-focus in her content. “Stories of suffocation and resistance and survival and thriving in the context of the United States and beyond.”

Schwam-Curtis said she garnered more than 10,000 followers on TikTok in her first year posting.

She describes the transition as starting “very, very organically, partially to make that lifestyle student

content, and then evolved into, how can I use social media as a political tool, as an apparatus for education.”

Schwam-Curtis explained how she explored her Black and Jewish identities in her time at Cornell, eventually evolving into the focus of her current content creation. While connecting to her Black identity living in Ujamaa Residential College, Schwam-Curtis began to explore her Jewish background after she was invited to engage through Cornell Hillel.

“I was raised from my mom’s side of the family, so my mom is Black and my dad is Ashkenazi,” she said, “So I’d never explored the religious valence of Judaism and more of that deep cultural dive.”

She attributes her time in cultural community spaces as an undergraduate to helping her develop and illuminate her sense of self.

Schwam-Curtis said she currently spends two to three hours every day creating content. She described being part of a nationwide movement towards online independent journalism, with her even earning press credentials for the Democratic National Convention in 2024.

“The truth is, we’re kind of the guinea pigs right now in a weird way, recognizing the importance of social media as a political organizing tool,” SchwamCurtis said. “We’re able to reach people at a huge scale with a very small fraction of the resources.”

As a social education content creator, SchwamCurtis believes that the current “political apparatus” is flawed by “wholesale glorifying and demonizing as we relate to parties.” She views her relationship to politics as “one on mitigation as opposed to deification.”

As Schwam-Curtis works to promote autonomy and highlight underrepresented communities, she offered advice for Cornell undergraduates and aspiring content creators.

“Trust yourself, and also that if you have a strong compulsion to do something, or if you see a gap in a kind of work that you know you can fill in a meaningful way, don’t be afraid to step into your power,”

Schwam-Curtis said. “Ultimately, you have no idea what kind of ripple effect you’re going to have by choosing to be brave.”

Anjelina Gonzalez can be reached at agonzalez@cornell.edu.

Jonathan

Cornell content creator | Raven Schwam-Curtis has more than 290,000 followers across Instagram, Tiktok and Youtube.

Habitat For Humanity Unveils First Historic Restoration Project in Ithaca

By CEREESE QUSBA Sun News Editor

July 15 — Habitat for Humanity of Tompkins and Cortland Counties hosted a home dedication celebration for a newly restored historic home at 417 South Aurora Street on Wednesday, marking the culmination of three years of work by dedicated Habitat staff, hundreds of volunteers, donors and homeowner Carrie Sawyer alongside her two sons.

Habitat for Humanity International, the parent organization of Habitat for Humanity of Tompkins and Cortland Counties, is a nonprofit housing organization working in over 70 countries and in nearly 1,400 communities across the U.S. Locally, Habitat builds, repairs and finances homes, partnering with families through its affordable Homeownership Program. In Tompkins County, Habitat is currently working with seven homebuyers and has five active build sites in the Ithaca area.

“It is hard to find a safe, quality, affordable home in our community right now,” said Shannon McCarrick, executive director of the local chapter of Habitat. “So it is a big deal every time we can add even one to our community.”

“It is hard to find a safe, quality, affordable home in our community right now, so it is a big deal every time we can add more to our community.”

Shannon McCarrick

New York State deemed the 417 South Aurora Street property a historic site, making it the first historic restoration project Habitat has worked on in Ithaca. The 1800s home was renovated using original doors, trim, windows and flooring reclaimed from a local deconstruction project. The project reflects Habitat’s commitment to creating homes that are both upgraded and sustainable, combining historic preservation with modernization for structure and energy efficiency.

“Every layer we peeled back revealed more work to do,” McCarrick said. “Historic restoration is tedious, but it’s a learning experience that connects volunteers to the community’s architectural heritage.”

“Historic restoration is tedious, but it’s a learning experience that connects volunteers to the community’s architectural heritage.”

Shannon McCarrick

The project was financially supported by the Community Housing Development Fund — a collaborative effort between Tompkins County, the City of Ithaca and Cornell University — as well as funding from the New York State Affordable Housing Corporation and the Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency with funding from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Homebuyers participate in homeownership education, hands-on vol-

unteer hours — called “sweat equity” — and receive an affordable mortgage, which costs less than 30 percent of household income.

“It’s not about checking a box,” McCarrick said. “It’s about building relationships, learning about the construction process and maintenance and really what it means to be a homeowner.”

Homeowner Carrie Sawyer, who completed over 900 hours of volunteer time, spoke at the Dedication Celebration, surrounded by a crowd of volunteers, neighbors, Habitat staff and friends.

“On my first day, volunteers at Habitat were willing to teach me, take me under their wing and show me any tips and tricks,” she said. “They really have become my second family.”

The restoration was powered by longtime Habitat builder Simon Gould, who served as the volunteer construction supervisor.

Throughout the project, Gould has overseen the building process, completed a majority of the skilled work and worked with and trained the volunteers in construction. Gould began his work with Habitat 25 years ago in Vancouver, British Columbia, as a weekend hobby and has since traveled across the globe, contributing to Habitat projects in 10 different countries.

Gould takes a hands-on approach with volunteers, guiding them through tasks and helping them build the skills they need.

“If they don’t have the right skills,” he said, “I’ll show them how to do a job — and then they’ll take it from there.”

Gould’s reflections on working alongside Sawyer echoed the prevailing sentiment of the afternoon — glowing admiration for her consistently positive demeanor and strong work ethic.

“Maybe when I get older, this will be a gathering place for my kids.”

Carrie Sawyer

“Whenever I needed extra help, Carrie [Sawyer] would always come out and help me — she wanted to learn.”

Sawyer said the experience taught her patience, resilience, and a range of new skills. Despite the project’s challenges, she learned to “just love the process.”

McCarrick underscored the longterm impact of these projects, emphasizing that the effort put in by volunteers and dollars contributed by donors help support homeowners for generations. The restored home at 417 South Aurora is the result of three years of collaboration between Habitat staff, volunteers, donors, and the Sawyer family — a project rooted in community effort and long-term investment in affordable housing. For Sawyer, it also marks the beginning of a new chapter.

“It really just means a place where my children can always come, always,” Sawyer said. “Maybe when I get older, this will be the gathering place for my kids.”

Two Players Named on 2025 FCS Football Central Preseason All-America Team

By ZEINAB FARAJ Sun Features Editor

Aug. 12 — Cornell football wide receiver Samuel Musungu ’27 and tight end Ryder Kurtz ’27 were selected to the 2025 FCS Football Central Preseason All-America Teams. The pair will join four other Ivy Schools in sending players to the game for the first time.

“I thank God that I was able to play at a high enough level to get recognized for my work last year on the field.”

Samuel Musungu ’27

The selection to the team comes after the decision to allow the Ivy League to participate in the FCS playoffs this fall. The team features 113 players representing all 13 FCS conferences and 51 schools.

Musungu told The Sun that it was “a blessing” to be selected to compete. While he won’t be competing this fall due to a knee injury, Musungu was honored by the selection.

“I thank God that I was able to play at a high enough level to get recognized for my work last year on the field,” Musungu said. “But preseason awards don’t mean anything unless you back it up with your play during the year so I take it with a grain of salt.”

Musungu was also recently named to the Walter Payton Award Watch List. This past season, he led the Red in three offensive categories — 960 receiving yards, 83 receptions and 10 touchdowns.

“Given that this is the first year for the Ivy League to compete in the FCS playoffs, it made it more of an honor to be selected since the Ivy League does not get as much recognition as other teams.”

Ryder Kurtz ’27

Due to his injury, Musungu has shifted his goals for the season and wants to “be an open book” for members of the offensive to lean on when necessary. He hopes to lead the team as much as possible off the field. This off season, Musungu focused on rehabilitation for his knee and watching film.

Musungu said his success was possible due his teammates, coaches and family supporting him.

“They’ve been pushing me towards a higher standard every workout, practice, meeting and I thank them for that because sometimes you just need an extra push,” Musungu said. “Also my family and faith, without my family’s support it would be hard to get to where I have and as well as my faith in God.”

Kurtz said it “was an honor” to be named to the team given that his goal is “to play in the NFL” one day. This season, he wants to contribute to the team in any way possible — whether it be catching passes, blocking or adding a positive presence to the locker room. He also added that for the Ivy League to contribute players to the team was “exciting” and a “step in the right direction” for the athletic conference.

“Given that this is the first year for the Ivy League to compete in the FCS playoffs it made it more of an honor to be selected since the Ivy League does not get as much recognition as other teams,” Kurtz said.

“Whether it be in the weight room, on the field or when we are watching film I want to follow Coach Swanstrom’s plans and push the team”

Ryder Kurtz ’27

Kurtz was an instrumental part of the Cornell offense last season — with his 36 receptions for 441 yards and four touchdowns. He hopes to “lead by example” this season and “contribute to Cornell earning a spot” in the FCS playoffs.

“I want to be able to lead by example this year and I really just want to step into a bigger leadership role this season,” Kurtz said. “Whether it be in the weight room, on the field or when we are watching film I want to follow Coach Swanstrom’s plans and push the team.”

Both Kurtz and Musungu commented positively on Swanstrom’s effect on the offense.

“[Swanstrom] has been amazing,” Kurtz said. “To be coached by him and his offensive mind has been incredible. We went from not scoring a lot of points last year to scoring nearly 35 points a game last year and that’s really because of our new offensive system under him.”

Zeinab Faraj can be reached at zfaraj@ cornellsun.com.

Cereese Qusba can be reached at cqusba@ cornellsun.com.

Two on the team | Wide receiver Samuel Musungu ’27 runs down the field with the tight end Ryder Kurtz ’27 providing a crucial block for him.

LEILANI BURKE / SUN SENIOR EDITOR

‘Man’s Best Friend’ … or Worst Enemy?

AVA TAFRESHI ARTS & CULTURE CONTRIBUTOR

As we bid farewell to a blistering summer teeming with ragebait and an unforeseen ’90s/’00s fashion trend comeback, Sabrina Carpenter’s seventh studio album, Man’s Best Friend, channels the feminine rage we felt these past few months.

Sabrina Carpenter bodaciously chronicles her dating experiences through clever wordplay that targets deeply ingrained societal issues with a raunchy, comedic twist. This old-fashioned take on modern issues acts as a striking reminder that, despite our progress, lingering gender roles and misogyny echo in the modern dating scene. Through a provocative cover and complementing tendentious lyrical genius, Carpenter brilliantly challenges the subjugation of women in relationships and reclaims her power in the face of heartbreak.

Released on June 5, 2025, the smash hit “Manchild” was our first glimpse into the album, keeping fans eagerly awaiting its full release — and it certainly did not disappoint. The upbeat, witty and comically harsh lyrics, delivered beautifully by the former Disney star’s flirty, feminine vocals, have fans raving.

Channeling the amorous theme set in her iconic sixth studio album, Carpenter’s merciless seventh record introduces country-pop to her audience, masterfully blending the two opposing genres with hints of R&B. The 26-year-old singer showcases her skills by breaking boundaries and creatively

weaving genres, allowing her to find her footing in the music industry and break out of the mold Disney placed her in.

Short n’ Sweet signalled Carpenter’s rebrand and expanded her fanbase, teaching listeners to delve into the double entendre of her amusing, lighthearted innuendos that expose the emotive topics in Man’s Best Friend. She uses brusque language, marking a shift in how women are expressing control after generations of relational subservience.

In “We Almost Broke Up Again Last Night,” Carpenter sings, “Yeah, your paragraphs mean shit to me/ Get your sorry ass to mine.” Later, in “Never Getting Laid,” she expresses, “I just hope you get agoraphobia some day.” For centuries, men have spoken down to women with relentless disrespect, expecting esteem and obedience in return. Man’s Best Friend is a countercultural pushback against decades of mistreatment, allowing women to reclaim their energy and define relational boundaries.

In “House Tour,” Carpenter slyly snuck in the comment, “I promise none of this is a metaphor.” Surely, the entire song — and record — is metaphorical. She goes on to sing, “My house is on Pretty Girl Avenue” and “Some say it’s a place where your dreams come true,” likely a jab at Disney being known as “The Place Where Dreams Come True.” She reflects on the company’s aim to create a magical reality for visitors and viewers, recognizing she, too, possesses that power in relationships. As the former Girl Meets World star regains her dreams and voice, she diverges far from

the act Disney made her put on, fiercely reigning on the charts in the world of pop. Sensually so!

Over the course of the album, the message of reversing and challenging gender roles in modern relationships quickly falls into place. The pop singer takes on themes of lust in a toxic masculine manner all with a flirty, feminine voice. An example from the queue is “Go-Go Juice” — arguably a groundbreaking country hit — which prescribes alcohol as a cure for heartbreak. She soberingly critiques how men excuse their toxic masculine behavior with claims of drunkenness. She sings, “Ain’t nobody safe when I’m a little bit drunk” and “Sippin’ on my go go juice, I can’t be blamed.”

Similarly, in “Don’t Worry I’ll Make You Worry,” Carpenter channels her inner menace by bluntly proclaiming, “You think that I’m gonna fuck with your head?/ Well, you’re absolutely right.” Later in the song she adds, “That emotional lottery is all you’ll ever get with me.” Through this song, she remorselessly bites back at how the men in her life toy with female emotions, draining women of their confidence and power.

And, since the two-time Grammy winner refuses to end any track without eliciting a few smirks from listeners, in “When Did You Get Hot?,” she sings, “You were an ugly kid, but you’re a sexy man” and “Thank the Lord, the fine you has risen.”

These lyrics pose as a clear clapback to the way many men sexualize girls throughout coming-of-age milestones.

While some of her lyrics may seem ques-

tionable on the surface, Sabrina Carpenter empowers her fans to unapologetically discover their voices and recreate themselves, even in the midst of heartbreak. Through jovial, snarky remarks, Carpenter illustrates the detrimental effects of internalized male animosity toward women in the dating scene and the normalized absurdities women face at the hands of partners and men in general.

But beware, if you thought Short n’ Sweet was dirty ... don’t listen to this album. Honestly, I need a spiritual detox after those twelve cheeky tracks. Man’s Best Friend redirects mainstream pop in a new trajectory — uncovering strength through an amusing feminine rage. Personally, I am completely here for it.

Ava Tafreshi is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at ant63@cornell. edu.

Not So Fantastic ‘Fantastic Four: First Steps’

JANE LOCKE ARTS & CULTURE WRITER

Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm debuted to the world as a comic in 1961. Combining their powers, the team became the Fantastic Four, and as the cover of that first issue proclaimed 64 years ago, “The Fantastic Four have only begun to fight!” Since then, five films from various studios have attempted to give the super-powered family justice on the big screen, including one unreleased movie from 1994. Four of these reboots are notorious for marring the stories of Marvel’s first family. One such reboot, Fantastic Four: First Steps, released to theaters worldwide July 25, 2025. Unfortunately, this newest installment continues the curse that weighs heavy on movie adaptations of the Fantastic Four.

Fantastic Four: First Steps takes place on Earth-828, a planet without any of the widely-known Avengers. One of the strongest points of the movie is the retrofuturistic design, including nostalgic ads featuring various Fantastic Four members and styles straight from the 1960s. Perfect for the actual comic book reality of the Fantastic Four and for our retro-seeking generation, the movie’s atmosphere is stun-

ning. In Fantastic Four: First Steps, we are first introduced to Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) and Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby) through the opening scene, when Sue discovers her pregnancy. The rest of the film is tied to her child’s birth. The Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) flies onto the scene on Earth828, announcing the imminent arrival of Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and the destruction of the planet. When the Fantastic Four swoop into Galactus’ base, they are told that he will only spare their planet if Reed and Sue give him their son, Franklin.

The first problem I quickly ran into with this movie is the style of storytelling. The director chose to put the film in media res; though the film is subtitled ‘First Steps,’ the actual first steps of the Fantastic Four are barely shown. The audience enters the story during maybe the two-hundredth step of this Marvel team. The Fantastic Four are explained as having already gained their powers through exposure to cosmic rays, already gaining celebrity status, already defeating such villains as Mole Man, and already being, well, the Fantastic Four. There are ways to masterfully craft a story through this mode, in media res, but ‘First Steps’ just misses the mark. The introduction

of the team feels rushed, most likely in order to complete the story in time for the release of Avengers: Doomsday, in which Dr. Doom (Robert Downey Jr.), a classic Fantastic Four villain, will make his MCU debut. Avengers: Doomsday is even teased in the post-credit scene, where Doctor Doom comes to the Baxter Building to, assumably, snatch away Franklin.

Who is Franklin, though? This Fantastic Four movie revolves around his birth, and Galactus hints at Franklin’s incredible power as his reason for demanding Reed and Sue’s son. However, his actual abilities are never explained. We, as an audience, have no idea why Galactus could need a baby or what sort of potential Franklin possesses. Like a lot in this movie, it is vague and not fully fleshed out.

Yet, the ultimate mystery in this film is the villain, Galactus. We are told he destroys planets by consuming them, and it is hinted that he is cursed to do so, but so many questions are left unanswered. Why is he cursed? What will Franklin do for him? How and why does he consume planets? However, as an audience member, I am willing to set aside my confusion to focus on a larger story. And this was definitely a larger story. In fact, Galactus was too large of a

story. This point returns to the movie’s title, Fantastic Four: First Steps. As a sort-of-origin story and an introduction to Marvel’s newest rendition of this super family, Galactus is not the villain I would have wanted for this movie. He is a planet-destroying, ginormous force that brings on the end of times. This is the first movie. In the Fantastic Four #1 comic, released in 1961, the Fantastic Four battle Mole Man, an Earthling who rules Subterranea and conducts attacks on the surface world. He is a smaller villain, a down-to-Earth (literally) bad guy who does not threaten the fabric of reality and doesn’t require a galactic showdown of epic proportions. He is, in other words, a good first battle.

For audiences just made familiar with the Fantastic Four, Galactus is an intense and chaotic scenario to face. His villainy makes the movie feel like a final piece of a larger story. We are left out of the humble beginnings and small-time heroics of the Fantastic Four and instead rushed into a fast-moving plot with world-ending stakes. Personally, I would have enjoyed a more zoomed-in look at the Fantastic Four and their world.

Essentially, Fantastic Four: First Steps was too grand, too cramped and just plain not

fantastic. Many scenes, like the awkward birthing scene in space, felt unnecessary. Besides not being a solid opening to the Fantastic Four, this movie also felt like so many recent Marvel movies: unoriginal, corporate and poorly written in comparison to the glory days of Iron Man. Though the movie grossed over $492 million dollars at the worldwide box office and was lauded as the best Marvel movie of all time, to me, it joined the long line of poorly executed Fantastic Four film adaptations.

Jane Locke is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at jal562@cornell.edu.

& CULTURE

YORK | ‘28 Years Later:’ Zombies, with Heart

By NICHOLAS YORK Arts & Culture Writer

This summer has been a great one for movies, and between blockbusters like Superman and Jurassic World: Rebirth, it might be easy to let 28 Years Later slip by. In the long-awaited follow up to 2002’s 28 Days Later and 2007’s 28 Weeks Later, writer Alex Garland and director Danny Boyle return to imagine what the UK might look like nearly thirty years into the zombie apocalypse. 28 Years Later might not have the mass appeal of other summer releases, but 3 months after seeing it in theaters, it’s still on my mind.

28 years after the Rage virus outbreak, British society has remained frozen in time. After almost three decades isolated from the rest of human society, the quarantine zone still reflects the cultural iconography of 2002. Beyond that, in the absence of government, we find that society has created cultlike communities still upholding traditional cultural norms. It is in one of these communities that Boyle introduces his protagonist, 12-year-old Spike (Alfie Williams.) While his mother, Isla (Jodie Comer), is left at home suffering from an unknown illness, his father, Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson,) trains his son to hunt down the remaining infected. Isolated on the gated island of Lindisfarne, we see children attending school, women completing domestic tasks and men training the next generation of hunters. Spike’s world is limited to the island and the teachings of his father. The conservative cul -

ture of Lindisfarne is all he knows, aside from the odd story from life before the outbreak. In some ways, 28 Years Later is best categorized as a coming-of-age story. It is only when Spike leaves the island for the first time that his world expands and he begins to reckon with the failings of his father’s teachings. Jamie’s insistence that the infected are “soulless” is challenged by Spike’s discovery that the mindless zombies of 28 Days Later have begun to form a culture of their own. So-called Alpha zombies have evolved into intelligent beings that lead their own functioning societies.

Spike’s discovery of the world beyond Lindisfarne is facilitated by his mother, portrayed beautifully by Comer. While her illness causes others to doubt her capabilities, Spike’s trust and love for his mother allows him to find empathy for those his father and the rest of their society have cast aside. Spike is also willing to do the unexpected to save the people he loves. When Jamie refuses to seek out Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes,) a former GP whose strange ideas have pushed him into exile, Spike searches for the only person who might be able to help his mother.

Spike’s internal struggle comes to a head when he and Isla discover a pregnant infected woman going into labor. While the soldier escorting them reacts with violence, Isla chooses to take the hands of the woman, helping her through an intimate moment. It is here that Spike finds himself at a crossroads between the world he has left behind and the world he is discovering for the very first time. He chooses

to help Isla, thereby casting aside his father’s lessons and instead embracing the empathy of his mother.

28 Years Later is a horror film, but its scares are much fewer than its predecessors. Whereas the first two films enjoy imagining how the world might respond to such an outbreak, Garland and Boyle are now more interested in exploring how society will change in the wake of the apocalypse and how, in many ways, it will stay the same. Jamie and the island reflect the closed-mindedness of our own world and human beings’ tendency to return to the familiar in times of struggle. Meanwhile, Spike’s journey tells the story of a young boy breaking free of traditional society, finding companionship in unexpected places and forging his own path into the unknown. In many ways, this is a story as old as time.

28 Years Later is the first in a new trilogy set in this post-apocalyptic world. To begin this new story, it makes sense that, in many ways, 28 Years Later shows a shift away from traditional horror and towards a deeper commentary on society that will continue to be explored. I, for one, am incredibly excited to see what Garland and Boyle choose to explore next.

Nicholas York is a junior in the School of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached at nay22@cornell.edu.

‘Projections’ is a column focused on reviewing recent film releases. It runs every other Monday.

‘Guitar’: Mac DeMarco, Quiet and Intimate

By MATTHEW RENTEZELAS

The last few years have been filled with an air of uncertainty and unease for Mac DeMarco fans like myself. In 2022, while on tour, DeMarco ominously spoke about a potential end to his musical career, saying “after this tour, there’s nothing on the books … maybe I’ll never be back.” Though 2023 saw him release One Wayne G — an album which compiled 199 unreleased songs and demos — the album continued to fuel rumors of retirement: after all, why would an artist release so many demos unless they planned on leaving the world of music behind altogether? To the relief of many, DeMarco clarified later on that he would continue releasing music, and his latest studio album Guitar released on August 22. Although tonally similar to some of his previous work, Guitar abandons the synthesizers and unique electric guitar tones that dominated albums like Salad Days (2014), This Old Dog (2017) and Here Comes the Cowboy (2019) in favor of the most basic essentials: acoustic guitar, bass guitar, drums and more reserved electric guitar parts. This departure becomes immediately noticeable on “Shining,” the opening track. The song introduces the higher falsetto voice that DeMarco frequently makes use of throughout the album, with light acoustic guitar, a rich bass tone and light drumming enhancing his vocals. “Shining” also introduces one of the main themes of the album: the complexities and troubles of love. The lyrics focus on the struggle a person feels regarding their uncontrollable emotions and his inability to fully commit to a woman in his life.

In “Sweeter,” the speaker attempts to convince a past lover who he has hurt to try a relationship with him again. DeMarco’s soft vocals and light, high-pitched guitar chords contrast with the implication that the speaker has hurt this person multiple times over. This results in a siren’s call of sorts — a beautiful-sounding song with haunting undertones.

“Phantom” follows a slower tempo, with a bass line and

guitar chord changes that mainly descend in pitch, representing the feeling of melancholy consuming the speaker. DeMarco focuses on the way that lost lovers can almost feel like ghosts in our lives, lingering in our minds and reminding us of mistakes and bygone times. This slower, more melancholic tone continues on “Nightmare,” which depicts the inner monologue of someone reflecting on their mistakes in the midst of a failing relationship. Though one of the less interesting songs from an instrumental standpoint, the chorus features a unique, powerful vocal delivery by DeMarco.

A slow electric guitar riff follows DeMarco’s vocals brilliantly throughout “Terror,” with simple bass and drum filling out the rest of the space. The speaker continues to reflect on many of the errors in his life, expressing his realization that he should pursue something meaningful with his partner rather than continue to jeopardize their future together. Electric guitar serves a similar mirroring purpose on “Rock and Roll,” but in this case the lyrics focus on the effect a life of stardom as a musician has on his personal life and his ability to express himself. The song’s second half features instruments unaccompanied by DeMarco’s vocals, perhaps suggesting that a life in the music world has removed the speaker’s ability to truly speak his voice.

“Home,” the album’s debut single, focuses on the difficulties of returning to a place of former belonging due to the faces and memories found there. The instrumentation on the track, especially the main guitar part, struck me as some of the most interesting on the album as a whole.

The speaker describes the tumultuous nature of their relationship on “Nothing At All,” where a slow, heartbeat-like bass line and lead guitar accents help add a sense of richness to the track. “Punishment” also features a very pleasing bass line and lead guitar part, with the guitar riff sounding almost western in inspiration. The speaker speaks about their lack of care of material possessions and sole desire to keep their soul and voice.

“Knockin’” is built around a slow, march-like drum beat and bass line which compliment the speaker’s com-

mentary on how many bad memories and anxieties in our mind seem to come marching or “knocking” down on our minds at opportune moments. In “Holy” the guitar and bass song bounce back and forth between two main chords and bass notes, creating a sense of tension. DeMarco convincingly delivers lyrics which discuss a person’s deep desire for a miracle to save them from their despair.

The album’s last track, “Rooster,” delivers a very interesting guitar riff that sounds almost harp-like. This sound, combined with DeMarco’s haunting vocals, create a haunting energy which is only compounded by the discordance in the song’s chorus. The song’s lyrics refer ambiguously to either the end of the speaker’s relationship with their partner or death itself, resulting in a fitting song to round out the album.

Overall, Mac Demarco successfully delivered a compelling work that feels uniquely quiet and intimate, mainly due to the vulnerability of his vocal performances. The fact that DeMarco wrote every song and performed all of the instruments on the album serves to heighten this sense of intimacy. DeMarco’s songwriting on the album also feels vaguely reminiscent of some of the quieter work released by The Beatles and in the solo careers of John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison; the similarities between DeMarco’s voice and Lennon’s voice make this similarity even more apparent. This pseudo-familiarity made the album feel oddly nostalgic, even on first listen, adding to the comforting sound that pervades the album (including some of the songs with darker material).

At a glance, Guitar may not seem to be as complex or spellbinding as some of DeMarco’s previous work. However, the true beauty of the album comes from appreciating DeMarco’s vocals and lyrics, which are allowed to shine in full force when surrounded by the scaled back instrumentation on each track.

Matthew Rentezelas is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached at mmr255@cornell.edu.

Arts & Culture Writer

Two Cornellians Medal at Fencing Nationals

Athletes take home bronze in Women’s Épée, Junior Women’s Sabre

By ZEINAB FARAJ Sun Features Editor

Senior Ketki Ketkar and freshman Trisha Nath have kept their summers busy this year — representing Cornell on the national stage at the 2025 USA Fencing Summer Nationals held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

“Competing at the national level was really fun,” Ketkar said. “This was my first national level tournament in a while so I was just trying to figure out where my level of competition was at.”

Ketkar explained she had “some issues” with her right hip and lower back that kept her from competing at the national level this past year.

“I did a lot of p[hysical] t[herapy] in order to get back into shape and compete at summer nationals so being there was a rewarding process for me,” Ketkar said.

The two-time All-American competed in the Division I Women’s

Épée event where she earned a bronze medal for her performance. The last time Ketkar competed in the Summer Nationals’ Division I Women’s Épée event, she placed 18th out of 139 other fencers.

“I hope to carry this momentum forward into next season while not focusing too much on the results of the match,” Ketkar said. “I am focusing right now on working on my technique, footwork and conditioning.”

Ketkar also explained that she enjoyed facing off against other competitive fencers from teams that the Red may not typically compete against in the Ivy League. She also explained that during the season, there is more of a “team aspect” of fencing to consider whereas at Summer Nationals, she felt like she was competing individually while representing Cornell.

And while Ketkar didn’t have her entire team with her, she did meet one of the latest additions to the team

— Trisha Nath.

“To see her perform that well was amazing and I am super excited to have her on the team,” Ketkar said, referencing Nath. “She is a great fencer.”

Nath said she’s been fencing for about six years. She said she decided to commit to Cornell due to the connection she made with the team.

“My decision to commit to Cornell was due to a number of factors,” Nath explained. “I loved the campus, the team, the coach and everything else about Cornell. There are so many perks to being here.”

Nath explained that she wanted to “make a good impression” at this tournament given it was her last one before the debut of her college career. It was also a “full circle moment” for her since her first ever North American Cup took place in Wisconsin.

“I felt really comfortable in my fencing abilities and I was really energetic the entire tournament,” Nath

said. “I really wanted to contribute something to the Cornell team and this competition has really made me excited for the next four years.”

Nath earned a bronze medal in the Junior Women’s Sabre. She also competed in the Division I Women’s Sabre, placing seventh.

“Being a part of the medal ceremony and sitting around other college athletes I remember thinking ‘I am ready to enter the collegiate level’ and compete against these people again,” Nath said.

Nath said she is excited to “experience things” at Cornell and hopes to compete in the NCAA championship.

“Each match and each practice I just want to fence better and improve,” Nath said. “I look forward to taking every opportunity and having a lot of fun.”

Zeinab Faraj can be reached at zfaraj@cornellsun.com.

Wallace Joins UVA Football After Graduating a Lacrosse Champion

By ZEINAB FARAJ Sun Features Editor

Two months ago, Walker Wallace ’25 was on the field at Gillette Stadium, cutting a piece of the lacrosse net that had caught 13 of Cornell’s goals during their NCAA championship win, hoisting the national title trophy above his head in celebration.

While that moment could have been the perfect ending to his collegiate athletic career, Wallace chose instead to turn the page — trading his lacrosse stick for football cleats. He’s now one of the newest additions to the University of Virginia’s football team.

“Playing football was something I was always thinking about for a long time,” Wallace said. “But I ultimately wanted to come play lacrosse at Cornell.”

Wallace committed to Cornell lacrosse during his junior year of high school. While he explained the Ivy League’s “perfect combination” of academics and athletics drew him to Cornell, he also had a deeper connection to the Red’s lacrosse program. Since childhood, he had been visiting Ithaca to watch the men’s lacrosse games — and to see his older brother,

Fleet Wallace ’19, play defense for the Red.

“I grew up coming to watch his games in Ithaca and I got to know the coaching staff and all the players at Cornell,” Wallace said. “I fell in love with the team and the program, and I knew I wanted to follow him here.”

Though the two never got the chance to share the field as teammates, Wallace said Cornell’s NCAA championship win was a moment the brothers shared.

“To be able to end my lacrosse career with a national championship and for him to be in the stands meant a lot to me emotionally,” Wallace said.

Now, Wallace is entering UVA’s football locker room as a tight end — and carrying on a family tradition. His uncle, Charles McDaniel, played football at Virginia, and his mother, Elizabeth Wallace, competed in track and field for the Cavaliers.

“I grew up not far from UVA and would attend games with all my family members,” Wallace said. “I had a UVA football jersey in my bedroom, so being here to end my collegiate career feels surreal. It’s an opportunity I’m grateful for.”

The transition from football to lacrosse isn’t

unusual — NFL hall of famer Jim Brown played lacrosse at Syracuse University and was a two-time All-American before his legendary career with the Cleveland Browns. Two-time Super Bowl champion Chris Hogan played lacrosse during his collegiate career at Penn State.

Wallace played football throughout high school at St. Christopher’s in Richmond, Virginia, helping lead his team to a runner-up finish in the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association State Championship.

Now, he returns to the sport at the collegiate level as the tallest tight end in UVA’s locker room — and with a championship mindset having captained Cornell to its first lacrosse championship in roughly 50 years. Wallace is using his last year of NCAA eligibility to join the football team at UVA.

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Battling blades | Senior Ketki Ketkar (left) and freshman Trisha Nath (right) put the Red on the podium at the 2025 USA Fencing Summer Nationals.

PHOTOS BY AUGUSTO BIZZI AND