Would choose Cornell again

As I was reading about “The New Guard,” I felt the excitement well up inside of me. “I want to go there,” I thought. Of course, I DID go there! It was 20 years ago, but as I was reading about the innovative instructors and unique opportunities for students, I couldn’t help but feel I could go back for another four years, learn just as much, and enjoy it just as much (or more!). As the ol’ college song goes, “Cornell, greater be thy name.”

Wendy Mansfield Maloney ’87
Aurora, Ill.

Enthusiastic 'New Guard'

Your feature on “The New Guard” profiling five outstanding, exciting educators currently sharing their expertise in various fields with Cornell students indicates that the college is in good hands. They all sound like highly qualified, dedicated people who enjoy what they do. Beth DeBoom did such an excellent job of presenting their various stories, and even the photos conveyed a sense of committed enthusiasm.

This made good reading in conjunction with “All in a Day’s Work” telling us about interesting individual student activities in the work-study program. When I was at Cornell from 1950 to 1952, I washed dishes in Pfeiffer Hall and mucked out bathrooms in the “barracks.” I guess someone in the Class of ’54 had to do the dirty work. That reunion photo with so many familiar faces and names was a great pleasure to see.

John Calkins ’54
Centennial, Colo.

Cornell boosterism

I have been pondering for some time the fact that all communications from the college are extremely upbeat, positive, and optimistic. Everything and everyone can’t be doing that marvelously well. My thought is to run a reality check in the Report. Exactly how to tackle this—reporting some of the pain, suffering, and negative happenings of real life without making it depressing—is something only an editor of your caliber could figure out. But I do think the time has come to balance some of the boosterism.

Gene DeRoin ’49
Chicago