Beth Anderson ’80 came very close to choosing the University of Pennsylvania. She grew up in Rochester with two Cornellian parents, Arlie Anderson ’47 and Douglas Anderson ’50, and her brother, Roger Anderson ’78.
“Being a rebellious teenager made me want to cut my own path and consider going somewhere else,” Beth said.
The decision between the two schools came down to the wire, so much so that Beth’s mother joked the family station wagon would sit packed and waiting until Beth said which way to go, Philadelphia or Ithaca.
Beth finally broke the stalemate by coming down to dinner wearing a Cornell T-shirt. No words necessary.
“I chose Cornell over Penn in part because it was just so darn beautiful; the scenery and environment just spoke to me, and I knew I would get a wonderful education,” Beth said.
On campus, Beth majored in history in the College of Arts and Sciences. Outside of the classroom, Beth was a multi-sport athlete who swam and played rugby, soccer, and lacrosse. She served as the undergraduate student representative on Cornell’s Title IX committee and President of the Women’s Athletic Association.
“This was the very, very early days of Title IX,” Beth said. “Being a woman athlete meant not only practicing and competing, but fighting for uniforms and practice space and facilities.”
The instinct to give back is something Beth was raised on. Both of her parents were active in the Cornell Alumni Admissions Ambassador Network (CAAAN); Beth’s mother was a 2005 FHTR awardee, and she was a class correspondent and Reunion co-chair, as well as a Cornell Club of Rochester volunteer. Her brother Roger has also been a class correspondent and class officer, and he is a member of Council.
When Beth graduated from Cornell and moved to New York City, she started participating in phonathons and interviewed Cornell hopefuls among high school students in the Bronx.
It was also in New York where Beth reconnected with Nancy Sverdlik ’79, now a fellow FHTR awardee, and Beth’s partner.
“As students, we lived in different apartments in the same house on College Avenue. We really didn’t know each other or travel in the same circles,” Beth said. The two didn’t become friends until they both moved to New York City after graduation.
From there, Beth’s volunteer involvement continued to bloom. She was asked to join the Library Advisory Council in 2001, of which she is now chair, and she is also on the Class of 1980 Class Council and a Cornell University Council life member. As a longtime volunteer on the Alumni Advisory Council for Cornell Alumni Magazine (now Cornellians), Beth also helped devise the Alumni Wine program as a fundraiser for the magazine and continues to serve on the Cornellians board. She was also the convener for the first year of the Cornell Alumni Advisory Board (CAAB).
From 2020–2024, Beth served as an alumni-elected member of the Cornell Board of Trustees, which she described as a “huge honor,” a role that put her at the center of the university’s COVID-19 response and other critical issues
Reflecting on her volunteer career, Beth sees herself as just one piece of the larger Cornell community, a community that comes with an automatic bond.
“We all have that love of the Big Red, an admiration for Cornell, and that recollection of hiking up icy Libe Slope together in our memory banks,” Beth said.
“Any of us who are lucky enough to go to Cornell are privileged. And as somebody who has that privilege and that honor to be a Cornellian, I think we have a responsibility to give back to society in some way.”
