A group of smiling students walking through campus together with Sage Hall behind them

Learning, Studying, and Uphill Hiking: The Academic Year Begins

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A Big Red Welcome: Move-In and Orientation 2026, in Photos

Back to School, Amid an Ithaca Chill

Remember Arriving on Campus? Now, Move-In Is a Major Event

A photographic look at the first day of classes in fall 2026, as new and returning students fill classrooms, cafés, libraries, and labs

By Cornellians Staff

Photography by Alexandra Bayer, Sreang Hok & Jason Koski

Students began classes for the fall 2026 semester beneath balmy August skies, with nary a hint of the autumn color and colder days to come. Following Move-In and Orientation for new students (including the 3,681 members of the Class of 2030), Cornellians once again congregated on campus pathways, found their way to and from classes, discovered friends old and new, sought out study spots, and hung out outdoors and in cafés.

University photographers covered the day, capturing the excitement of a new semester. Backpacks and Big Red swag were ubiquitous—and while laptops are now de rigueur in classrooms, old-school pens and paper were also spotted.

Scroll down for a "first day of classes" photo tour!

A group of seven students standing and sitting in a circle in the Beck Center atrium at Statler Hall while listening to a professor speak with a coffee in his hand
Students sit at either side of large tables in Olin Library on their laptops
A professor stands in front of a presentation screen about Chinese language vocabulary during a class and talks to the students
Three students smile and talk to each other while they walk through the Arts Quad
Two rows of students in a classroom, all focused on writing on papers in front of them
Two students smile while talking together as they walk along the Slope from West Campus
psychology professor Anthony Ong stands at the front of a classroom next to two computer monitors while teaching The Science of Well-Being
A group of six students in a line smile and walk together through Ho Plaza on campus

Stories You May Like

A Big Red Welcome: Move-In and Orientation 2026, in Photos

Back to School, Amid an Ithaca Chill

A student wearing jeans and a sweatshirt sits outside of Uris Hall and looks at her laptop
Students walk up the Slope on campus with their backpacks, with the Johnson Museum in the background and wildflowers in the foreground
Students do work on their laptops as they sit at a table in the A.D. White Reading Room in Uris Library
Students sit in a classroom on a set of broad steps and listen to a lecturer in front of them
Two students look at a phone screen and smile in the atrium of Klarman Hall
Students sit in class and listen attentively with laptops in front of them
A student wearing a red Cornell backpack walks up the pathway toward Upson Hall
Rows of students sit in a classroom with their laptops in front of them in the Plant Sciences building
Three students sit at a table together while talking and laughing in the Klarman Hall atrium
Two students smile while talking together as they walk up the Slope from West Campus

Published August 26, 2026

Comments

  1. Jon Vinograd, Class of 1968
    6 Sep, 2026

    I walked up “libe slope” for two years in 1965 and 1966 when I lived in downtown Ithaca and parked below the dorms.

    Other than the first week or two when my muscles rebelled , I never found it difficult.

    I did it again during my 55th reunion. “WHOA,” is the only comment I could say that is printable!

    Reply
    • Michael Eric George, Class of 1968
      12 Sep, 2026

      Had similar experience. I lived below campus for 5 years and the climb to an 8 o’clock class was a mental struggle not a physical one after the first week. Thank goodness for the stairs leading up to the law school. Made the climb much easier.

      Reply

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