{"id":75478,"date":"2026-08-20T13:40:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T17:40:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/?p=75478"},"modified":"2026-08-20T13:55:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T17:55:36","slug":"new-student-convocation-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/new-student-convocation-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Unprecedented Freedom to Explore, Inside and Beyond Your Classrooms\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At Convocation, President Kotlikoff welcomes first-years and transfer students to Cornell\u2019s \u2018community of academic discovery\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Mike Kotlikoff<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photography by Alexandra Bayer<\/strong>, Devin Flores<\/strong> & Sreang Hok<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the President\u2019s Words\u201d brings Mike Kotlikoff’s major messages to the broader Cornell community, so alumni can hear from the University\u2019s leader first-hand. He delivered the following address at New Student Convocation in August 2026.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I want to welcome all of you, our new first-year and transfer students, to Cornell! Whichever your college, whatever your graduating class, whatever your goals and plans, wherever you come from, and wherever you go from here\u2014all of you are now Cornellians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You are entering a community that includes thousands of faculty and staff, across our colleges and campuses; tens of thousands of students, across hundreds of programs of study; and hundreds of thousands of alumni, each making their own contribution in every corner of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Students
Students and their families in the Crescent during Convocation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Today we welcome each of you and look forward with you to everything you will learn, and everything you will become, here at Cornell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every single one of you is here because we saw something special in you that meant you belonged at Cornell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Whichever your college, whatever your graduating class, whatever your goals and plans, wherever you come from, and wherever you go from here\u2014all of you are now Cornellians.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

So if at some point in the months ahead, when you\u2019re wrestling with a problem set or a paper, and you start to wonder if maybe somebody in Admissions made a mistake\u2014I can tell you right now, they did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You are a Cornellian. And this is where you belong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Student
Kotlikoff and Ryan Lombardi, VP of student and campus life, with student Move-In staffers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There are only two times the president of Cornell gets to speak to an entire class of Cornellians all at once: when welcoming a new class at Convocation and when sending off a graduating class at Commencement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These just happen to be the exact times when each of you is likely to be maximally distracted: with too much on your mind, not enough sleep the night before, and ready to get on with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Today we welcome each of you and look forward with you to everything you will learn, and everything you will become, here at Cornell.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

So even though the only things that are standing between you and everything you can\u2019t wait to get started on are me and the next six minutes\u2014this is my last and only chance to speak to all of you at once before you graduate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I want to take that time to help you understand the place you\u2019ve come to, and the community that is now your home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
New roommates decorate their digs.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The story goes that a few days after Cornell was chartered, in April of 1865, Ezra Cornell and a few members of the newly assembled University Board of Trustees drove their horses up the hill east of town to figure out where they should put the new university the state legislature had just approved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

There are only two times the president of Cornell gets to speak to an entire class of Cornellians all at once: when welcoming a new class at Convocation and when sending off a graduating class at Commencement.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

They drove all the way to the top, where the trustees looked down at what is now West Campus and saw a reasonably flat ledge of land to build on. The trustees thought it would do nicely for a few academic buildings and the other requisites of a future university.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ezra Cornell disagreed. So they asked him where he wanted to put the university that would carry his name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"President
A view from the Convocation dais.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He swung his arms around the entire, much larger hilltop and said, \u201cHere.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trustees thought he was crazy. There were no roads, there were no bridges\u2014and sure, there was a great view, but was it really necessary to put the university all the way on top of a hill that high?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will probably ask yourselves the same question in the future, as you truck up the Hill to an 8 a.m. class in the snow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Ezra was sure. Not only because he was planning a far larger university than the one the trustees had in mind\u2014but because he planned a different one. The first truly American university, built on the aspirational principles of our democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"President
Kotlikoff and Lombardi greet an arriving familiy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

An institution where any person could find instruction in any study. That would admit women and men, of every race, religion, nationality, and background, regardless of their ability to pay\u2014and educate them together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And for a vision that radical to be successful, it had to be set just enough apart from the world to create a new model for American education\u2014by building a new community of academic discovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Ezra was sure. Not only because he was planning a far larger university than the one the trustees had in mind\u2014but because he planned a different one. The first truly American university, built on the aspirational principles of our democracy.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

A community profoundly committed to our land-grant and public impact mission of building a better future for the people of our state, this nation, and the world;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A community anchored in the beauty of this region, with bridges of collaboration spanning disciplines and continents;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"students
Displaying Big Red spirit\u2014literally!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A community that would unroll the map of human knowledge, without fear or favor\u2014and invite generations of Cornellians to explore it, to its edges and beyond, together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You are now a part of that institution\u2014and you are now entering that community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cornell historian Carl Becker once observed that universities don\u2019t have souls, but they do have personalities. And he called the Cornell personality one of freedom\u2014and responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Students
Keeping cool in the Crescent.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At Cornell, you will find unprecedented freedom to explore, inside and beyond your classrooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ll meet people passionate about ideas and disciplines and develop interests, and purpose, of your own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

You\u2019ll meet people passionate about ideas and disciplines and develop interests, and purpose, of your own.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ll create your own communities, within this larger community\u2014through the shared bonds of your colleges and residences, clubs and interests\u2014from athletics to astronomy, politics to Pandora dance, bioethics to the Big Red Band.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And you\u2019ll interact with people with all kinds of opinions, all kinds of convictions, and all kinds of perspectives\u2014learning from them all. Agreeing, disagreeing, and forming your own opinions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"students
Capturing the moment outside Willard Straight.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s the freedom part. The responsibility is the responsibility each of us takes on, to<\/em> this community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To protect and respect the freedom of expression and exploration for everyone around you. Even, and especially, for the people with whom you have the least in common, and the ideas with which you most disagree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

You\u2019ll create your own communities, within this larger community\u2014through the shared bonds of your colleges and residences, clubs and interests.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

That shared commitment to listening and learning, to civil discourse, to open and free inquiry, is the key to your intellectual growth and discovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is how you will develop the knowledge and expertise to understand the world, tackle new challenges, and solve complex problems\u2014and the ability to have an impact, throughout your lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"President
Kotlikoff greets a family at Morrison Dining.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My advice to you on your first day as Cornellians is to embrace this community and all its diversity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And by community I mean your fellow students, our faculty and staff, and also the wonderful people of our beautiful, rural upstate town. Interact with everyone you meet in ways that build this community, while expanding yourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

My advice to you on your first day as Cornellians is to embrace this community and all its diversity.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

And one more suggestion: do it in person\u2014not online. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because your years at Cornell will offer you unparalleled opportunities to learn from and work with people who are not like you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
New arrivals take in the view from the Slope.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And the more you take advantage of and learn from those opportunities in this community, the more ready you\u2019ll be to enter, contribute, and thrive in every community that will become yours, throughout your lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cornellians, welcome. We are delighted to have you, and look forward with you to everything that lies ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Published August 20, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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