“In some ways, Cornell chose me,” said Terri Denison ’84.
Terri anticipated attending college near where she grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas, but a high PSAT score in her junior year of high school led to an avalanche of college brochures, including from Cornell University.
“The more I read, the more it just felt like where I needed to be,” Terri said. “Ezra Cornell’s statement ‘… any person … any study’ resonated with me because I felt like I was one of those ‘any persons.’ No one in my family had gone to college directly from high school.”
Terri was accepted to the College of Arts and Sciences as a government major and stepped foot on campus for the first time in August 1980, after a 50-hour Greyhound bus ride from Texas. At Cornell, she found her community through Ujamaa and other friendships forged on North Campus. From her freshman to junior year, Terri participated in Ujamaa’s Big Brothers Big Sisters committee to provide mentor relationships for young people in downtown Ithaca. In her junior year, an oral communication class taught by Pamela Stepp PhD ’93 led to a unique opportunity.
“She asked several of us if we were interested in competitive speaking, and we said yes. Our little group of five or six people ended up being the nucleus of what is now the Cornell Speech and Debate Society,” Terri said. The society competed on the national level for the first time during Terri’s senior year.
After graduation, she returned to Texas and earned a master’s in urban studies from Trinity University. Terri worked for the federal government at the US Small Business Administration for the next 37 years, in several roles and locations around the country. Her last position at SBA brought her to Atlanta, Georgia, where she served as the state director for the agency.
Soon, Terri became involved with the Cornell Alumni Association of Atlanta (CAAA) and was asked to become the club’s scholarship chair.
“Looking back on my journey getting to Cornell, it seemed like that was the perfect opportunity for me to give back,” Terri said, “because I know what it’s like to wonder, ‘Am I going to have the resources to continue at Cornell?’”
Over time, Terri became the club’s vice president, and then stepped up as president. Terri has continued to champion student access to education, and under her leadership, CAAA has become one of the top fundraisers for club scholarships university-wide on Giving Day.
In 2014, Terri joined the Cornell University Council. She has since served on the Council Administrative Board and as chair of the Engagement Committee.
Even though Terri describes herself as introverted, she wants to encourage more Cornell alumni to volunteer their time in ways that suit them best.
“If you’re not passionate about it, you’re not going to sustain your involvement over an extended period of time. You don’t necessarily have to be the front person, even though I challenge everyone to take baby steps so that you can continue to grow as a person,” Terri advised.
“I think sometimes people think ‘I’ve got to be able to give a lot of money,’” Terri said. “It has its place, but if you give the best of your talents, the best of your efforts, the best of your concern for your fellow alums and current students, that to me is doing the greatest good.”
