Cornell University: Encyclopedia II - Cornell University - Student life

Cornell University - Student life

Cornell University - Activities

Cornell has more than 800 registered student organizations, running the gamut from kayaking to full-armor jousting, from varsity and club sports and a cappella groups to improvisational theatre, from political clubs and publications to chess and video game clubs. Many groups are subsidized financially by the Student Assembly Finance Commission, a student-run organization that gives nearly $1,000,000 a year to clubs and organizations. Organized in 1868, the oldest student organization is the Cornell University Glee Club.

The Cornell Daily Sun is the oldest continuously independent college daily in the United States, having published since September 1880. Other campus publications include The Cornell Review, Turn Left and The Cornell American.

Cornell also hosts one of the largest fraternity and sorority systems in North America, with over 60 chapters involving 30 percent of undergraduate students. Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans was founded at Cornell in 1906.

Cornell University - Housing

University housing is broadly divided into three sections: West Campus, Collegetown and North Campus. As a result of President Hunter R. Rawlings III's 1997 Residential Initiative^[29] West Campus houses mostly transfer and returning students, whereas North Campus is almost entirely populated by freshmen.

The only options for living on North Campus for upperclassmen are the program houses: Risley Residential College, Just About Music (JAM), the Ecology House, Holland International Living Center (HILC), the Multicultural Living Learning Unit (MLLU), the Latino Living Center (LLC), Akwe:kon, and Ujaama.

In an attempt to create a sense of community and an atmosphere of education outside the classroom, the University has undertaken the $250 million residential college project on West Campus. In line with Andrew Dickson White's vision of the University, the West Campus Class Halls will be demolished and rebuilt as five residential colleges. The first House, the Alice Cook House, was opened to students in 2004, followed by the Carl Becker House in 2005. The next house will be the Hans Bethe House. The names of the Houses come from notable Cornell professors. The idea of building a House system can be attributed in part to the success of Risley Residential College, the oldest continually-in-use residential college at Cornell. Like Risley, the new houses will have their own dining halls, student governments, in-house lectures, House trips, and crests. The completion of the five-House "residential college" campus will occur in 2010.^[30]

A variety of off-campus housing options exist. Many homes in the East Hill neighborhoods adjacent to the University have been converted to apartments, and several high-rise apartment complexes have been constructed in the Collegetown neighborhood. A significant number of undergraduate students live in fraternity and sorority houses. Many "co-op" or other independent living units such as Watermargin, Telluride House, Young Israel, and the Wait Cooperative also exist.

The campus dining services have been rated as one of the top college dining services many times in recent years^[31].

Cornell University - Athletics

Cornell has one of the most diverse varsity athletic programs in the country. It sponsors 36 varsity teams.

An NCAA Division I institution, Cornell is a member of the Ivy League and also competes in Eastern College Athletic Conference, the largest athletic conference in North America. Cornell's traditional football rival is the University of Pennsylvania; in 1993, the two institutions celebrated the 100th anniversary of their first game. More keenly followed in the present day are the men's ice hockey contests with Harvard University, although the rivalry has been somewhat one-sided in recent years, with Cornell leading 22-5-2 since the 95-96 season, including ECAC Championship Game wins in 1996, 2003, and 2005.

In addition to the school's varsity athletics, a wide variety of club sports teams have been organized as student organizations under the auspices of the Dean of Students.

Cornell's intramural program includes 30 sports. In addition to such familiar sports such as flag football, squash, or horseshoes, such unusual offerings as "inner tube water polo," and formerly "broomstick polo" have been offered, as well as a sports trivia competition.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Student life", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki