Cornell University

Cornell University (/kɔːrˈnɛl/ kor-NEL) is a private and statutory Ivy League research university in Ithaca, New York. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, the university was intended to teach and make contributions in all fields of knowledge—from the classics to the sciences, and from the theoretical to the applied. These ideals, unconventional for the time, are captured in Cornell's founding principle, a popular 1868 quotation from founder Ezra Cornell: "I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study."



B

 * This was what was finished on October 7, 1868- this idea of Cornell University. Seventy-five years later there is nothing we could wish to add to it, or anything we could wish to take away. And it is after all the idea that was then, as it is now, the important thing, since it was and is the source of all the rest. In response to this idea the first crude buildings were erected, the first books and apparatus were collected, and the first faculty was assembled. In response to this idea the first students came to be enrolled. And on this seventy-fifth anniversary we shall do well to remember that it is not the buildings however splendid, or the quadrangles however beautiful, but this idea brought to birth by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White- the idea of an institution freed from obligation to religious or political or social prejudice, and devoted to the advancement of knowledge in all fruitful fields of inquiry- it was this idea that then have and still gives to Cornell University whatever high significance and enduring value it may have for learning and for the life of man.
 * Carl L. Becker, John Wendell Anderson Professor of History at Cornell University from 1917 to 1941, in Cornell University: Founders and the Founding (1943), Ithaca: Cornell University Press, March 1949 hardcover reissue, p. 136

C

 * The individual is better, society is better, and the state is better, for the culture of its citizens; therefore we desire to extend the means for the culture of all.
 * Ezra Cornell, in an address on the morning of 7 October 1868, as quoted by Carl L. Becker, John Wendell Anderson Professor of History at Cornell University from 1917 to 1941, in Cornell University: Founders and the Founding (1943), Ithaca: Cornell University Press, March 1949 reissue, p. 133


 * I hope we have laid the foundation of an institution which shall combine practical with liberal education, which shall fit the youth of our country for the professions, the farms, the mines, the manufactories, for the investigations of science, and for mastering all the practical questions of life with success and honor.
 * Ezra Cornell, in an address on the morning of 7 October 1868, as quoted by Carl L. Becker, John Wendell Anderson Professor of History at Cornell University from 1917 to 1941, in Cornell University: Founders and the Founding (1943), Ithaca: Cornell University Press, March 1949 reissue, p. 136

K

 * Cornell remains remarkably true to its founders' vision of what a university in Ithaca should be. What has been constant at Cornell is its democracy, its orientation toward the future, its commitment to a balance between research and teaching, the individual responsibility of its faculty and students, and its freedom of inquiry. Its faculty still considers itself underpaid, the landscape remains thrilling, the weather- rain, snow, sun, cold, heat, wind- is still known as "ithacation" and always unpredictable. A university is a living entity. "One cannot be precise about Cornell," Dale Corson observed wryly, for it is an institution that "refuses to hold still." So true."I believe that we have made the beginning of an Institution which will prove highly beneficial," said Ezra Cornell. He understood that the institution he and Andrew Dickson White created would always be in the process of becoming. As long as this university remains a work in progress, it will be doing its job. It is this tradition of independence, egalitarian creativity, and personal responsibility that has shaped Cornell and will guide it forward.
 * Carol Kammen, Glorious To View: Cornell (2003), p. 230

T

 * When the sun fades far away In the crimson of the west, And the voices of the day Murmur low and sink to rest,
 * Henry Tyrrell, Cornell Class of 1880, "Evening Song" (1877), first verse


 * Music with the twilight falls O'er the dreaming lake and dell; 'Tis an echo from the walls Of our own, our fair Cornell.
 * Henry Tyrrell, Cornell Class of 1880, "Evening Song" (1877), refrain


 * Welcome night and welcome rest; Fading music fare thee well! Joy to all we love the best, Love to thee our fair Cornell!
 * Henry Tyrrell, Cornell Class of 1880, "Evening Song" (1877), second verse

W

 * Far above Cayuga's waters, With its waves of blue, Stands our noble Alma Mater, Glorious to view.
 * Archibald Croswell Weeks, Cornell Class of 1872 & Wilmot Moses Smith, Cornell Class of 1874, "Far Above Cayuga's Waters" (1870), first verse


 * Far above the busy humming Of the bustling town, Reared against the arch of heaven, Looks she proudly down.
 * Archibald Croswell Weeks, Cornell Class of 1872 & Wilmot Moses Smith, Cornell Class of 1874, "Far Above Cayuga's Waters" (1870), second verse


 * Lift the chorus, speed it onward, Loud her praises tell; Hail to thee, our Alma Mater! Hail, all hail, Cornell!
 * Archibald Croswell Weeks, Cornell Class of 1872 & Wilmot Moses Smith, Cornell Class of 1874, "Far Above Cayuga's Waters" (1870), refrain