And always they manage to slip in an anecdote or two about campus life. Since at least the 1950s, the Cornell Alumni Federation Speaker Series has been sending academics across the United States to help alumni stay in touch with the campus, both socially and intellectually, and to inspire high schoolers and their parents to make Cornell their college of choice. There are 79 Cornell clubs and alumni associations across the country, from Florida to Alaska, and every year 50 or so faculty members journey to perhaps two-thirds of the groups, some visiting as many as six cities. This year 25 faculty speakers are visiting 54 clubs and associations, with the alumni affairs office paying travel expenses and local alumni taking care of accommodations and meals. Some academics stay in members' homes, others are put up in hotels.
Some events are held in hotels or theaters, others are small gatherings in homes.
But always, faculty travelers say, the welcome is enthusiastic, and the questions are legion. The closer you get to Cornell, the more alumni are interested in big issues, like undergraduate research. Perhaps in part our alumni are looking for continuity in their lives between past and present. Maybe they remember their Cornell years as something of an oasis, an ideal time when youth, energy and intellectual excitement came together. Terzian, says alumni official Nelsen, is the faculty speaker series record holder, having visited 41 clubs and associations since 1978.