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An Inauguration with Aloha | Salute to President Lehnam

By Cynthia Odegaard ’78

THERE ARE TIMES IN the course of one’s life when practicality takes a back seat to being part of history. One of those times arose recently, and I wanted to share it with my fellow alumni.

As president of the Cornell Club of Hawaii, I was invited to be an “alumni delegate” at the inauguration of Jeff Lehman ’77 as the university’s eleventh president. First, I did the math. Cornell has had only ten presidents in 135 years? And an alumnus has never been president before? This is a big deal. As my title would suggest, however, I live in Hawaii. The inauguration in Ithaca is about 5,000 miles away. We were just there for my 25th Reunion in June. How can I do this? What will it cost? How jetlagged will I be?

And then I remembered something. When I first learned of Mr. Lehman’s appointment, I found his e-mail address on the University of Michigan Law School website and left a welcoming message from our club. I heard back from him the very next day—right in the middle of the University of Michigan affirmative action lawsuit that was before the U.S. Supreme Court at the time! He even asked if one of his classmates was still in Hawaii. Then, prior to officially taking the reins, “Jeff” (as he signed his message) met everyone at reunion in June. Clearly, this new president is making an effort to reach out to alumni. My decision became easy: I would use the old Cornell ingenuity to make this trip a reality.

Inauguration day started early, as I met President Lehman at Day Hall at 7:30 a.m. to present him with two maile leis, which I carried from Hawaii. One was from Sabrina Toma ’77, who had given Jeff a lei at their Cornell graduation. The other was from the Cornell Club of Hawaii. I think he was surprised!

Next I had breakfast with Caren Rubin, MEng ’79, who lives in Ithaca and has two sons currently at Cornell, and we had a great time catching up. We also went to Richard Meier’s lecture. Lunch and the donning of the regalia followed. Here I met other alumni leaders and we enjoyed trying to identify representatives of the other Ivy League universities by the colors they wore. On the Arts Quad, we lined up by college for the inaugural procession. I met CALS dean Susan Henry and took the opportunity to ask any faculty members heading to Asia via Honolulu to stop in and meet with alumni for an event. (I am shameless!) Then we spotted a black SUV driving on the sidewalk. When we saw the Virginia plates, we figured out that it was Ruth Bader Ginsburg ’54 and decided not to report the incident to campus security.

We then processed past our new president and the university trustees, all decked out in red, and were seated at Barton Hall for the ceremonies. The remarks by both Justice Ginsburg and President Lehman focused on the things that make Cornell great, and made me very happy to continue my association with the university, both with our club and with the admissions ambassadors network. It also made me realize that our voices would be heard, and opinions valued.

I made a quick trip to the campus store for souvenirs, then stopped into the Statler, where I met Jim Roberts ’71, editor of Cornell Alumni Magazine, and Arthur Boland ’57, MD ’61, representing Harvard. After dinner, it was off to Barton for “Ezra and Andy’s Excellent Big Red Adventure.” Two highlights: seeing Hawaii Club members dancing a traditional hula, and the call from Ed Lu ’84 from the space station. The day ended back at the Statler, saying aloha to many new friends, including Molly Pulver ’80, president of the CALS alumni association, and (fellow) former Cornell rugby player Kevin Brew ’77.

The next morning I headed back to Honolulu with lots of pictures and great memories of my day in Ithaca.

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