2025 New Student Convocation Address

by President Michael I. Kotlikoff

As prepared for presentation
August 19, 2025
Ithaca, New York

Welcome to all of our new Cornellians, and welcome, all of our new Cornell families!

It is an enormous pleasure to welcome the Class of 2029, and our transfer students into the classes of 2027 and 2028, here to Cornell.

And a special thanks to the families who are in the stands today: who have done so much to bring our newest students to Cornell, over the last 18-odd years, and particularly these last few (or few hundred, or few thousand) miles to central New York.

As I think Odysseus said, if it were easy to get to, it wouldn’t be Ithaca.

Students, no matter how you got here, or who you’re with; where you’re from, or what you’re here to study; today, all of you are part of the university Ezra Cornell envisioned: “an institution where any person can find instruction in any study.”

From today, all of you are Cornellians. You are joining a community of individuals who, for generations, have come to this small town in upstate New York; and have left as different people, and lifelong members of the Cornell community.

There are only two times the president of Cornell gets to talk to an entire class of Cornellians, all together and all in the same place: once at the very beginning of your time on campus, at this New Student Orientation, and then again at the very end, at Commencement.

You’re going to go to a lot of lectures in the years ahead, and hopefully you’ll learn all kinds of things; from our faculty, who are among the most accomplished in the world, and also from our staff, your classmates, and the people you meet here in Ithaca.

But I only get one shot at teaching you all together as students, because the next time I see you all together, you’ll be graduates.

So I hope you’ll indulge me for just a few minutes, and let me tell you what I think are the most important things you need to know to get the most out of your time here.

The Cornell historian Carl Becker once memorably said that universities don’t have souls, but they do have personalities—and the Cornell personality has always been one of freedom and responsibility.

At Cornell, you will find an incredible amount of intellectual freedom—to pursue knowledge, and to follow your curiosity wherever it leads you.

You’ll also take on the responsibilities that come with living in a world-class academic community, where free and open inquiry is central to who we are and what we do. Cornell is, by design, a place of diversity and intellectual pluralism—when we say “... any person ... any study,” we mean it.

In the months and years ahead, you’ll encounter people and ideas different from what you’ve encountered before. Some of them you’ll disagree with. Some of them will make you uncomfortable. Some of them might offend you.

My suggestion—if you want to get the most out of your time here—is to learn from the people who don’t think and speak like you, as well as the people who do.

Listen carefully, speak your mind respectfully, and form your own opinions thoughtfully.

The more you keep your mind open, the more you engage with different ideas and different people, the better you’ll be able to understand the world and all its complexities. And the more capable and mature your mind will be, when you leave here.

At Cornell, you’ll do more than acquire knowledge. You’ll assemble an intellectual toolbox. You’ll learn to evaluate evidence, consider sources, ask important questions, and understand complex situations.

You’ll learn to zoom in close to see a problem in detail, and to zoom all the way out to see it in context.

You’ll develop the capacity and confidence to participate in civil discourse—to speak up, even when others disagree, or when your opinion might be unpopular.

You’ll delve deeply into ideas that challenge your own worldview, and hopefully emerge with fuller understanding.

And here’s the thing: that kind of intellectual growth is only really possible in a community that cherishes both the freedoms, and the responsibilities, of living in an environment of open intellectual inquiry.

One that embraces the life of the mind: with the ability to listen, to argue, and yes, disagree, without ever shutting other voices down.

A Cornell education would not be the life-changing experience it is without its diversity: without the people who come here from across the country and around the world. People of every background, nationality, orientation, and opinion, who make this community stronger, richer, and more capable.

All of you are among the most talented and most promising students in this country and indeed in the world. All of you have opinions, life experiences, and identities that add value. There are no imposters in this audience. You’re here, because this is where you belong.

Welcome to Cornell.