North Campus
"North Campus is a great entry into Cornell. You have all the independence you want, but you're aware that there are professors and people there to help you if you need it. You make your first friends there and figure out who you are at Cornell."—Taisa Priester '09
In 1995, when former Cornell President Hunter Rawlings first arrived on campus, he observed that students would benefit from a stronger connection between their intellectual experiences in the classroom and their residential lives. He designated residential life as a top priority and backed that up by putting the Residential Initiative plan in place to help bridge the cultural and geographic divides he noticed among students.
The first step was to locate all first-year students in new residences on North Campus.
Envisioned as more than bricks and mortar, North Campus was designed to provide a common living-and-learning environment that would bring first-year students together as a group, ease transition into university life, and encourage interaction among students and with faculty who lived in residence there with their families.
Today, North Campus promotes a sense of community through programming that offers students shared experiences. They can also take advantage of the wide range of services offered through the Carol Tatkon Center that address pertinent life issues and needs.
State-of-the-art Mews, Court, Kay, and Bauer halls provide ample and comfortable meeting, program, and recreational spaces. Appel Commons, a recreational and first-rate dining facility, anchors the complex.
Plans are under way to expand Helen Newman Hall in order to meet the high demand for fitness and recreational facilities on North Campus.
North Campus is an important milestone in creating a Cornell experience for first-year students that fully integrates academic and residential life.