Cornell University
Cornell University
The university is broadly organized into seven undergraduate colleges and seven graduate divisions at its main Ithaca campus, with each college and division defining its own admission standards and academic programs in near autonomy. The university also administers two satellite medical campuses, one in New York City and one in Education City, Qatar.Cornell is one of three private land grant universities in the nation and the only one in New York.[note 1] Of its seven undergraduate colleges, three are state-supported statutory or contract colleges through the State University of New York system, including its agricultural and veterinary colleges. As a land grant college, it operates a cooperative extension outreach program in every county of New York and receives annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions.[7] The Cornell University Ithaca Campus comprises 745 acres, but is much larger when Plantations (more than 4,300 acres) are considered, as well as the numerous university-owned lands in New York City.[8]Since its founding, Cornell has been a co-educational, non-sectarian institution where admission has not been restricted by religion or race. Cornell counts more than 245,000 living alumni, and its former and present faculty and alumni include 34 Marshall Scholars, 29 Rhodes Scholars, 7 Gates Scholars, 50 Nobel laureates, and 14 living billionaires.[9][10][11] The student body consists of nearly 14,000 undergraduate and 7,000 graduate students from all 50 American states and 122 countries.[12][13]Cornell's main campus is on East Hill in Ithaca, New York, overlooking the town and Cayuga Lake. Since the university was founded, it has expanded to about 2300 acres (9.3, encompassing both the hill and much of the surrounding areas.[30]Central Campus has laboratories, administrative buildings, and almost all of the campus' academic buildings, athletic facilities, auditoriums, and museums. contains two upper-class residence halls[31][32] and the Schwartz Performing amid a mixed-use neighborhood of apartments, eateries, and businesses.[33]The main campus is marked by an irregular layout and eclectic architectural styles, including ornate Collegiate Gothic,Victorian, and Neoclassical buildings, and the more spare international and modernist structures. The more ornate buildings generally predate World War II. The student population doubled from 7,000 in 1950 to 15,000 by 1970, at a time when architectural styles favored modernism.[34] While some buildings are neatly arranged into quadrangles, others are packed densely and haphazardly. These eccentricities arose from the university's numerous, ever-changing master plans for the campus. For example, in one of the earliest plans, Frederick Law Olmsted, the designer of Central Park, proposed a "grand terrace" overlooking Cayuga Lake.[35]Several of the university buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Andrew Dickson White House, Bailey Hall, Caldwell Hall,Hall, Hall, and House. At least three other historic buildings—the original Roberts Hall, East Robert Hall and Stone Hall—have also been listed on The university demolished them in the to make way for other development.[36] In September 2011, Travel+Leisure listed the Ithaca Campus as among the most beautiful in the United States.[37]Located among the rolling valleys of the Finger Lakes region, the campus on a hill provides views of the surrounding area, including 38 miles (61.4 km) long Lake Cayuga. Two gorges, Fall Creek Gorge and Gorge, bound Central Campus and are used as popular swimming holes during the warmer months (although the university and city code discourage their use).[38] Adjacent to the main campus, Cornell owns the 2,800 acre (11.6 Cornell Plantations, a botanical flowers, trees, and ponds, with manicured trails providing access through the facility.[39]The university has embarked on numerous 'green' initiatives. In 2009, a new gas-fired combined heat and power facility replaced a coal-fired steam plant, resulting in a reduction in carbon emissions to 7% below 1990 levels, and projected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 75,000 tons per year.[40] This facility satisfies 15% of campus electrical needs,[41] and a university-run, on-campus hydroelectric plant in the Fall Creek Gorge provides an additional 2%.[42] The university has a lake source cooling project that uses Lake Cayuga to air condition campus buildings, with an 80% energy saving over conventional systems.[43] In 2007, Cornell established a Center for a Sustainable Future.[44] Cornell has been rated "A-" by the 2011 College Sustainability Report Card for its environmental and sustainability initiatives.[45]