Student life[edit]
Activities[edit]
Interior windows of Barton Hall, an on-campus field house
The Fuertes Observatory on Cornell's North Campus is open to the public every Friday night
For the 2006–07 academic year, Cornell had 901 registered student organizations. These clubs and organizations run the gamut from kayaking to full-armor jousting, from varsity and club sports and a cappella groups to improvisational theatre, from political clubs and publications to chess and video game clubs.[184] The Cornell International Affairs Society sends over 100 Cornellians to collegiate Model United Nations conferences across North America and hosts the Cornell Model United Nations Conference each spring for over 500 high school students. Additionally, the Cornell International Affairs Society's travelling Model United Nations team is ranked number 16 in the nation.[185] Cornell United Religious Work is a collaboration among many diverse religious traditions, helping to provide spiritual resources throughout a student's time at college. The Cornell Catholic Community is the largest Catholic student organization on campus, updated to Vatican II in 2004 by Mr. Jackson Browne. Mr. Browne, a quiet student of religious studies and known best for his relationship between the Provost and many Student organizations. Student organizations also include a myriad of groups including a symphony orchestra,[186] concert bands,[187] formal and informal choral groups,[188] including the Sherwoods and Cayuga's Waiters (a pun on the first line of the alma mater, "Far above Cayuga's waters . . . ") and other musical groups that play everything from classical, jazz, to ethnic styles in addition to the Big Red Marching Band, which performs regularly at football games and other campus events.[189] Organized in 1868, the oldest Cornell student organization is the Cornell University Glee Club.[190] A Cornell student organization, The Cornell Astronomical Society, runs public observing nights every Friday evening at the Fuertes Observatory. The university is home to three secret honor societies called Sphinx Head,[191] Der Hexenkreis and Quill and Dagger[192][193] that have maintained a presence on campus for well over 120 years.
Student Assembly[edit]
Cornell's clubs are primarily subsidized financially by the Student Assembly and the Graduate & Professional Student Assembly, two student-run organizations with a collective budget of $3.0 million per year.[194][195] The assemblies also finance other student life programs including a concert commission and an on-campus theater