Dr. Michael I. Kotlikoff
Undergraduate student veteran enrollment at Cornell University this fall reached its highest number, 33, in more than 40 years.
This includes five first-year and 28 transfer students. The total number of undergraduate student veterans is 67 while there are 166 professional and graduate students also currently enrolled, Cornell reported.
The growth is attributed to the efforts of Dr. Michael I. Kotlikoff, provost of Cornell, who aimed to develop support programs for veteran students as well as increase their enrollment. To do so, retired Marine Corps 1st Sgt. Mary Fisk was hired in 2019 to be the student veteran adviser and program manager, according to Cornell.
Additionally, the Veterans Summer Bridge Program was established to ease students’ transition into Cornell.
“A lot of veterans will be pleasantly surprised by how accepted and how curious, their fellow students are who don’t have a military background,” Fisk said in a statement. “So it’s not a matter of [students’] ignorance or distrust, or not liking the military. It’s just a matter of not knowing and being open to that curiosity.”
