It’s a Wrap

ILRies were brimming with emotion at the school’s commencement recognition ceremony Sunday in Barton Hall, where more than 1,500 family and friends applauded the Class of 2022.

Joy, gratitude and pride were the order of the day.

Mikayla Kibel ’22 joined friends on Libe Slope at 4:45 a.m. to watch the sun rise. Seven hours later, surrounded by family, she was wide awake and beaming. “I’m not tired, just excited.”

Gideon Goldmann, MPS ’22, said that since boyhood, he wanted to study at Cornell. Graduation was a “dream come true.” Next stop: the university’s executive MBA program.

Samantha Kirschner ’22 said Sunday’s ceremony was “a really nice bow on the present that has been my ILR experience.”

Alex Colvin, Ph.D ’99, the Kenneth F. Kahn and Martin Scheinman Professor of Conflict Resolution, helped guide Kirschner’s journey, supervising her freshman year research project on mandatory arbitration class action waivers, then an internship.

“Dean Colvin has been so supportive from Day One,” said

Kirschner, who comes from a labor-management family. Her mother, Andrea Chase ’79, has worked with unions. Her father, Kenneth Kirschner ’75, is a management employment attorney.

Friendship was another theme of Sunday’s event. Kirschner said her ILR years were enriched by close friends Maddy Calick ’22, Sarah Fassberg ’22 and Emma Bellet ’22.

New beginnings are always a big part of graduation, and for two students, graduation weekend was particularly poignant in that regard. Lily Je, MILR ’22, accepted a marriage proposal on Libe Slope at sunset and Geoffrey Bajol, MILR ’22, returned early from his European honeymoon to join the commencement festivities.

The Class of 2022, which includes more than 300 undergraduate and graduate students, experienced more than two years of pandemic measures – masks, testing, Zoom classes. Professor Gary Fields said he was delighted to meet in person for the first time many of the MILR students he taught on Zoom.