On Friday, February 3rd, a sea of red converged on Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. Members of the local Cornell Club of Maryland (CCMD) and visiting attendees of the Cornell Alumni Leadership Conference (CALC) came together for a special event at the National Aquarium. The engaging and educational day was a special collaboration between the Cornell Club of Maryland, the Northeast Corridor Office of Alumni Affairs, and the fantastic staff at the National Aquarium.
The “Welcome to Baltimore” was a family-friendly outing for local Maryland alumni and the kickoff event for the CALC weekend. The morning began with delicious catering by the Harbor Market Kitchen and a warm welcome from Theresa Stegman ’07, Treasurer of the Cornell Club of Maryland. Theresa encouraged local alumni to stay active and consider leadership roles in the club and then introduced the keynote speaker. John C. Racanelli P’14, President and CEO of the National Aquarium, spoke about the evolution of the aquarium and the role that it plays in both regional and national aquatic education and conservation. After his remarks, Mr. Racanelli addressed questions from the audience and assured everyone that the aquarium would continue its important work in preserving aquatic ecosystems and advocating for the sciences.
Following the morning session, alumni had the opportunity to network while they enjoyed the beautiful view of the inner harbor and tour the aquarium’s various exhibits. It was wonderful to see Cornell red all throughout the building as everyone enjoyed reconnecting with classmates, meeting new alumni, and visiting the rays, puffins, dolphins, and poisonous frogs.
Mark and Anne Weadon ’72, first-time attendees at a CCMD event, enjoyed talking with classmates Stan Fish ’72 , DVM ’75, Deirdre Courtney-Batson ’72, MA ’75, and Nancy Roistacher ’72 (who were in town planning a CU class reunion). They also particularly liked the canopy exhibit featuring exotic birds and sloth!
Molly Weadon ’98, CCMD Program Director, appreciated the CEO’s remarks about the upcoming plans for the Aquarium Waterfront Campus, as well as Stephanie Richmond’s ’11, MEng ’12 insights working as an engineer on National Aquarium projects.
CCMD Director of Communications Jennifer Taylor ’99, MAT ’00 and William Anderson ’93 took the opportunity to brainstorm best practices for CAAAN while traveling the spiral walkway surrounded by sharks.
The Cornell Club of Maryland was honored to participate in the Cornell Alumni Leadership Conference and hopes that everyone enjoyed this special event.
by Jennifer Taylor ’99, MAT ’00, Director of Communications for the Cornell Club of Maryland
Sounds like a great outing – wish I had been there!