Last week, the Rose Scholars had the pleasure of having Eileen Keating, the University Records Manager and the archivist for the College of Human Ecology, came and gave us history about Flora Rose and Martha Van Rensselaer. I was familiar with the name Flora Rose given that I have been a Rose scholar for two years now, but I never knew about who she was as a women nor her contributions to Cornell. I also had no idea that there were Cornell archives that could be accessed by students to further find out about the history of Cornell. From the very beginning, I realized that this would be an interesting talk. Van Rensselaer led the creation of the College of Home Economics and helped women in need of financial aid pay for admission with the help of fellow contributors. Both Rose and Van Rensselaer also had close ties with Eleanor Roosevelt, which helped them in expand the popularity and exposure of this college’s existence. Establishing this college during a time when women were recently being admitted in universities is something that women of today will forever be grateful for.  

Home Economics is something that most students today would not consider majoring in, giving its implication that it focuses on needs of the house.  I, however, believe that a course about this topic would greatly benefit all students in learning about proper health and hygienic care. Many students do not know how to wash their own dishes, use a vacuum cleaner, or do laundry until the are forced into it in college and usually do not understand the process until a few articles of clothing get ruined. If one does not know how to take care of themselves, then how could they possibly expect to care for others in the future. This talk was very inspiring in how essential both Rose and Van Rensselaer felt it was for women to be given an opportunity to further their education and learn at the same level as men.

This talk was very inspirational and makes me feel even more proud to be attending a school that stays so true to its motto, Any Student, Any Study. I hope that in the future there will be more talks about educating students on the history of Cornell, for understanding the humble beginnings that establishments come from helps students appreciate the institution they are lucky to be a part of.