A Letter from a Former Manager
My name is Sharon Boedo, and from October 1989 to February 1992, I was the graduate student manager of The Henry, Cornell’s first Graduate and Professional Student Center when it was located in Sage Hall. I worked closely with Hilary Ford, who was then Assistant Dean of Students for Graduate Programs, with members of our Henry Steering Committee, and with many other graduate and professional students from across the university to plan and gather support for an expanded center.
I have of course many Big Red Barn memories, especially from the time when it was still very much a barn with a storage loft full of dusty items, which included several antique sleighs and carriages that had to be hauled out by crane from the double door above the main entrance. Other such Barn’s “treasures”, however, were salvaged and reused as furnishings or decorations. It was our intention to preserve the building’s rustic charm and to link the building’s past incarnations as a carriage house and later an alumni gathering spot to its present use as a graduate student center. We also brought “The Henry” sign with us as a reminder of the center’s first home in Sage Hall and, most importantly, of the efforts by the many individuals who lobbied to establish a permanent graduate student center. It took several years to convince the administration that renovating the Big Red Barn for that purpose was a good idea, but our hopes were always high that it would become a reality and a success.
At the Big Red Barn’s grand opening on February 6, 1992, I read these words:
“The Big Red Barn is now ready to become a true center for the graduate student community, and it will continue to serve the mission which we, the steering committee, have set out to accomplish, that is, to serve the greater social, cultural, and intellectual needs of the graduate students beyond the labs, classrooms, and libraries.”
After two decades, I think it’s safe to declare that the Big Red Barn has indeed fulfilled that mission. I hope that many more generations of Cornell graduate and professional students will enjoy this special place and will cherish wonderful memories of their time at Cornell because of the Big Red Barn.
As proud as I am to have earned my Cornell Ph.D. (finally! in 2005), I am equally proud to have contributed to the Big Red Barn Graduate and Professional Student Center. It was a privilege to have worked on behalf of all graduate students – past, present and future – and for the larger Cornell community as well.
With gratitude and congratulations to everyone who has made the Big Red Barn a success!
