Plot Twist! Professors Love Genre Fiction and You Should Too

Out of all the horrifying icebreakers she could have gone with on that snowy first day in a class full of English majors, Prof. Masha Raskolnikov, literatures in English, chose the absolute worst one: “What is your favorite book?” The second the words left her mouth, my brain kicked into high gear, rifling through my mental bookshelf. Already impossible on the best day, my predicament became even worse when my classmates began to name the greats. Brontë, Dostoevsky, Conrad, Tolstoy, Joyce. I froze. Abort! Abort! Alarms blared in my head as panic consumed me. I could only form one thought: “I can't tell the truth.” 

Explaining Your Major to a Child

VIDEO | Sun on the Street is The Sun’s multimedia series interviewing students around campus on a variety of relevant topics. We asked students to explain their major to a five year old!Hosted by Madeleine KapsalisFilmed by Jessica Yao and Mia Sofia OrengoEdited by Marian Caballo

Sun Editors Reflect on Student Journalism Amid Campus and Global Controversies

VIDEO | Reflecting on the state of student journalism, The Sun's editors discuss anonymity, national attention and the importance of record-keeping amidst campus and global controversies.Hosted by Jade Dubuche, Zeinab Faraj, Benjamin Leynse, Gabriel MuñozProduced by Jade Dubuche, Gabriel MuñozEdited by Marian Caballo

GALLERY: Men's Hockey Falls to Boston University in Red Hot Hockey at Madison Square Garden

See all the action in photos by hockey beat photographer Grady Millones.

GROSS | The Right to Privacy, and Why We Need to Exercise it More

Ask yourself: How private is your life, really, if at any point in time your best friend, your grandma and three people you met in a class last year can pinpoint your exact location whenever they please? Most people I know agree that the extent to which individuals surrender their data to large corporations and sometimes to the government is troubling, and yet, we continue to do it. At the same time, there are other parts of our lives in which I think we should adopt a far more fierce rejection of its exposure. Privacy rarely surfaces in casual conversation, and those who care about it are usually made out to be conspiratorial nut jobs in the media. Still, we have passively forfeited a great deal of control over our lives, and I argue that this forfeiture is ultimately to our detriment. 

AGRAWAL | Tar, Traffic and the Butterfly's Silent Scream

Taking pleasure in the beauty of nature, working towards environmental sustainability, reducing consumption and increasing knowledge are hallmarks of my professional existence. 

A Look Inside the Cornell University Chorale

Finding a place at Cornell within the widely advertised array of student organizations always involves one part planning, one part research skill and one part pure luck. As a freshman, I was extremely fortunate that a bit of luck came my way in the form of an orientation week concert by a combined Cornell Glee Club, Chorus and Chorale ensembles. With classes looming within the next few days, I thought the afternoon event would be just a nice way to relax before things jumped into academic high gear, but one amazing performance, a few conversations and a club leaflet later, I’d signed up for the three groups’ joint audition.

DOJ Memo is ‘Not the Institutional Position of the University’: Kotlikoff Clarifies Settlement Questions at UA

In their annual address at Tuesday’s University Assembly meeting, President Kotlikoff and Kyle Kimball, vice president for university relations, fielded questions about the Department of Justice memo recommendations, transgender protections, staff layoffs, Resilient Cornell and the University’s legal capabilities post-settlement.

Meet Senior Will MacLeod: Team USA’s Chessboxing World Championship Silver Medalist

Will MacLeod ’26, a math major in the College of Arts and Sciences, earned silver for Team USA in the Chessboxing World Championships in September after starting the sport just three months prior.

12/3/2025 Mini

AYSW? | Are You Still Watching Foreign Films?

In 2020, the whole film industry was shaken when the film that took home Best Picture at the 2020 Oscar Awards was Parasite, a film that was neither produced in Hollywood nor an English language film. This was shocking; was Hollywood being outdone by foreign filmmakers, so much so that even the exclusive Oscars Academy had acknowledged them? Or was it that Parasite was just the first foreign film that became so popular, so well rated, that it could not be ignored?

Inside Men’s Hockey’s Week-Long Preparation for Red Hot Hockey

On Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, the Cornell and Boston University men’s hockey teams emerged from their locker room for the final time moments before the national anthem. Around them, alumni, students and college hockey fans representing both schools greeted the teams with cheers — and plenty of boos. The 17,478 supporters who packed MSG for the matchup were the most the rivalry had seen since 2013. 

ZHOU | Where Have the Mugwumps Gone?

On Nov. 19, President Donald J. Trump acquiesced to House Republicans and signed the release of the infamous Epstein files. Trump, or “Teflon Don,” has quite the knack for getting controversies to slide off him, but Epstein remains the one name that he cannot seem to evade. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the specter of Jeffrey Epstein has made Trump a bit of a Dr. Frankenstein figure: the MAGA-made creature  has mutinied against him in the Epstein controversy, and may continue to do so on more issues. 

Another Split Leads to More Questions Than Answers: Three Takeaways From Women’s Hockey’s Vermont Weekend

On Friday night in Burlington, Vermont, No. 8 women’s hockey fell 4-3 to the University of Vermont to cap off the Red’s worst week in at least two seasons. From Nov. 21-28, Cornell lost to a team tied for last in ECAC Hockey, a team the Red had not lost to since 2010 and then the Catamounts — a 6-10-2 team with a .365 win percentage dating back to 2023-2024. 

Cornell’s $30 Million Agricultural Investment Signals a Lasting Shift Toward High-Tech Farming Leadership

Cornell reached a settlement with the Trump administration to restore hundreds of millions of dollars in frozen federal research funding. As part of the deal, the University will invest $30 million into research to strengthen U.S. agriculture over the next three years.

Cornellians Weigh in on RFK Jr’s 2025-2030 Guidelines for U.S. Nutritional Policy

The federal government’s next iteration of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans is poised to be unlike any other. Under the leadership of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., officials say the guidelines will be drastically condensed — possibly just four to six pages from 130 — and will place new emphasis on whole foods, fresh meat, saturated fat and a stronger critique of ultra-processed foods. 

12/3/2025 Crossword

12/2/2025 Mini

‘Even If Our Numbers Are Lower, We’re Still Here’: Indigenous Student Engagement Persists Despite Enrollment Drops

Following the U. S. Supreme Court’s June 2023 decision to overturn affirmative action, enrollment for Black, Hispanic and Indigenous students at Cornell remains below fall 2023 levels, despite a slight increase in 2025. This decline has raised long-term concerns among indigenous organizations on campus, who rely on diverse incoming classes to sustain their membership.

IN DATA | Cornell Only Ivy to See No American Rhodes Scholars Named in Class of 2026

On Nov. 15, 32 students were named American Rhodes Scholars in the 2026 cycle. The list included students and alumni representing all Ivy League institutions — except Cornell.