Einhorn Center receives $1M gift to endow its Pre-Orientation Service Trips
By Ben Badua
Cornell University’s David M. Einhorn Center for Community Engagement recently received a $1M gift endowing its Pre-Orientation Service Trips (POST). The generous contribution from Jon Anderson ’71, establishes a fund that will support the program and its staff in perpetuity while allowing for additional year-round programming and scholarships for students who could not otherwise participate.
“POST eases the transition to college life by building smaller communities rooted in mentorship and connection,” said Renée Farkas, director of student programs for the Einhorn Center. “More than a pre-orientation program, its many students’ first introduction to Cornell, as well as their first experience of belonging, community engagement and service.”
Founded in 1996, POST is open to first-year and transfer students and provides incoming Cornellians with an opportunity to engage with one another and returning student leaders while receiving an introduction to off-campus volunteering opportunities. Since its inception, over 1,500 POST participants have logged nearly 33,000 service hours in the greater Ithaca community.
“There’s a lot more to education than what happens in the classroom,” said Anderson. “I think it’s incredibly important that Cornell not only invests in shaping students’ individual academic and professional pursuits, but that we’re helping them grow into active, engaged citizens. In order for our society to function well, people have to be willing to give to their communities and to the things that helped shaped them – and Ithaca shaped me in a really positive way.”
Held each August prior to the start of classes, POST participants and their student team leaders stay at an Ithaca City School District building while completing local service projects within Tompkins County and surrounding areas. Projects, which vary annually based on community needs, have ranged from painting and light demolition work, to trail maintenance, visiting local seniors at area nursing homes, gardening and helping local schools prepare for fall openings. Each evening, participants reconvene to reflect on their experiences and engage in team-building activities.
“I appreciated the opportunity to meet like-minded people who really care about social issues and also care about giving back,” said Rebecca Cole ’29, who met her now-roommate at POST. A native of Austin, Texas, who previously worked with the local unhoused population and volunteered for the ESL program at her high school, Cole was excited about the opportunity to engage with and learn about her new community and fellow classmates in a more intimate setting.
“I saw POST as a way to help ease me into the college transition because I’m a very relational person who cares about meeting people one-on-one and developing close connections,” said Cole. “Since POST is so small, you feel seen, heard and you get a great opportunity to really bond with people each day.”
Cole plans to return to the program later this year as a team leader. She was inspired in part by the leaders in her own cohort, including one who shared their experience changing majors, which resonated with Cole, an undeclared major in the College of Arts and Sciences.
“Some of the things that my team leader would say really stuck with me throughout my first semester and helped me feel a lot better about my transition,” said Cole. “I remember she was vulnerable about what she struggled with and what she continued to struggle with, but at the same time she helped me think through all the different opportunities available.”
For Cole and many other Cornellians, the opportunity to participate in POST wasn’t always certain. As a POST alumna, Abra Geiger ’26 hoped to immediately return as a student leader like Cole, but the program went to brief hiatus for two years after her 2022-23 cohort.
Thanks to Geiger’s persistence and others’ efforts to revive the program, POST returned prior to the start of the 2025-26 academic year with 34 first-year and transfer students. The re-launch also included eight team leaders, including Geiger, who hoped to ease incoming students’ transition and serve as a mentor to the newest Cornellians.
“It’s such a great way to set the tone for your undergraduate experience. The friendships I’ve made through POST are unlike any other friendships I have because we share a bond having been through something together at a very formative point in our lives.” said Geiger. “It’s a great way to get to know Ithaca, to get to know the beautiful local community and find ways to stay involved and make meaningful connections with people that will last throughout your time at Cornell.”
For Geiger and other Cornellians, POST’s impact has extended far beyond their time on the Hill. As a transfer student from Ithaca College, Central New York native Shane Dunn ’07 received a scholarship to attend POST and wanted to make friends and connect with others who had a similar interest in service and social justice. Returning as a team leader during his junior and senior years, Dunn dedicated himself to mentoring new students, learning more about himself, and contributing back to the community.
“Coming back as a team leader was memorable in that you’re bonding with another group of people differently, through leadership – which is scary, hard and sometimes messy,” said Dunn, who credits Farkas and others at POST for the guidance, opportunity and freedom to make and learn from mistakes. “That was one of my first real leadership opportunities that set me up for the next 20 years of my career and life.”
But while the ability to form early, meaningful campus connections and the opportunity for growth have long been staples of POST, Dunn hopes the program continues to attract and inspire Cornellians interested in promoting its foundational commitment to service and community.
One of POST’s longest-running partnerships is with the Ithaca Youth Bureau’s One-to-One Big Brothers, Big Sisters program. For more than 20 years, its youth program coordinator, Joe Gibson, has worked alongside POST participants, including the center’s namesake, David Einhorn '91. POST attendees typically spend a weekend with a group of children who are waiting to be matched with a Big Brother or Big Sister and together, they explore some of the city’s most notable attractions, from the Ithaca Farmer’s Market to the Cayuga Waterfront Trail and Stewart Park.
“I think the POST experience can be so inspirational and motivational,” said Gibson. “It’s beneficial for students to know what else the community has to offer because as a function of just being less insulated, you can see in real time how your education or your studies might impact the real world and it can really change the trajectory of things for you and can help frame your whole college experience.”
Beyond raising visibility and awareness for the Ithaca Youth Bureau’s programs within Cornell, Gibson credits POST for helping his staff learn more about the children’s needs and matching preferences. Over the years, several participants have even continued to work with One-to-One, where they ultimately received matches and built relationships with their own ‘Littles.’
“There’s a renewal that happens every year with college students, and it’s an opportunity for students to open their eyes to what’s going on in Ithaca, Tompkins County or elsewhere, and hopefully it sets them off for more years of service,” said Dunn. “Even if it feels small at times, instilling the ideals of service in folks in a unique and transformational way can expand and amplify broadly, and that’s the greatest good I care about – is planting those seeds of service and seeing if the soil’s rich enough at Cornell and Ithaca for it to grow. What an investment this donor has made in the future of Cornell, New York State, and society at large.”
Ben Badua is a Creative Content Manager for Student and Campus Life