Cornell Renames Office of Academic Diversity Initiatives to Office of Academic Discovery and Impact

Cornell has officially renamed its Office of Academic Diversity Initiatives to the Office of Academic Discovery and Impact as of Friday, according to an email sent to Pre Professional Programs scholars by Kristin Dade, director of OADI. 

The Friday email, which was signed off by OADI Director William "Woodg" Horning, Dade and the entire OADI team, describes that the “very exciting” name change followed “think[ing] strategically about who we are and how all students see us across campus.”

The new name “aligns with the OADI mission and vision and the key goals of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education 一 curiosity and connection,” according to the email obtained by The Sun.

The office wanted to maintain the “signature moniker of ‘OADI’” due to its Arabic and Swahili meaning, according to the email. OADI’s website states that the word “refers to a cool protected passage route/valley through a desert, often formed by a seasonal river.”