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By Joe Wilensky

Each May, Jonathan Brand, JD ’96, dons academic regalia—including a carnelian red robe—to preside over the graduation ceremonies for his proud Cornell students in … Mt. Vernon, IA.

No, the above isn’t the mangled text of an AI-generated story: Brand is president of Cornell College, a 1,000-student liberal arts school in the eastern end of the state.

And yes, he’s also a law alum of the “other” Cornell—the one on the Hill in Ithaca.

Aerial view of the Cornell College campus and football field in Mt. Vernon, Iowa — Big, but not red: Cornell College's purple-accented football field.

Brand pays tribute to both at his college’s commencement events, where he wears his Cornell Law School robe—and a pair of Chuck Taylors in Cornell College’s signature royal purple.

But if there’s one thing Brand wants his fellow alums to know, it’s this: their small Midwestern doppelgänger had the name first.

Founded in 1853 as a Methodist seminary, the institution was named Cornell College two years later—a decade before Cornell University’s charter was drafted.

portrait of William Wesley Cornell (1823–70), an NYC industrialist, philanthropist, and ironworks magnate — William Wesley Cornell.

And, notably, the college isn’t named for our Ezra, but for an apparent fifth cousin: William Wesley Cornell (1823–70), an NYC industrialist, philanthropist, and ironworks magnate.

The name confusion caused brief friction back in 1870, when a pastor at Cornell College wrote to Ezra “concerning college matters”—soliciting a donation in exchange for renaming the smaller school.

The pastor noted that the Iowa college was “prospering grandly … is happily named, and has a fine reputation.”

Noting the “entanglement” of names, however, he suggested Cornell College would consider changing its moniker “for a consideration, in the shape of a donation or scholarship.”

Writing back just over a week later—and pointedly replying on the back of the pastor’s letter—Ezra huffily dismissed the request, throwing some 19th-century shade in the process.

Brand in his office.

“When I founded the Cornell University at Ithaca I had not heard of the existence of the ‘Cornell College’ in Iowa,” he wrote.

“I have no fear that the latter will ever be mistaken for Cornell University, and cannot consent that its reputation shall be tarnished ‘for a consideration,’ or the laurels of its founder purchased with my money.”

These days, any confusion between the two Cornells is far more lighthearted.

“We like to have a little fun with this,” Brand admits with a chuckle. “It’s a point of interesting distinction for us.”

We like to have a little fun with this. It’s a point of interesting distinction for us.
Cornell College President Jonathan Brand, JD ’96

One of the college’s first webpages took that approach and ran with it: titled “We’re Not in Ithaca,” it offers a list of tongue-in-cheek comparisons between the college and the “other” Cornell.

It notes, for example, that Cornell College holds two national wrestling team titles—while the University has none.

Brand wears the college medallion over his University robe.

Also: “Winters in Ithaca are snowy and cold,” while “winters in Mount Vernon, on the other hand, are … cold and snowy.”

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The University is fondly known as “the Hill,” the college as “the Hilltop.” The Big Red has Touchdown the Bear; the college has a ram named Ulysses.

The Big Red has Touchdown the Bear; the college has a ram named Ulysses.

At number 96 on the Daily Sun’s 2015 edition of the “161 Things Every Cornell Student Should Do” list is this: “Strut around campus wearing a Cornell sweatshirt—from Iowa’s Cornell College.”

And a popular T-shirt at Cornell College also taps its hometown’s potential confusion with George Washington’s estate, declaring: “Mt. Vernon: (no, the other one); Home of Cornell! (no, the other one).”

Cornell College’s mascot, Ulysses the Ram, relaxes on the Iowa campus — Putting his hooves up: College mascot Ulysses.

Over the years, there have been apocryphal tales of students who confused the two Cornells—applying sight unseen to one, being admitted, and mistakenly matriculating at the other.

At least one of those stories is somewhat true: as the Daily Sun reported in 2018, one young man accidentally applied to Cornell College instead of the University; once accepted, he realized his mistake and gamely headed off to Mt. Vernon, but ultimately had no regrets.

“Yeah, it does happen,” Brand says. “It’s more than just lore.”

Just for kicks: Brand’s signature Chuck Taylors.

Occasionally, there are mix-ups with snail mail; Brand recalls the time he got an envelope for then-President Martha Pollack, addressed to Day Hall at Cornell College in Mt. Vernon.

“You will see that someone completely mangled your work address, and I just had to share—priceless,” Brand wrote to Pollack in an email, signing it “from my Cornell to yours (and also mine).”

So how did Brand end up going from Cornell (University) alum to Cornell (College) president?

The president on the Cornell College campus.

He grew up in New Jersey and in St. Louis, MO, and earned a BA in history and French and a master’s in French literature from the University of Michigan before heading to the Hill for his JD.

One of his mentors there was the Law School’s dean, Russell Osgood, who left a few years later to become president of Iowa’s Grinnell College.

Brand later served in senior roles at Grinnell under Osgood before assuming the presidency of Doane University in Nebraska in 2005, then taking the helm at Cornell College in 2011.

There are a few other crossovers from the Hill to the Hilltop—including history professor Phil Lucas, PhD ’83.