Martha Van (noun)
rhymes with "farther than"
Definition: Martha Van Rensselaer Hall, home of the College of Human Ecology.
Attested: I was acquainted with this term for the first time when I first received my fall program. The Human Development section that I was assigned was to be held in Martha Van Rensselaer Hall.
Example: "I'm sorry that I can't eat lunch with you, Joe," she frowned, "but I have a class at Martha Van in ten minutes."
Etymology: This term is really the name of a woman, most probably a lady with much influence and dedication to the College of Human Ecology. Many faculty members and students use this nickname to refer to the college on campus but it is not frequently used off campus.
- Randi Dublin

Mixer (noun)
Mi-xer
Definition: A party which in which a number of fraternities and the same number of sororities attend a party.
Attested: I first encountered this word when during the second weekend I was here, I asked my upperclassman friend what he was doing for the evening. He answered me and told me that his frat was holding a mixer, which is a party for certain fraternities and sororities.
Example: The fraternity Chi Psi is having a mixer with the sorority Alpha Phi.

Etymology: The word must have come from the fact that fraternities wanted to have some parties with just sororities, not open to all. The word mixer must have originated from the fact that they wanted a mix between fraternities and sororities. Since they wanted to mix fraternities which are for guys only and sororities which are for girls, it was implied that a mix of guys and girls were going to be at the party. Therefore instead of just calling it a party, they called it a mixer to distinguish it between open parties that occur all the time.
- Stephen Guijarro

Morgue, the
'morg
Definition: The study lounge on the first floor of Mary Donlon Hall.
Attested: I first heard this term used shortly after classes started when many people in my building said they were going to the morgue to study.
Example: "Since I can't seem to get any work done in my noisy room, I'm going to the morgue for some peace and quiet."
Etymology: The study lounge is called the morgue because it is incredibly silent, and curtains prevent you from seeing the outside world. It is a compared to a real morgue- a place where dead bodies are kept- because it is so silent that the turning of a page or the sound of keys can be heard by everyone. I believe that this term is only used at Cornell, although I'm sure that many other dark, dull, and quiet places are referred to as having "morgue- like" characteristics.
- Kathy Voutsinas

Moving (Devil's) Night (noun)
Definition: the eve of Halloween
Attested: I first heard the term October 30, 1999, Halloween Eve
Example: Are you guys going out on Moving Night?
Etymology: I never heard this interpretation or any kind of term representing the night before Halloween. But there were people in my dorm who regularly went on the night before Halloween, the first person that described the night called it Moving Night, others called it Devil's Night. Although the name for differed, both practiced the same customs on this night. On this night, teenagers would go out to the streets and vandalize other people's party. This probably started because the police beefed up patrol cars on Halloween, so to get their annual dose of vandalism and not get caught, kids started going out a night early.
- Satch Sil