Willard Straight Hall

Willard Straight Hall is the student union building on the central campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. It is located on Campus Road, adjacent to the Ho Plaza and the Gannett Health Center.

History

When Willard Straight Hall opened, it was one of the few student unions in the country. Dorothy Straight built it in 1925 as a memorial to her husband, Willard Dickerman Straight. The student union would be a place that would lead to "the enrichment of human contacts of student life."

The first student union was established at Cambridge University in England. Houston Hall at the University of Pennsylvania, the first student union in North America, opened in 1896. But it was not until after the world wars that unions became popular on university campuses. Recently widowed Dorothy Straight met a Cornell Agriculture student, Leonard Elmhirst, who persuaded Mrs. Straight to visit the campus. Elmhirst and Straight together with certain faculty members decided that the best way to fulfill Willard Straight's bequest to make Cornell a more livable place is to build a student union building. Subsequent, Elmhirst and Dorothy Straight married in April 1925. [http://www.dos.cornell.edu/wsh/history_5.html visited Sept. 19, 2006]

When the Straight first opened, the North entrance was reserved for men and women were relegated to a second entrance at the South end of the building. From its opening, the main desk was staffed by undergraduate students. In addition, the building's policies were set by a student led "Willard Straight Hall Board of Governors."

As Cornell built more dormitories on the West Campus and the North Campus, two additional buildings supplemented the Straight to serve students — Noyes Center on West Campus and the North Campus Union (later Robert Purcell Union) on North Campus. The combined operation constituted the Department of University Unions. In 1970, with the advent of the University Senate, University Unions became a part of the new Division of Campus Life. In order to end the duplication and tensions between the University Unions and the Dean of Students Office, University Unions merged into the later Department.

Prior to 1969, the upper floors of the Straight served as a hotel for Cornell's visitors and guests. The broadcast studios of the WVBR Radio station were in a lower level.

1969 building takeover

In the 1968-69 school year, the judicial system was the center of a controversy in connection with the discipline of certain African-American students who had engaged in a protest. As racial tensions escalated, some African-American students demanded amnesty for the accused protesters as well as the establishment of an Africana Studies center. On April 19, 1969, the African-American students occupied Willard Straight Hall, ejecting parents who were visiting for "Parents Weekend" from the hotel rooms on the upper floors. [Neubauer, Richard. “Parents Expelled From Straight React With Fear, Relate Events.” Cornell Daily Sun, 20 April 1969, p. 1.] Subsequently, white students from Delta Upsilon fraternity attempted to forcibly retake the building with firearms. [Neubauer, Richard. “White Attempt to Break in Sparks Dispute Over Cops.” Cornell Daily Sun, 20 April 1969, p. 1.] Then the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) led by C. David Burak formed a protective vigil outside the building. Some of the African-American students brought guns into the building for what they claimed to be self-protection.

Ultimately, the Cornell Administration, particularly Vice President Steven Muller, negotiated an end to the building takeover. However, the photos of the students marching out of the Straight bearing rifles made the national news.

On campus, the Straight Takeover lead to the formation of the University Senate, a restructuring of the Board of Trustees, a new campus judicial system, and the Africana Studies and Research Center. By the end of the academic year, Cornell President James Perkins resigned. [cite book |last= Downs |first= Donald Alexander |title= Cornell '69: Liberalism and the Crisis of the American University |year= 1999 |publisher= Cornell University Press |location= Ithaca |id= ISBN 0-8014-3653-2 ]

Beyond Cornell, the Straight Takeover lead to the New York State Legislature enacting the Henderson Law which required each college to adopt "Rules of the Maintenance of Public Order." [N.Y.S. Education Law § 6430] Vice President Spiro Agnew referred to the Straight Takeover in speeches as an example of the excess of college students.

Current uses

The building currently offers dining and lounge space for students. A lounge on the south end of the building is named in honor of Leonard Elmhirst. Special facilities include: Cornell Cinema, Cornell Ceramics Studio, offices and mailboxes for student organizations, an art gallery, and a browsing library. A long-running joke among students concerns the placement of a power outlet on the ceiling of the staircase leading down to the Ivy Room. The offices of Cornell Cinema and the Dean of Students Office are also in the building. [http://www.dos.cornell.edu/wsh/facilities.html Visited Sept. 19, 2006]

External links

* [http://www.dos.cornell.edu/wshhome.html Willard Straight Hall Home Page]