Willard Straight Hall

19th century Willard Straight Hall's construction was initiated by Willard Straight's widow, Dorothy Payne Whitney as a memorial to her husband. The building was intended to lead to "the enrichment of the human contacts of student life," according to remarks given by Straight at the hall's dedication. Cornell historian Corey Earle notes that, at the time, "it was unusual to have a building with no academic purpose." When Willard Straight Hall opened its doors in 1925, it was still one of only a few such structures in the country dedicated to student life. However, Cornell provided on-campus space for student organizations since its earliest days. In January 1870, Andrew Dickson White allocated a large room in the middle section of White Hall to be used as a "Society Hall." White donated $1,000 to furnish it subject to $300 in matching gifts from student organizations. Barnes Hall was later built to house the Students’ Christian Association in 1888. Leonard Elmhirst came from a land-owning family in Yorkshire, England. The seeds for his study of agriculture in Ithaca, New York, and subsequent Dartington Hall School and "Institute for Rural Reconstruction' in the agriculturally impoverished England of the 1920s were sown on his first visit to India during World War I. ==Design==

Willard Straight Memorial Hall was designed by a noted architect of the day, William Adams Delano, and constructed from the local "llenroc" bluestone, a feldspathic sandstone; the architectural model for its Gothic Revival style may have been the 14th-century Dartington Hall in Devon, which the newlyweds purchased in 1925. Murals in the lobby by Ezra Winter date from 1926 and represent Willard Straight's business interests in China, and his enthusiasm for the arts. ==History==

Opening Willard Straight Hall opened in November 1925, following 20 months of construction at a cost of $1.5 million to construct, and $100,000 to furnish. From Willard Straight Hall's opening, the main desk was staffed by undergraduate students. In addition, the building's policies are set, updated, and enforced by the student-led Willard Straight Hall Board of Governors, more commonly known on campus as the Willard Straight Hall Student Union Board (SUB). 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. The building also housed the University Theatre, where until 1988 the Cornell Dramatic Club (formed in 1925 from the merger of the Dramatic Club and the Women's Dramatic Club) staged almost 50 performances a year. (Ithaca police reportedly suspected, but never proved, that the cross was burned by members of the campus Afro-American Society as a pretext for further 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, some of them occupied Willard Straight Hall, ejecting parents who were visiting for "Parents Weekend" from the hotel rooms on the upper floors. Subsequently, white students from Delta Upsilon fraternity unsuccessfully attempted to retake the building by force. Some of the occupying students left the building and returned with firearms in case of a further attack. During much of that day and into the evening, the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), led by C. David Burak, organized continuous, supportive picketing in front of the Hall's main entrance, consisting of a circle of about 50 marchers at a time. Late that evening, the picketing was replaced by having a limited number of volunteers form a protective cordon outside the building, overnight. The idea, according to a sympathetic faculty member, Professor Douglas F. Dowd, who recommended it, was to promote calm into the morning, by selecting volunteers "for their ability to keep calm in a crisis situation." Ultimately, the Cornell, particularly Vice President Steven Muller, negotiated an end to the building takeover. The photos of the students marching out of the Straight carrying rifles and wearing bandoleers made the national news and won a Pulitzer Prize for Associated Press photographer Steve Starr. It also led to the creation of the Cornell Africana Studies and Research Center in late 1969, but the building it was housed in was burned down by a racially motivated arson attack less than a year after its creation. Beyond Cornell, the Straight takeover led to the New York State Legislature enacting the Henderson Law, which required each college to adopt "Rules of the Maintenance of Public Order." Vice President Spiro Agnew referred to the Straight Takeover in speeches as an example of the excess of college students. Economist Thomas Sowell would later refer to the takeover as the result of policies intended to "increase minority student enrollment... by admitting students who would not meet the existing academic standards at Cornell." In Sowell's opinion, some of the militants accepted "turned out to be hoodlums who terrorized other black students". 2017 protest In a move reminiscent of the 1969 takeover, 300 marchers again occupied Willard Straight Hall for a few hours after presenting a list of demands to president Martha Pollack. The protest, led by Black Students United, was a response in part to the assault of a black Cornell student a few days earlier. ==Facilities==

Willard Straight Hall has always served as a space for socializing and informal connection between students. Over the years, the building has evolved and changed significantly. At various times the building has featured an information desk, a Game Room with billiards and ping pong, a Browsing Library, a tea room (for women), a barber shop, movie theater, dining halls, an Art Room, a Music Room, a lost-and-found, a newsstand, a live performance theatre with orchestra pit and rotating stage, a ceramics studio, an ice cream shop, television lounges, spaces for meetings and coffeehouses, and offices for student organizations. A photographic darkroom opened in 1939, was expanded in 1973, and closed its doors in 2006. Celebrations were held to observe the building's 25th anniversary in 1950, and its 75th anniversary in 2000. During the Fall 2020 Semester, a COVID-19 surveillance testing facility opened on the 4th floor of the building. Limitations Due to its age, the Straight has many outdated facilities, such as poor heating, ventilation, and acoustics. Amenities such as teleconferencing and modern air conditioning are restricted by the ancient electrical system, and the building is not adequately wheelchair accessible. ==Further reading==