ASRC 4115 - The Willard Straight Occupation and the Legacy of Black Student Movement

(CA-AS)

Fall. 4 credits. Letter grades only.

R. Richardson.

Focuses on the complex history related to this famous incident from 1969 and draws on a range of materials. This year marks the 50th anniversary of this historic occupation. The April 19, 1969 incident known as “the Willard Straight Takeover” or “Willard Straight Occupation” occurred during Parents’ Weekend when black students occupied the student union on campus and, when threatened, returned with firearms in self-defense and also advocated for an Africana center to be developed. This protest, which one of its most vocal critics has identified as a catalyst for the nation’s “culture wars,” is one of the most important events in the history of Cornell University. Yet, even after fifty years have passed, this event remains misunderstood, and its facts are sometimes grossly distorted or exaggerated. Even worse, sometimes this history has been forgotten or else routinely omitted from major histories and timelines at Cornell. The main goal in developing this course is to make a scholarly framework available in which they might expand and reinforce their knowledge of this topic, while contributing to new research on it, for so many students are curious about this history.