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As newly elected members of the state senate , Cornell chaired the Committee of Agriculture , and White was the chair of the Committee of Literature , which dealt with educational matters . Hence , both chaired committees with jurisdiction over bills allocating the land grant , which was to be used for instruction in ... |
Andrew Dickson White entered college at the age of 16 in 1849 . White dreamed of going to one of the elite eastern colleges , but his father sent him to Geneva Academy ( later known as the Hobart and William Smith Colleges ) , a small Episcopal college.At Geneva , White would read about the great colleges at Oxford Un... |
In the late 1850s , while White served as a professor of history at the University of Michigan , he continued to develop his thoughts on a great American university . He was influenced by both the curriculum , which was more liberal than at the Eastern universities , and by the administration of the university as a se... |
= = Conception = =
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White had been duly impressed by a bill introduced by Cornell in one of his first actions as a state senator : the incorporation of a large public library for Ithaca for which Cornell had donated $ 100 @,@ 000 . White was struck by not only his generosity , but also " his breadth of mind " . He wrote :
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The most striking sign of this was his mode of forming a board of trustees ; for , instead of the usual effort to tie up the organization forever in some sect , party or clique , he had named the best men of his town — his political opponents as well as his friends ; and had added to them the pastors of all the princi... |
Yet , Cornell and White soon found themselves on opposite sides of a battle that would in the end lead to the creation of Cornell University . In 1863 , the legislature had granted the proceeds of the land grant to the People 's College in Havana ( now Montour Falls ) , with conditions that would need to be met within... |
Still working to send part of the grant to the Agricultural College , on September 25 , 1864 , in Rochester , New York , Cornell announced his offer to donate $ 300 @,@ 000 ( soon thereafter increased to $ 500 @,@ 000 ) if part of the land grant could be secured and the trustees moved the college to Ithaca . White did... |
= = Establishment = =
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On February 7 , 1865 , Andrew D. White introduced an act to the State Senate " to establish the Cornell University " , which appropriated the full income of the sale of lands given to New York under the Morrill Act to the university . But , while Cornell and White had come to an agreement , they faced fierce oppositio... |
The bill was modified at least twice in attempts to attain the votes necessary for passage . In the first change , the People 's College was given three months to meet certain conditions for which it would receive the land grant under the 1863 law . The second came from a Methodist faction , which wanted a share of th... |
From 1865 to 1868 , the year the university opened , Ezra Cornell and Andrew D. White worked in tireless collaboration to build their university . Cornell oversaw the construction of the university 's first buildings , starting with Morrill Hall , and spent time investing the federal land scrip in western lands for th... |
= = Opening = =
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The university 's Inauguration Day took place on October 7 , 1868 . The previous day , each of the candidates who showed up in Ithaca was given an entrance examination . There were 412 successful applicants ; with this initial enrollment , Cornell 's first class was , at the time , the largest entering class at an Ame... |
On the occasion , Ezra Cornell delivered a brief speech . He said , " I hope we have laid the foundation of an institution which shall combine practical with liberal education . ... I believe we have made the beginning of an institution which will prove highly beneficial to the poor young men and the poor young women ... |
Two other Ezra Cornell @-@ founded , Ithaca institutions played a role in the rapid opening of the university . The Cornell Library , a public library in downtown Ithaca which opened in 1866 , served as a classroom and library for the first students . Also Cascadilla Hall , which was constructed in 1866 as a water cur... |
Cornell was among the first universities in the United States to admit women alongside men . The first woman was admitted to Cornell in 1870 , although the university did not yet have a women 's dormitory . On February 13 , 1872 , Cornell 's Board of Trustees accepted an offer of $ 250 @,@ 000 from Henry W. Sage to bu... |
Significant departures from the standard curriculum were made at Cornell under the leadership of Andrew D. White . In 1868 , Cornell introduced the elective system , under which students were free to choose their own course of study . Harvard University would make a similar change in 1872 , soon after the inauguration... |
It was the success of the egalitarian ideals of the newly established Cornell , a uniquely American institution , that would help drive some of the changes seen at other universities throughout the next few decades , and would lead educational historian Frederick Rudolph to write :
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Andrew D. White , its first president , and Ezra Cornell , who gave it his name , turned out to be the developers of the first American university and therefore the agents of revolutionary curricular reform .
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In 1892 , the university library was opened . Known today as Uris Library , it was the result of a gift from Henry W. Sage in memory of Jennie McGraw . In her will , she left $ 300 @,@ 000 to her husband Willard Fiske , $ 550 @,@ 000 to her brother Joseph and his children , $ 200 @,@ 000 to Cornell for a library , $ 5... |
= = Coeducation = =
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In 1870 , Cornell admitted its first female students , making it the first coeducational school among what came to be known as the Ivy League . However , the admission of female students was limited until the construction of Sage Hall to serve as a women 's dormitory in 1872 .
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The requirement that women ( at least freshman women ) must live in dormitories , which started in 1884 , served to constrain female student admissions until 1972 , when Cornell dropped its freshman dorm residency requirement . As a result , the academic admission standards for women in each college were typically hig... |
Early in the history of the university , female students were separated from male students in many ways . For example , they had a separate entrance and lounges in Willard Straight Hall , a separate student government , and a separate page ( edited by women ) in the Cornell Daily Sun . The male students were required ... |
The NYS College of Veterinary Medicine was an early pioneer in educating women , bestowing the first DVM degree on a woman in the United States , Florence Kimball , in 1910 . However , until the early 1980s , the Vet College limited the number of women in each entering class to four or less , regardless of female appl... |
With the implementation of Title IX in the mid @-@ 1970s , Cornell significantly expanded its athletic offerings for women . The Department of Physical Education and Athletics moved from having all women 's activities housed in Helen Newman Hall to having men 's and women 's programs in all facilities .
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= = Nonsectarianism and religion on campus = =
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Up until the time of Cornell 's founding , most prominent American colleges had ties to religious denominations . Cornell was founded as a non @-@ sectarian school , but had to compete with church @-@ sponsored institutions for gaining New York 's land grant status . A.D. White noted in his inaugural address , " We wi... |
In the late 1950s , the National Council of Young Israel ( NCYI ) leased a house across the street from the university and established a Jewish living center and kosher dining hall . The Cornell Young Israel chapter became the Center for Jewish Living , and a new Foundation for Kosher Observance at Cornell , Inc. was ... |
Since the 1870s , Cornell 's system of fraternities and sororities grew to play a large role in student life , with many chapters becoming a part of national organizations . As of 1952 , 19 fraternities had national restrictions based on race , religion or national origin , and of the 32 fraternities without such nati... |
In 1873 , the cornerstone of Sage Hall was laid . This new hall was to house the Sage College for Women and thus to concretely establish Cornell University 's coeducational status . Ezra Cornell wrote a letter for posterity — dated May 15 , 1873 — and sealed it into the cornerstone . No copies of the letter were made ... |
Cornell historians largely assumed that the " experiment " to which Cornell referred was that of coeducation , given that Sage Hall was to be a women 's dormitory and that coeducation was still a controversial issue at the time . However , when the letter was finally unearthed in 1997 , its focus was revealed to be th... |
= = Infrastructure innovations = =
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In 1883 , Cornell was one of the first university campuses to use electricity to light the grounds from a water @-@ powered dynamo . In 1904 , a hydroelectric plant was built in the Fall Creek gorge . The plant takes water from Beebe Lake through a tunnel in the side of the gorge to power up to 1 @.@ 9 megawatts of el... |
In 1986 – 87 , a cogeneration facility was added to the central heating plant to generate electricity from the plant 's waste heat . A Cornell Combined Heat & Power Project , which was completed in December 2009 , shifted the central heating plant from using coal to natural gas and enable the plant to generate all of ... |
In the 1880s , a suspension bridge was built across Fall Creek to provide pedestrian access to the campus from the North . In 1913 , Professors S.C. Hollister and William McGuire designed a new suspension bridge that is 138 ft ( 42 m ) , 3 @.@ 5 in. above the water and 500 ft ( 150 m ) downstream from the original . H... |
The Arecibo Observatory , radio and radar telescope , from its construction in the 1960s until 2011 , was managed by Cornell University .
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Cornell began operating a closed loop , central chilled water system for air conditioning and laboratory cooling in the 1963 using centralized mechanical chillers , rather than inefficient , building @-@ specific air conditioners . In 2000 , Cornell began operation of its Lake Source Cooling System which uses the cold... |
= = Giving and alumni involvement = =
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The first endowed chair at Cornell was the Professorship of Hebrew and Oriental Literature and History donated by New York City financier Joseph Seligman in 1874 , with the proviso that he ( Seligman ) would nominate the chairholder ; and following his wishes , Dr. Felix Adler ( Society for Ethical Culture ) , was app... |
In September 1896 , Cornell ’ s president Jacob Gould Schurman prevailed upon the Board of Trustees to extend an offer to Nathaniel Schmidt . The situation at Colgate ’ s Divinity School had deteriorated . Schmidt ’ s unorthodox theology generated discomfort within that college . From 1886 to the arrival of Professor ... |
The second was the Susan E. Linn Sage Professor of Ethics and Philosophy given in 1890 by Henry W. Sage . Since then , 327 named professorships have been established , of which 43 are honorary and do not have endowments . The university 's first endowed scholarship was established in 1892 .
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The original University charter adopted by the New York State legislature required that Cornell give scholarships from students in each legislative district to attend the University tuition @-@ free . Although both Cornell and White believed this meant one scholarship , the legislature later argued that it meant one n... |
When Atlantic Gulf & Pacific Dredging Company John McMullen left his estate to Cornell to establish scholarships for engineering students , Cornell 's Trustees decided to invest those funds , and eventually sold the dredging company . The resulting fund is Cornell 's largest single scholarship endowment . Since 1925 ,... |
Before the university opened , the State Legislature amended Cornell 's charter on April 24 , 1867 to specify alumni elected trustees . However that provision did not become operative until there were at least 100 alumni in 1872 . Cornell was one of the first Universities to elect trustees by direct election . ( Harva... |
In October 1890 , Andrew Carnegie became a Cornell Trustee and quickly became aware of the lack of an adequate pension plans for Cornell faculty . His concern led to the formation in 1905 of what is now called Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America ( TIAA ) . In October 2010 , David A. Atkinson and his ... |
Many alumni classes elected secretaries to maintain correspondence with classmates . In 1905 , the Class Secretaries organized to form what is now called the Cornell Association of Class Officers , which meets annually to develop alumni class programs and assist in organizing reunions . The Cornell Alumni News is an i... |
= = Support from New York State = =
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Under the Morrill Act , states were obligated to fund the maintenance of land grant college facilities , but were not obligated to fund operations . Subsequent laws required states to match federal funds for agricultural research stations and cooperative extension . In his inaugural address as Cornell 's third preside... |
In 1882 , Cornell opened the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva , New York , the sixth oldest institution of its kind in the United States . It made significant advances in scientific agriculture and for many years played an active role in agriculture law enforcement .
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In 1900 , a home economics curriculum was added to Cornell 's Agriculture college . This was expanded to a separate state @-@ supported school in 1919 . The Home Economics School , in turn , began to develop classes in hotel administration in 1922 , which spun off into a separate , endowed college in 1950 .
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In 1898 , the New York State College of Forestry opened at Cornell , which was the first forestry college in North America . The College undertook to establish a 30 @,@ 000 @-@ acre ( 120 km2 ) demonstration forest in the Adirondacks , funded by New York State . However , the plans of the school 's director Bernhard F... |
In 1914 , the US Department of Agriculture began to fund cooperative extension services through the land grant college of each state , and Cornell expanded its impact by sending agents to spread knowledge in each county of New York State . Although Syracuse had started awarding forestry degrees at this point , Cornell... |
In 1945 , the New York State Legislature founded the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell , in response to requests from organized labor and Democratic leaders . The school quickly gained national stature when U.S. Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins , who was the first female US Cabinet m... |
In 1948 , the Legislature placed all state @-@ funded higher education into the new State University of New York ( SUNY ) . Cornell 's four statutory colleges ( agriculture , human ecology , labor relations and veterinary medicine ) have been affiliated with SUNY since its inception , but did not have any such state a... |
Today , state support is significant . In 2007 – 08 , Cornell received a total of $ 174 million of state appropriations for operations . Of the $ 2 @.@ 5 billion in capital spending budgeted for 2007 – 2017 , $ 721 million was to come from the state of New York .
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= = Medical education = =
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Starting in 1878 , Cornell 's Ithaca campus offered a pre @-@ medical school curriculum , although most medical students enrolled in medical school directly after high school . In 1896 , three New York City institutions , the University Medical College , the Loomis Laboratory and the Bellevue Hospital Medical College ... |
In 1927 , William Payne Whitney 's $ 27 million donation led to the building of the Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic , which became the name for Weill Cornell 's large psychiatric effort . That same year , the college became affiliated with New York Hospital and the two institutions moved to their current joint campus... |
In 1998 , Cornell University Medical College 's affiliate hospital , New York Hospital , merged with Presbyterian Hospital ( the affiliate hospital for Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons ) . The combined institution operates today as NewYork @-@ Presbyterian Hospital . Despite the clinical alliance... |
Also in 1998 , the medical college was renamed as Weill Medical College of Cornell University after receiving a substantial endowment from Sanford I. Weill , then Chairman of Citigroup .
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= = Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory = =
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Curtiss @-@ Wright built this lab facility located in the suburbs of Buffalo , New York as a part of the World War II effort . As a part of its tax planning in the wake of the war effort , Curtiss @-@ Wright donated the facility to Cornell University to operate " as a public trust " and received a charitable tax deduc... |
CAL invented the first crash test dummy in 1948 , the automotive seat belt in 1951 , the first mobile field unit with Doppler weather radar for weather @-@ tracking in 1956 , the first accurate airborne simulation of another aircraft ( the North American X @-@ 15 ) in 1960 , the first successful demonstration of an au... |
During the late 1960s and early 1970s , universities came under criticism for conducting war @-@ related research particularly as the Vietnam War became unpopular , and Cornell University tried to sever its ties . Cornell accepted a $ 25 @,@ 000 @,@ 000 offer from EDP Technology , Inc. to purchase the lab in 1968 . Ho... |
= = Race relations = =
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Cornell had enrolled African @-@ American students by the mid @-@ 1880s . On December 4 , 1906 , Alpha Phi Alpha , the first Greek letter fraternity for African @-@ Americans was founded at Cornell . Cornell had a very low black enrollment until the 1960s , when it formed the Committee on Special Educational Projects ... |
= = = Willard Straight Hall Takeover = = =
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On April 19 , 1969 , during a parents ' weekend , over 80 members of Cornell 's Afro @-@ American Society took over the student union building , Willard Straight Hall . The takeover was precipitated by increasing racial tension at the university and the students ' frustration with the administration 's lack of support... |
By the following day a deal was brokered between the students and university officials , and on April 20 , the takeover ended , with the administration ceding to some of the Afro @-@ American Society 's demands . The students emerged making a black @-@ power salute and with guns in hand ( the guns had been brought int... |
Some of the elements of the deal required faculty approval , and the faculty voted to uphold the reprimands of the three students on April 21 . The faculty was asked to reconsider , and a group of 2 @,@ 000 to 10 @,@ 000 gathered in Barton Hall to debate the matter as the faculty deliberated . This " Barton Hall Commu... |
Yale Professor Donald Kagan , at Cornell through 1969 ( 1958 – 69 ) was once a liberal democrat , but he changed his views in 1969 and became one of the original signers to the 1997 Statement of Principles by the neoconservative think tank Project for the New American Century . According to Jim Lobe , cited in The Fal... |
= = Interdisciplinary studies = =
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