Taking Back the Legacy of the Takeover

Armed black student activists leaving Willard Straight Hall on Cornell University's central campus.

At 2:00 a.m. on April 18, 1969, a group of primarily Black students, who were members of the Afro-American Society,  joined some of their Latino peers in deciding to stage an occupation of Willard Straight Hall on Cornell University’s central campus. These protesters sought to highlight the university’s bias against students of color, criticize its judicial system, and denounce the lack of progress in establishing a program for Africana studies. At 3:00 a.m., merely one hour later, students found a burning outside Wari House, a cooperative dorm for Black female students. At 5:30 a.m. on the subsequent day, April 19, the students entered Willard Straight Hall and began a 36-hour occupation. 

The latter half of the 1960s saw record levels of Black enrollment at Cornell due to then-President James Perkins spearheading the Committee on Special Educational Projects (COSEP), which focused on bringing more African American students to campus. Despite the well-intentioned actions of Perkins and COSEP, the university did little to make the overwhelmingly white campus more “receptive and appropriate for Black students,” resulting in mounting racial tensions that culminated in the Willard Straight Hall Takeover. 

In the aftermath of the Takeover, the University agreed to a key concession of creating the Campus Code of Conduct, which established an independent judicial system for disciplinary action and a shared governance system between University administrators and students. In 2020, the administration quietly replaced the Campus Code of Conduct with the Student Code of Conduct, which provides fewer protections for students and limits their ability to exercise their rights, such as freedom of speech and protest. The new Code applies exclusively to students, erasing the shared governance concession that was integral to its predecessor. Additionally, enforcement of the Code, which previously rested in the hands of the University Assembly, now lies with the vice president for student and campus life, Ryan Lombardi. 

In my four years at Cornell, I have experienced first-hand the chilling effects of the new code. Discussion groups are no longer as lively, with many students choosing to abstain from talking out of fear that another classmate may report a comment. Friends no longer attend club meetings for a debate society we belong to, determined to keep their heads down and make it to graduation. Sophomore year, the administration targeted a friend of mine for involvement in a protest. The university suspended the student pending investigation, and without notice. As a student who still lived on campus in the dorms, my friend became suddenly and effectively homeless. The disciplinary process lasts an average of over 250 days, meaning Cornell expected my friend to spend the winter without housing. The university forced other students to self-deport due to the process’s sluggishness jeopardizing their student visa status. The administration is currently accountable to no one and thus able to mistreat students through its enforcement of the Code. 

Five years after the initial introduction of the Student Code of Conduct, the administration has launched a formal review of the Code. The group Students for a Democratic Cornell has organized in response to the administration’s actions and is advocating for the return of the judicial independence and student governance principles which were central to the Campus Code. In December of 2025, a campus-wide referendum asked students two questions: whether Cornell should return to a judicial system independent of the administration and whether the University should return to the Campus Code of Conduct established in the aftermath of the Willard Straight Takeover in 1969. Both questions passed overwhelmingly, receiving thousands of votes in favor. Despite this clear show of support for the Campus Code and University policy, which mandates that the administration respond to all referendums within thirty days, the administration has remained silent, refusing to hear the demands of its constituents and unwilling to revert to the previous Code. 

Cornell administration must listen to their students and return control of the Code of Conduct to the community. Every day that President Michael Kotlikoff refuses to acknowledge and respond to the referendum results is a further betrayal of the students who make this institution exceptional. Take back the Code and let the administration know you will not allow them to further restrict your rights. 

For action items and to learn more about what you can do to restore democracy at Cornell, please visit Students for a Democratic Cornell here.

Image Credit

Steve Starr, CC0, Wikimedia Commons