Our Latest Jack-o’-Lantern Stencil Celebrates a Famed Big Red Prank Put a pumpkin on McGraw Tower—on a pumpkin—for a meta interpretation of a Halloween legend!
‘Meet You at the Straight!’: Beloved Student Union Celebrates a Century Built during the Jazz Age, the campus landmark was designed ‘for all activities other than the athletic and the academic’
Prolific Campus Architect Couldn’t Wait for a Department—Or a Degree From Eddy Gate to the iconic clocktower to the president’s villa, William Henry Miller 1872 shaped a young Cornell
‘A Dashing Personality’: Remembering Willard Straight 1901 The hall’s namesake launched the precursors to both Dragon Day and Slope Day, wed the love of his life, and died in his late thirties
How Cornell Became Home to the World’s First Outdoor Electric Lights In the 19th century, a pioneering ‘dynamo’ not only lit up the campus—it sparked advances in engineering research on the Hill
Gothic Castle on the Hill: Fascinating Facts about Risley Hall A detail-driven history tour of the beloved campus landmark—from its Hogwarts-style great room to its (rumored) resident ghost
When ‘the Stump’ Was a Campus Landmark—and Soapbox The remains of a mighty tree felled by Dutch elm disease, it became a nexus of news and opinion during a turbulent era
Ticket Stubs & COVID Tests: 2020s Big Red Life, in Scrapbooks As a final project, a popular course on Cornell history lets students create miniature time capsules for future generations
Collegetown 101: How Ezra’s University Shaped a Neighborhood A look at the history—complete with photo tour—of how a sleepy 19th-century enclave became the beating heart of off-campus life
What Does It Take to Become a Big Red Chimesmaster? A look at the audition process for the iconic role—which began over a century ago, with a president’s yen for beautiful music