{"id":58619,"date":"2025-10-01T14:28:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T18:28:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/?p=58619"},"modified":"2025-12-15T14:32:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T19:32:14","slug":"straight-100","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/straight-100\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Meet You at the Straight!\u2019: Beloved Student Union Celebrates a Century"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Built during the Jazz Age, the campus landmark was designed \u2018for all activities other than the athletic and the academic\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Throughout the 2025\u201326 academic year, the University is celebrating the Straight’s centennial\u2014and <\/em>Cornellians is joining in the festivities with a series of stories (plus a few articles from our backlist)<\/em><\/em>, trivia quizzes, photo features, and more! <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

\"The<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Please enjoy our coverage of: <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStorytime with Corey\u201d on Dorothy Straight <\/a><\/em><\/strong>\u2022 Crossword puzzle<\/a> <\/strong>\u2022 Visual quiz<\/a><\/strong><\/em> \u2022 Willard Straight 1901<\/em><\/strong> biography<\/em><\/strong><\/a> \u2022 The Stump<\/a> \u2022 Straight Cookies<\/a> \u2022 Trivia quiz<\/a> \u2022 Willard & Dorothy’s love letters<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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By Joe Wilensky<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a century, Willard Straight Hall has served as a Cornellian gathering place\u2014home to the grand Memorial Room; Okenshields and the Ivy Room; art galleries and a theater; cozy meeting spots and tucked-away study spaces; an elegantly furnished library; and so much more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The building occupies an oversized place in many alums\u2019 memories\u2014whether it\u2019s the legendary Straight Cookies or the free popcorn at the welcome desk, songs sung in the Ivy Room, a late-night movie at Cornell Cinema, a treat from the Straight Scoop or Cascadeli, or hours spent hanging out with friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Memorial Room, a decade after the Straight\u2019s opening.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The sprawling Gothic-style building opened its doors 100 years ago this fall as one of the nation\u2019s first student unions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was an immediate hit: as the Cornell Alumni News<\/em> observed at the time, it became \u201cessentially the center of undergraduate life \u2026 designed to care for all activities other than the athletic and the academic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its main entrance has long been a popular gathering spot, giving rise to the decades-spanning refrain: \u201cMeet you at the Straight!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sprawling Gothic-style building opened its doors 100 years ago this fall as one of the nation\u2019s first student unions.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The celebration<\/a> of the building\u2019s centennial, which kicked off in September, comprises activities throughout the 2025\u201326 academic year, with the signature event set for November 21.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Straight was built as a magnificent memorial to Willard Straight 1901<\/a>, who was just 38 when he died of influenza while serving in an administrative role in Paris toward the end of World War I.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was donated by his widow, Dorothy Whitney Straight Elmhirst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Willard
Early phases of construction …<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\"Willard
… and the building taking shape months later.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Straight\u2014who is credited with founding the precursors to both Dragon Day and Slope Day\u2014had always wanted to enrich the student experience on the Hill. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his will, he directed Dorothy to do with his estate \u201csuch thing or things for Cornell University as she may think most fitting and useful to make the same a more human place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time, outside of Greek life, there was little provision for social activities on campus, and scant spaces that brought students together\u2014not yet even a central cafeteria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A classic postcard view.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After researching the social centers at colleges like Stanford and Berkeley, Dorothy used Willard\u2019s estate and some of her own money to fund the $1.3 million project (around $25 million in today’s dollars). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The University of Toronto\u2019s then-new Hart House\u2014and its Great Hall<\/a>\u2014served as a particular architectural inspiration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Drawn up by the New York firm of Delano and Aldrich, the building\u2019s design was presented to trustees in 1922. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his will, Willard directed Dorothy to do with his estate \u201csuch thing or things for Cornell University as she may think most fitting and useful to make the same a more human place.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As Morris Bishop 1914, PhD 1926, wrote in A History of Cornell<\/em>: \u201cThe plans, and the scale of the proposal, were breathtaking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following a year and a half of construction\u2014which necessitated clearing several faculty residences from the site\u2014the Straight opened on November 18, 1925.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter holding its mounting curiosity in leash for months, practically all undergraduate Cornell swarmed in to inspect and enjoy the magnificent building,\u201d the Alumni News<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Elms<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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While the stately elms have vanished from nearby Central Avenue, the Wee Stinky Glen still flows through the adjacent rock garden.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Gushed the Ithaca Journal-News<\/em>: \u201cThe edifice surpasses the most enthusiastic expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo one appears able to find words to express sufficient admiration or seems able to comprehend the grandeur of the memorial to the distinguished Cornellian.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main entrance was dominated by a soaring cathedral window, its expansive slate roof dotted by dormers and small, stout chimneys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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No one appears able to find words to express sufficient admiration or seems able to comprehend the grandeur of the memorial to the distinguished Cornellian.<\/p>\nThe Ithaca Journal-News<\/strong><\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Locally quarried \u201cLlenroc\u201d stone made up much of the structure, while Indiana limestone was used for the trimmings and window casements. Quartersawn oak graced much of the interior spaces, and five types of flooring materials were used throughout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The interior\u2019s vast halls reflected the lavish styling of the Jazz Age, and murals depicting Straight\u2019s career and ideals decorated the lobby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(The murals were by noted artist Ezra Winter; his assistant on the project, Alison Kingsbury, would go on to marry Bishop.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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