Dale R. Corson papers

The Dale R. Corson papers consist of office files, correspondence, and other material deriving chiefly from his provostship (1963-1969) and presidency of Cornell University (1963-1977). The papers illustrate the Corson administration reconstituting the University following the trauma of the 1969 student revolt and the negative publicity following the takeover of Willard Straight Hall; dealing with anti-war demonstrations and protests relative to other social and local issues; and surviving the university fiscal crisis of the early and mid 1970s. Subjects include long range financial planning, the endowment fund, relations with trustees, and the improved functioning of the university administration; also, relations with trustee special committees and the many formal and ad hoc university committees, social responsibility and investment policy, the cultivation of alumni support, relations with the University Faculty, relations with the New York State College of Agriculture, the New York State College of Human Ecology, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Cornell University Medical College, the School of Nursing, the Center for International Studies, the Center for Environmental Quality Management, the Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, the Arecibo Ionospheric Observatory, the Human Affairs Program, and the Society for the Humanities; the collection also documents the separation of Cornell and the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory, and the growth of the Division of Biological Sciences.

Other subjects include the controversy surrounding Cornell United Religious Work and the role of Daniel Berrigan, the investigation of the Safety Division, the involvement of university employees in decision making and grievance procedures, the problems of parking and space needs, the issue of minority hiring on university construction projects, the building of the Campus Store, North Campus Dormitories, and several other facilities, the development of the Department of Physical Education and Athletics and intercollegiate athletics generally, and the investigation of Cornell by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The papers show the growth of the Personnel Department and the reorganization of the central administration, and the relations between Cornell and the Ivy League and other colleges, and with several educational and philanthropic foundations, including the American Council on Education, the Association of Colleges and Universities of the State of New York, the American Association of University Professors, the Ford Foundation, and the Carnegie Corporation. Similar files are concerned with university research and government funded research, and with relations with state and federal governments and corporations such as IBM and Xerox. Topics also include academic freedom and the rights and responsibilities of the University Faculty, representative governance, the University Senate, the Faculty Council of Representatives, and the Office of the Judicial Administrator.

Includes tape recordings of interviews conducted by Gould P. Colman, University Archivist.

Includes employment contracts, and correspondence with Frank R. Clifford.

Other subjects include the development of the Affirmative Action Program, the Africana Studies and Research Center, Ujamaa Residential College, and the associated difficulties arising from HEW guidelines pertaining to the college, and the needs of non-black minorities and international students. Other topics include the emergence of women's issues and programs, including the Women's Caucus, the Women's Study Program, and the Committee on the Status of Women; student dissent, protest, and demonstration, and the administration's several means of dealing with them. There is ample documentation of the takeover of Carpenter Hall in 1972, and the vandalism on campus and in Collegetown; the administration's response to the use of drugs and the changing deportment of students, to the new attitudes concerning commencement, and to the demands and interests of several student groups, including Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). Another issue is the involvement of students in matters of educational relevance, and the appearance of controversial speakers on campus. Major correspondents include Morton Adams, J. Robert Barlow, Mark Barlow, Max Black, Derek C. Bok, Ernest L. Boyer, Stuart M. Brown, Patricia J. Carry, Lisle C. Carter, Van Alan Clark, W. Donald Cooke, Edmund T. Cranch, H. Justin Davidson, Arthur H. Dean, Mary H. Donlon (Alger), Thomas Gold, Henry Guerlac, William D. Gurowitz, Jackson O. Hall, David B. Hayter, Delridge Hunter, Herbert F. Johnson, Alfred E. Kahn, and Robert J. Kane.

Other correspondents include William R. Keast, John G. Kemeny, W. Keith Kennedy, David C. Knapp, Samuel A. Lawrence, Paul J. Leurgans, Harry Levin, Sol M. Linowitz, Franklin A. Long, Thomas W. Mackesey, Deane W. Malott, Paul L. McKeegan, Robert D. Miller, Robert S. Morison, Steven Muller, Floyd R. Newman, Benjamin Nichols, Jansen Noyes, Nicholas H. Noyes, Ewald B. Nyquist, Robert D. O'Brien, John M. Olin, Spencer T. Olin, Charles E. Palm, Kermit C. Parsons, Norman Penney, James A. Perkins, Arthur H. Peterson, Robert A. Plane, Robert W. Purcell, Richard M. Ramin, Gustav J. Requardt, Robert F. Risley, Nelson A. Rockefeller, Thomas R. Rogers, Byron W. Saunders, Andrew S. Schultz, Robert A. Scott, Alain Seznec, Robert L. Sproull, Neal R. Stamp, Thomas L. Tobin, James E. Turner, Henry G. Vaughan, J. Carlton Ward, John H. Whitlock, Philip Will, Diedrich K. Willers, L. Pearce Williams, and Theodore P. Wright.

Also included is a photocopy of the typewritten third draft of "Confrontation at Cornell," a contemporary report by Computer Science professor Peter Wegner on the student protests of the spring of 1969 and the issues faced by Cornell and other universities at that time.