David Lyons and Matthew Lyons. Cornell divestment movement collection

Matthew Lyons (Cornell University Class of 1986) helped to organize and participated in the first divestment sit-ins at Cornell's Day Hall in April-May 1985, as well as the May 8, 1985 action, "Take It To the Straight." In the fall of 1985, he helped to coordinate the divestment movement's daily sit-ins and civil disobedience at Day Hall. David Lyons, Matthew's father, is professor of law and philosophy at Cornell University. He was part of the first group of Cornell faculty and staff to be arrested in the divestment sit-ins in April 1985. He helped to draft the principal Faculty and Staff Against Apartheid (FSAA) documents including "Why Cornell Should Divest" and the FSAA's reply to the Proxy Review Committee Report on divestment. He represented Shantytown residents within the Cornell judicial system with regard to their complaints against the central administration.