Cornell '69: Liberalism and the Crisis of the American University

The scenes recalled here of armed black students leaving a Cornell University building in 1969 speak loudly of the rule of law, radicalism, racism, power politics, intellectual honesty, and the relations between academia and society. . . . Downs clearly details the complex, rapidly unfolding events, which embodied contested notions of progressive education, academic freedom, racial justice, and identity politics and which made the Cornell uprising more significant than most American student revolts of the 1960s. Readable, at times fast-paced, and based solidly on interviews and primary sources, this is highly recommended for academic libraries. -Library Journal

This book is a fine addition to the literature on the history and politics of higher education. It should interest everyone in the academic community. -Perspectives in Political Science

Of all American university disturbances . . . those of Cornell University were uniquely instructive. . . . Donald Alexander Downs, the author of this useful book, correctly points out that 'never before had students introduced guns into a campus conflict.' . . . He tells the story in a straightforward, chronological manner. -Academic Questions

An engaging and evocative read. . . . I would urge that everyone interested in this period read this book. -Journal of American History

Cornell '69 shows, in engrossing detail, how Cornell's white professors reacted to demands and protests by black students. Donald Alexander Downs focuses on this faculty perspective, taking seriously their fear that the life of the mind was at stake. -Andrew Hacker, author of Two Nations: Black and White, Separate, Hostile, Unequal

This engrossing work is the best book about any of the campus disturbances of the 1960s. Although I was a participant in the events described here, I nevertheless learned an enormous amount about what was going on behind the scenes. -Richard Polenberg, Cornell University

Donald Alexander Downs's speciality is using micro events to illuminate macro issues of political theory and constitutional law. Cornell '69 is his best work so far. Everything seemed to happen at Cornell and everything seemed to happen at once. Through Downs's gripping narrative, we learn about the origins of political correctness, the conservative revolt against it, and the politics of race on the American campus. This scrupulously honest and painfully fair book is the best thing to come out of the awful events described in the book. -Alan Wolfe, author of One Nation, After All

Downs does an extraordinary job of documenting the biggest crisis in Cornell history. Every participant in the crisis, no matter what his/her position, will learn things he/she never knew before reading this book. Every student of campus crises of the '60s and '70s will see here, in stark perspective, how the issues played out at Cornell. -Dale Corson, President Emeritus, Cornell University