The ''Cornell Chronicle'' is the in-house weekly newspaper published by
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
.
History
Prior to the founding of the ''Chronicle'' in 1969, campus news was reported by the ''Cornell Era'' and then by ''
The Cornell Daily Sun
''The Cornell Daily Sun'' is an independent daily newspaper published in Ithaca, New York by students at Cornell University and hired employees.
''The Sun'' features coverage of the university and its environs as well as stories from the Asso ...
''. During the
Willard Straight Hall
Willard Straight Hall is the student union building on the central campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. It is located on Campus Road, adjacent to the Ho Plaza and Cornell Health.
Background
The construction of Willard Straight Hall ...
takeover in April 1969, the campus learned of unfolding events through the student-edited ''Sun'', the student radio station
WVBR, and the independently owned ''Cornell Alumni News.'' However, Cornell's administration, most notably then-Vice President for Public Affairs
Steven Muller, was dissatisfied because those media reported events in a manner that was somewhat critical of the administration. Over the summer, plans for the ''Chronicle'' were put in place and it debuted on September 25, 1969. The ''Chronicle''s first office was in the basement of the
Edmund Ezra Day
Edmund Ezra Day (December 7, 1883 – March 23, 1951) was an American educator.
Day received his undergraduate and master's degrees from Dartmouth College and his doctorate in economics from Harvard. While at Dartmouth, he became a brothe ...
Hall administration building, and Kal Lindenburg, a ''Sun'' alumnus, was hired as its first Managing Editor. It was printed every Wednesday during the school year as a newsprint broadside on the presses of the ''Ithaca Journal''.
The early issues are filled with university press releases, as well as pages generated by the Dean of the Faculty, University Senate and various employee groups. The ''Chronicle'' would also print the full text of various University reports. However, the ''Chronicle'' was careful to reflect the administration's perspective on the news. For example, in 1970, when the Board of Trustees considered an important proposal to restructure its membership and to establish a University Senate, the ''Chronicle'' headline stated "Cornell Trustees Approve the Formation of Senate", while the ''Sun'' headline read, "Committee Delays Senate Election After Trustees Modify Constitution".
From its start, the ''Chronicle'' was available for free at locations throughout Cornell's campus, and subsequently paid mail subscriptions were sold to off-campus readers. Subsequently, the Cornell News Service and the ''Chronicle'' relocated off campus to offices in downtown Ithaca, New York. The issues are currently formatted for 8.5" by 11" pages, and can be purchased printed on 11" by 17" paper, folded.
Purpose
The first issue of the ''Chronicle'' featured a "Statement of Purpose", which stated in part:
The purpose of the Chronicle is to provide official information, important to its readers as members of the University, but not readily available through existing communications channels.
Each issue of the Chronicle will include at least one page devoted to the activities of the University faculty. Responsibility for the contents of the faculty section has been delegated to the Secretary of the Faculty.
The Chronicle is ''not'' intended to compete with local communications media reporting on University activities. It ''is'' intended to supplement their efforts by providing more comprehensive information than the media can devote to University matters due to limitations of space and time.
Archives
Archives of the ''Chronicle'' are available from 1969, which are scanned from bound volumes and available in PDF form in the university's online repository, eCommons, with post 1996 issues available on the Cornell website.
References
External links
Official website
{{Cornell
1969 establishments in New York (state)
Publications established in 1969
Cornell University
Newspapers published in New York (state)
Weekly newspapers published in the United States