1970: Steve Starr – “Cornell University.” Armed students led by Ed Whitfield, far right, leave Straight Hall at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., after a 36-hour sit-in, April 20, 1969. The students had barricaded themselves in the building demanding a degree-granting African American studies program. University administrators offered to drop some charges against the students and accelerate the opening of an African-American studies center.