 Yet , Cornell and White soon found themselves on opposite sides of a battle that would in the end lead to the creation of Cornell University . In 1863 , the legislature had granted the proceeds of the land grant to the People 's College in Havana ( now Montour Falls ) , with conditions that would need to be met within a certain time frame . Because the Morrill Act set a five @-@ year limit on each state identifying a land grant college , and it seemed unlikely that the People 's College would meet its conditions , the legislature was ready to select a different school . Initially , Cornell , as a member of the Board of Trustees of the New York State Agricultural College at Ovid , wanted half the grant to go to that school . However , White " vigorously opposed this bill , on the ground that the educational resources of the state were already too much dispersed " . He felt that the grant would be most effective if it were used to establish or strengthen a comprehensive university . 
