 On April 19 , 1969 , during a parents ' weekend , over 80 members of Cornell 's Afro @-@ American Society took over the student union building , Willard Straight Hall . The takeover was precipitated by increasing racial tension at the university and the students ' frustration with the administration 's lack of support for a black studies program . The specific catalysts for the takeover were a reprimand of three black students for an incident the previous December and a cross burning in front of the black women 's cooperative and other cases of racism . 
