By wpengine September 22, 2003
People from all over Ithaca came to Cornell’s campus this past weekend to enjoy a weekend-long music festival and dialogues as part of “Celebrating Peace Activism: America is Still Hard to Find.” The Center For Religion, Ethics and Social Policy (CRESP) hosted the weekend in honor of two influential non-violent activists for peace and social justice in Cornell’s history, Father Daniel Berrigan and Reverend Jack Lewis, and to encourage the community to become more involved in peace activism. Berrigan, who served as the associate director of Cornell United Religious Work (CURW) from 1967 to 1970, had a significant impact on the national peace movement of the late 1960s. “He is perhaps best known for direct actions such as the ‘illegal’ napalming of draft record in protest of the ‘legal’ napalming of Vietnamese villages,” according to Anke Wessels, executive director of CRESP. This is the second such weekend to be held at Cornell. The first festival, from April 17-19, 1970, was held as a tribute to Berrigan for his services to Cornell and the nation. At the time, Berrigan was being hunted down by the FBI, but chose to attend the festival in disguise. He escaped afterward, hiding underground for four months. Berrigan was eventually apprehended and spent 18 months in prison, but was paroled in 1972 and continued to protest and write on behalf of peace. “He has a very powerful history at Cornell,” Wessels said. “If we could bring him back, I thought that he might serve as an inspiration for students and others.” One of the biggest draws of the weekend was the music festival, which included performances by the Bread and Puppet Theater and popular artists Michelle Shocked and Stephan Smith. Wessels explained they wanted artists who were “committed to the cause of a peace movement.” Qayyuma Didomenico, a former student from Ithaca, came out to see the Bread and Puppet Theater. “I think their message is very effective,” she said. The show, entitled “How to Turn Distress into Success,” demonstrated its point during the performance, by cutting truth in half with a pair of scissors and throwing a sign that read “REASON” out a literal window. The group performed at the original festival and also played an instrumental role in helping Berrigan escape from the FBI in the 1970s. Although the festival brought many people to Cornell, it failed to attract a large number of Cornell students. “They did a good job of bringing the community to campus,” Lisa Krauthamer ’04 said. “It would have been great to have more student interest.” Later that evening, Berrigan spoke to a full house in Barton Hall. Audience members, mostly from the Ithaca community, sat on the floor when they ran out of seats and gave a standing ovation when Berrigan walked up to the podium. A brief documentary on the life and activism of Lewis was shown, which concluded with Lewis saying, “Caring about others is what life is all about.” Berrigan spoke at length on the nature of doing good works, activism and the role of faith in regard to his past experience and that of his mentor, Jack Lewis. “It was more of a poem than a lecture,” said attendee Tom Joyce. “I thought it was striking that he was saying a lot of interesting and profound things in a poetic way.” Sarah Elbert ’65, who was a participant in both weekends said that it “was very sedate.” Elbert reflected on the intense religious experience of the first festival, which took place during the weekend of both Easter and Passover and during what many felt was a very dangerous time. “There is no huge student movement to stop the war in Iraq and there should be. The Cornell campus is not at this moment in that place.” Other aspects of the weekend included a public display of Berrigan’s poetry across the campus. On Friday night a poetry reading was held at the First Baptist Church Sanctuary in Ithaca to celebrate Berrigan’s poetry. Entitled “Spoken Freely: Words and Music in Celebration of Peace Activism,” the evening including performances by Wimmin in Black and Michelle Berry and Hippee Harlem. Yi Ping and Ogaga Ifowodo read poetry. On Saturday morning the film “This is What Democracy Looks Like” was shown. A round table debate followed, discussing the effectiveness of direct action and voting in political discourse. The discussion included participants with a variety of political backgrounds, including Mark Finkelstein, chair of the Tompkins County Republican Party, Irene Stein, chair of the Tompkins County Democratic Party, Jennifer Daniels, a New York State Green Party Candidate for Lieutenant Governor, and Dr. James Turner, of the Africana Studies and Reserch Center. The weekend concluded with a sermon given by Berrigan in Sage Chapel on Sunday night. Archived article by Stephanie Baritz
By wpengine September 22, 2003
With Cornell holding a tenuous grip on a 21-19 lead with five minutes remaining in Saturday’s football game against Bucknell, the Bison (2-1) took possession of the ball on their own 42-yard line. Over the next nine plays, Bucknell compiled four first downs and moved 48 yards, deep into Cornell territory. On the 10th play of the possession, Bucknell kicker Ryan Korn lined up for his fourth field goal attempt of the afternoon. The 27-yarder would have given the Bison the lead with 1:43 remaining in the game. Fortunately for the Red (1-0), the ball sailed to the left, ricocheting off the left upright and giving Cornell possession. “I don’t think there was anyone on that sideline who didn’t feel good about our opportunity to either score a touchdown … or if not, attempt a field goal and win it,” said Bucknell head coach Tim Landis. This stroke of luck allowed the Red to maintain the lead in a game it had thoroughly controlled through the first three quarters of play. Cornell maintained its control just over a minute later, when junior defensive back Kyle Thomas intercepted a pass by Bucknell quarterback Darius Wilson on the first play of what turned out to be the final Bison possession of the game. “You’re sitting on the sideline hoping and praying that someone will make a play, and Kyle came up big,” said senior co-captain Mick Razzano. The win was Cornell’s first to start a season since 1999. The game was also the first time the Red opened its season at home since a 14-10 win over Princeton in 1997. “It was a tremendous start that I knew, and the players knew, that we had in us,” Cornell head coach Tim Pendergast said. Cornell came out strong in its season opener. Razzano was at the top of his game, passing for 216 yards and rushing for 30 more to lead the Red to the hard-fought victory. Also starring for the Red was sophomore tailback Josh Johnston, who totaled 121 yards of offense in his first start for the Red. “Today, I think he stole the show with his play,” Pendergast said of Johnston. “For a first year player to be able to step in a do those sort of things, I think says a lot.” After Cornell’s initial drive of the game ended with a fumble by junior tailback Marcus Blanks, Bucknell took over and promptly scored the game’s first points on a 31-yard field goal by Korn. However, the Red did not trail for long. On the ensuing drive, Razzano connected with junior Carlos Hill for a 56-yard touchdown reception to give Cornell a 7-3 lead. It was the first touchdown reception of Hill’s career. With Cornell holding onto a 7-6 lead after the first quarter, Razzano completed a 13 play, 71-yard drive with an 11-yard run for the Red’s second score. Razzano leapt over the goal line and a couple of Bucknell defenders for the score. Junior placekicker Trevor MacMeekin converted on the point after to extend the Red lead to 14-6. “They were covering all the receivers, and the middle opened up, and I just took it in there,” Razzano explained. The senior quarterback would later add another rushing touchdown in the third quarter to give the Red all the offense it needed. Bucknell scored a touchdown of its own later in the quarter to cut the Cornell lead to 14-12. The two-point conversion failed, leaving the Red a lead going into the intermission. Razzano’s second touchdown of the game came with just over four minutes remaining in the third quarter. As with Razzano’s first touchdown, the Cornell offensive line opened up a hole for the quarterback to scamper into the end zone. Throughout the game, the line made things easy for Razzano and the rest of the offense. “I wasn’t pressured. I didn’t have to throw in a hurry, I could sit back and make my reads. They were opening up holes for the backs. I really feel comfortable with those guys protecting us,” Razzano said. With a season-opening victory now under its belt, the Red will set its sights on its Ivy opener next Saturday at Yale, a game that is sure to present a tremendous challenge. “What we are right now is simply 1-0. And all we have staring at us is one game,” Pendergast said. “It’s great that we got a home win,” Razzano agreed. “But it’s one, we’ve still got nine to go. No time to relax now.”Archived article by Owen Bochner