In a letter to the editor of the Cornell Daily Sun, (January 24, 2019) 26 survivors of the 1967 Res Club fire and family members of those who perished call for the university to openly acknowledge the University’s mishandling of the situation some 52 years ago.
They suggest that such acknowledgement–which does seem to be under way given the leadership of Cornell President Martha Pollack– will decrease the likelihood of another such tragedy occurring, at Cornell or elsewhere, in the future.
The fire, along with two subsequent fires at locations where Phud survivors were living and an investigation that never identified the perpetrator of what was apparently arson, were reviewed in the New York Times on April 13, 2018.
After the article came out, 13 survivors of the fire from the classes of 1967, 1969 and 1970, along with three relatives of one of the deceased students, met with President Pollack. They requested a public apology on behalf of Cornell for the institution’s actions (and lack thereof) before and after the fire.
Their actions, the letter points out, ” included housing students in a dormitory that did not meet fire codes of the day, lacking sprinklers, multiple exits and fire doors.
“There was also a shocking lack of support offered by the University to the fire survivors, their families and the families of the dead, in sharp contrast to the outpouring of support from the Cornell and Ithaca communities.”
In researching Ithaca Diaries, I was told that information about the fire could be found “somewhere in the [University] archives,” which seemed utterly daunting to me.
The group seeks the opening of all the Cornell archives related to the fire, including but going beyond the material supplied to the New York Times. This would include records of the Cornell Police Department, which was involved in the investigation along with the Cayuga Heights Police Department (which had primary responsibility), the Ithaca P.D., the New York State Police and the Tompkins County District Attorney.
In the letter, the group also requested both a permanent physical memorial to be located in a prominent site on campus (such as a “reflection garden”) and “living memorials” in the form of scholarships named for each of those who died to be awarded to students pursuing degrees in the victims’ areas of study.
President Pollack has suggested a lecture series named, each year, for one of those victims, according to the letter.
Here’s a link to the letter: https://cornellsun.com/2019/01/22/letter-to-the-editor-cornell-must-do-more-to-remember-res-club-fire/