History
In 1911, Mrs. Russell Sage donated $300,000 to the University for the construction of a women's dormitory. At her request, the building was named after her husband's mother, Prudence Risley. The building was opened to students in 1913. It was unusually luxurious, with sculptures and expensive furnishings in common areas, many of which were donated by Cornell co-founder Andrew Dickson White.
In 1970, under the guidance of Ruth Darling, the University converted Risley into a co-ed creative arts themed dormitory, the campus's first program house. Judith Goodman had been looking for a house to share with some of her more artistic friends. When she asked Cornell about the house she wanted, they said it had just been given away, but offered Risley instead. The cost of running the fancy all-female dorm was too much, and Cornell was going to shut Risley down.
After several attempts to develop an acceptable plan for running Risley as an arts dorm, and much Cornell paperwork aided by Ruth, Judith and her friends finally got her vision of Risley approved. In the first year, the college received over 1000 applications for the roughly 200 spots in the building.
Their system of government in 1970 is similar to the current one today, though there have been many amendments to the Risley Charter in the intervening years.
Notable former Risley residents from before the creation of Risley Residential College include Margaret Bourke White', Elspeth Huxley, Barbara McClintock, and Janet Reno. Notable residents from after the creation of the Residential College include Matt Ruff, Mia Korf, Jamie Silverstein, Christopher Reeve, Andre Balazs, Duo Dickinson, Andrew C. Greenberg, and Madalyn Aslan.
Read more about this topic: Risley Residential College
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