{"id":1671,"date":"2025-06-27T13:40:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T13:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/musiclegacy\/?page_id=1671"},"modified":"2025-06-27T13:49:41","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T13:49:41","slug":"class-of-1960","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/musiclegacy\/class-of-1960\/","title":{"rendered":"Class of 1960"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Times<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As students returned to their dorms in September of 1959, big things were happening at SUNY Cortland.  Not only was a larger student body in attendance, but the campus was undergoing a major expansion.  Bishop Hall and Shea Hall were completed to welcome new students as well as Neubig Dining Hall.  The college was also headed by a new president, Dr. Donald C. Moffett, who remained in that role until his untimely death in 1963.  Upon his passing, the school honored Dr. Moffett by renaming the HPER as the Moffett Center, where so many memorable campus concerts were held. And on October 17, 1959, the very first Cortaca football game against Ithaca College was played giving Cortland a 13-7 victory and possession of the coveted Cortaca Jug!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the 1950s ended and a new decade was starting, the world outside of campus life was rapidly changing politically, musically and culturally, sparking the beginning of a new counterculture featuring experimentation and the rejection of traditional norms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the rise to power of Cuban rebel Fidel Castro in 1959, the USA\u2019s initial response was one of cautious optimism but quickly shifted to hostility as Castro\u2019s policies increasingly aligned with communist ideology and The Soviet Union. And just a couple of years later, the failed Bay Of Pigs invasion eventually led to the Cuban Missile Crisis which put the world at the brink of a nuclear war for 13 scary days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On February 1st<\/sup>, 1960, four African American students from North Carolina A&T University, staged a sit-in at the \u201cwhite only\u201d lunch counter at F.W. Woolworth store in Greensboro, North Carolina. Inspired by the non-violent resistance techniques of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, this civil rights protest was considered a success in its quest to abolish segregation. Just 6 months after the sit-in, Woolworth\u2019s in Greensboro was desegregated and currently houses the International Civil Rights Center and Museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1959, the first Barbie Doll was introduced to American by Mattel.  By May of 1960, the FDA approved the world\u2019s first oral contraceptive and within 2 years of its initial distribution, 1.2 million American women were using \u201cThe Pill.\u201d  And the fashion world got more daring  introducing bold colors to men\u2019s wardrobing leaving their traditional dark suits behind while London\u2019s Mary Quant introduced women to the miniskirt, becoming one of the symbols of the \u201cswinging sixties!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1959 is credited as the symbolic end of early Rock and Roll with the plane crash deaths of Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and The Big Bopper and regarded as \u201cThe Day The Music Died.\u201d  As 1960 began, the new decade introduced more pop-influenced music like Chubby Checker\u2019s \u201cThe Twist\u201d and Percy Faith\u2019s \u201cThe Theme From A Summer Place.\u201d  Funk and soul entered the music scene while the British Invasion was just a few years away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notable Events<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n