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Schoellkopf Field View full image
Fans gather in the Schoellkopf Field Crescent during a 2014 contest against Lehigh. View full image
Fans gather in the Schoellkopf Field Crescent during a 2011 contest against Bucknell. View full image
An outside look at Schoellkopf Memorial Hall, the administrative home of Cornell football and sprint football. View full image
The 2010 Cornell football team takes the field with the cheerleading team leading the way prior to a 2010 game against Yale. View full image
The Schoellkopf Field video board entertains fans during football, sprint football and lacrosse games. View full image
The concourse of Schoellkopf Field, one of the oldest and most historic athletic facilities in the country. View full image
Entrance to Schoellkopf Field, one of the oldest and most historic athletic facilities in the country. View full image
The stairs at Schoellkopf Field, one of the oldest and most historic athletic facilities in the country. View full image
Replica national football championship trophies are enclosed in glass in the Football Tradition Room in Schoellkopf Memorial Hall. View full image
The lobby of Schoellkopf Memorial Hall, the home of Cornell football and sprint football. View full image
Memorabilia in Friends Hall outside of the Hall of Fame Room in Schoellkopf Memorial Hall. View full image
Memorabilia enclosed in glass in the Football Tradition Room in Schoellkopf Memorial Hall. View full image
Memorabilia enclosed in glass in the Football Tradition Room in Schoellkopf Memorial Hall. View full image
Memorabilia enclosed in glass in the Football Tradition Room in Schoellkopf Memorial Hall. View full image
Memorabilia enclosed in glass in the Football Tradition Room in Schoellkopf Memorial Hall. View full image
Memorabilia enclosed in glass in the Football Tradition Room in Schoellkopf Memorial Hall. View full image
Memorabilia in Friends Hall outside of the Hall of Fame Room in Schoellkopf Memorial Hall. View full image
The athletic training facility located on the ground floor of Schoellkopf Memorial Hall. View full image
An aerial view of Schoellkopf Field, one of the oldest and most historic athletic facilities in the country. View full image
An aerial view of the Schoellkopf Field complex in 1915. View full image
A historic image of Schoellkopf Field as 35,300 fans crowd into the Crescent during a historic 1951 win over Michigan. View full image
A historic image of Schoellkopf Field as 35,300 fans crowd into the Crescent during a historic 1951 win over Michigan. View full image
CSN_Office View full image
The Cornell Big Red Mens Lacrosse team competes against Albany on Saturday, Feb 19th, 2022 at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, NY. View full image

Schoellkopf Field

* Directions to Schoellkopf Field
* Friends Hall Photo Gallery
* Schoellkopf Field Emergency Action Plan

Schoellkopf Field is the home of Big Red football, sprint football, and men's and women's lacrosse. The facility has undergone many great changes over the years, resulting in today’s magnificent structure.

History

During the 19th century, many of Cornell’s athletic teams trained on Percy Field where Ithaca High School now stands. During the early 1900s, though, Cornell’s population grew quickly and Percy Field was no longer suitable for the growing number of Cornell athletes.

Gradually, the idea of having adequate athletic facilities on campus developed. The Alumni Field Committee was created to consider this possibility and they persuaded the university set aside land for a field. The committee “strove, pled, and prayed” for donations to the proposed athletic facilities.

Because of a generous donation from Willard Straight ’01, the construction of a field house was made possible. The contribution came in memory of his friend, Henry (Heinie) Schoellkopf ’02, an outstanding football player and a “beloved gentle giant.” It is said that he once dove 70 feet into a gorge pool to rescue a drowning dog.

The Schoellkopf family themselves then responded to Straight’s donation and helped finance the project. Finally, construction of Schoellkopf Field, which would be on the highest point on campus, could take place. Schoellkopf Field was ready to open the fall of 1915. The University planned a huge parade from the Arts Quad to the field for the dedication exercises and opening football game. Everyone in Cornellundergraduates, faculty and staff, in addition to alumni and invited guestswas expected to participate.

Schoellkopf Quick Facts
Opened in 1915
Capacity: 21,500
Surface: FieldTurf
Largest Crowd: 35,300 (1951 vs. Michigan)
Address: 513 Campus Road
Ithaca, NY   14853
• Schoellkopf Field is the fourth-oldest FCS stadium, opening in 1915. Only Penn’s Franklin Field (1895), Harvard Stadium (1903) and the Yale Bowl (1914) are older.
• The playing area before World War I was Percy Field, alongside Fall Creek, the present site of Ithaca HS.
• The Big Red football team’s all-time record at Schoellkopf Field is 292-182-15 (.612).
• The Big Red’s first year on the field was one of its best, going 9-0 and winning the national championship.

On Saturday, October 9, 1915, all campus activities were suspended at noon. An estimated crowd of 6,000 quickly gathered in front of Goldwin Smith Hall as instructed by the University. President Jacob Gould Schurman slowly led the procession to the awaiting Schoellkopf Field. The impressive parade was the largest turnout of its kind in the Ithaca area at the time.

Exactly five years after the dedication, the General Electric Company completed work on a flood searchlight system for the field, which was designed to illuminate the field without causing glare visible to the players. The project was of major importance to athletic teams, especially in the fall and winter months, when shortened hours of daylight cut down after-class practice time.

Before 1915, the largest crowd to assemble for an athletic event in Ithaca was less than 5,000. The development of automobiles and improvement of roads brought larger and larger crowds to the stadium. Soon, it became apparent that Schoellkopf’s capacity of 9,000 was no longer sufficient.

In 1921, a study and report was commissioned and in the spring of 1923, University trustees approved the plans to reconstruct the east side stands. Construction began that winter and in September, 1924, the Crescent was completed increasing capacity to 21,500. In June, 1947, permanent steel stands on the west side of Schoellkopf Field were built boosting total stadium capacity to 25,597.

Schoellkopf Field was one of the University’s most valuable, but least used areas on campus until the introduction of an artificial turf. In early 1971, it was announced that an anonymous donor had made a gift for turf on Schoellkopf Field. The person who first benefited from the artificial surface was probably Cornell’s star tailback Ed Marinaro ’72, who eventually broke every school rushing record. Expansion and growth for Schoellkopf Field continued. The new press box was built in 1986, and the stands were refurbished.
 

Recent Upgrades

In 2006, the Big Red moved into the newly renovated Schoellkopf Memorial Hall, which includes an addition featuring new locker rooms, meeting rooms, a football tradition room and coaches offices. The 2008 season saw installation of FieldTurf synthetic grass to replace the artificial turf, while the West Stands were demolished and the field was moved 15 feet toward the Crescent in 2016 while replacing the FieldTurf to ready for future construction at the site.

Schoellkopf Field has become an irreplaceable part of Cornell’s athletic tradition and campus.