In the newspaper's first edition, published on September 16, 1880, The Sun boasted in its opening paragraph: "We have no indulgence to ask, no favors to beg."

Following the shift of its main competitor, The Ithaca Journal, from evening to morning daily publication in 1996, The Sun changed its traditional front page slogan which, after several iterations, now states "Independent Since 1880."

Led by Stanley Chess, the founding president of the Association, John Schroeder '74, and Gary L. Rubin '72, the alumni completely renovated the building over the next several months.

In the fall semester of 2004, The Sun turned free and started featuring full-color front and back pages as part of a redesign in its layout.

Speakers included Kurt Vonnegut '43, Carl Leubsdorf '59, Sam Roberts '68, Jay Branegan '73, Howard A. Rodman '71, S. Miller Harris '44, and Jeremy Schaap '91.

The Cornell Daily Sun claims over a dozen Pulitzer Prize winners and boasts a number of prominent alumni, including: Other prominent Cornellians have written letters to the editor, including former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who responded to an op-ed on wiretapping written by Cornell Law School students with a letter to the editor in 1953.