Ithaca College

Dear Ithaca College Community,

After this tumultuous election cycle and year, tensions have heightened nationwide. It should also be noted that this violence is not new but has been present in our national and international sphere since the birth of this nation. With that said, it is important that we institutionally and communally support our students, staff, and faculty. We must support our LGBTQ+, Muslim, and otherwise marginalized communities here on campus, and ensure that the college is a safe and welcoming place, especially when the rest of the world may not be. 

As members of an educational community, we must challenge the institutions we are a part of to fight for our rights as human beings. We must challenge what it means to attend an institution founded upon the value of education, and make sure that students, staff and faculty are valued, while having the opportunity to excel in their careers. 

Our community extends beyond this campus, to the cities, towns, and states that are heavily impacted by governmental decisions. Laws on deportation, marriage equality, access to birth control, and racial profiling are only some of the formative issues that are being addressed. This means we must actively engage with our city and state representatives to make sure that they are making decisions that best represent the interests of our communities, and those who have been historically marginalized. 

On an Ithaca College level, with the Board of Trustees’ recent resolution to adopt the AACU’s definition of “inclusive excellence”, it is imperative that we hold the college accountable to these words, especially when there are concerns around how the Chief Diversity Officer will function, and whether or not they will be under the department of Human Resources, the Office of the Provost, or directly report to the president on president’s council. We must decide as a community what inclusive excellence means and what it looks like in practice in our daily lives to be active contributors to the future of IC. It is time for us to start asking questions about exactly what we want to be included into in the first place, and what responsibilities we have as members of the Ithaca College community, and internationally 

Apathy and disengagement will not protect anyone, and will not help to make our communities better. We must not fall into quietism and let the fear and hate that is being projected inhibit us from making change on campus, in our greater communities, and throughout the world. 

With this in mind, I implore you to contact your representatives on all levels, and engage with the current national, and local dialogues. We must engage in collective action, and do the work so that we, and those after us may live to see a better future. 

Best,
Marieme Foote, Student Body President