Ithaca College

The Center for Faculty Excellence is thrilled to announce that Dr. Baruch Whitehead has been selected as recipient of the 2020 President Shirley M. Collado Faculty Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Ithaca College Community.

As his nominator, Dr. Matthew Clauhs, states, “Dr. Whitehead consistently exemplifies President Collado’s vision of excellence in education in all of his teaching, mentoring, and service to the community. Through his numerous projects, which include organizing the Biennial High School Gospel Festival at Ithaca College, directing the Dorothy Cotton Jubilee Singers, advising several student clubs and organizations (IC Musicians of Color, Student Chapter of Association of Negro Musicians, Ithacapella, Island Fusion), directing the annual MLK Celebration, co-founding the Community Unity Music Education Project at Southside Community Center, and many others, Dr. Whitehead has brought culturally-affirming music experiences to countless students and community members.”

Dr. Janet Galvan describes how Dr. Whitehead “has consistently advocated for increasing diversity, not only in the student body but in the curriculum” and that “he has proposed and carried out initiatives which have brought many students from under-represented populations to our campus.”

Speaking of one of Dr. Whitehead’s major projects, Amber Ward (class of 2020) writes, “What makes the Dorothy Cotton Jubilee Singers so special, is that regardless of your personal or musical background, the community choir is for everyone and we perform to anyone. Dr. Whitehead proudly leads us and teaches us that spirituals and gospels are not only for the black community, but they are for everyone. The music brings us together, it moves us together, and it changes us together.” She adds, “because of him I have learned that there will be no change, not only on campus and in our Ithaca community, but in our country without patience and understanding.” David Caughey, President of the group’s Board of Directors, states that under Dr. Whitehead’s leadership the group uses “the redemptive power of this music to promote social and racial justice and healing.” Emily Preston, Associate Director of the group states that Dr. Whitehead demonstrates “immense dedication to inclusivity and culturally-affirming experiences for all.” She adds that Dr. Whitehead “has created a space where many life-affirming, joyous, and transcendent experiences come to pass… I have thought to myself many times, ‘He doesn’t have to be doing this-- he’s doing this because he really cares.’ To me, this is the mark of a great educator.” 

For the many, many things he has done and continues to do for the Ithaca College community, for the bridges he creates between our School of Music and the Ithaca community, for the positive presence he gives the College in doing so, for the inclusive communities he builds and his full-spectrum perspective on social justice, for all the programs that he has not only created but sustained, for his work across the ages, for his central involvement in issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the School of Music and beyond, and especially for the opportunities he creates for students, and his use of the power of music to connect people of all backgrounds and colors, we congratulate Dr. Baruch Whitehead, our 2020 recipient of the President Shirley M. Collado Faculty Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Ithaca College Community.