Ithaca College

As part of its vision, mission, and values, Ithaca College makes use of an "equity framework that proactively seeks to make Ithaca College accessible, affordable, and inclusive for all people, especially those impacted by systemic disadvantage, marginalization, and exclusion."

In October 2019, Ithaca College created its Five-Year Strategic Plan known as Ithaca Forever. The Campus Climate Action Group will "expand the Bias Impact Reporting process to include programming that educates campus around relevant topics, such as diversity talking circles" as part of the college's goal to "become a national model for colleges committed to the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion."

The Department of Physics and Astronomy hopes to require DEI training modules for incoming students.

The Department of Physics and Astronomy believes that "faculty and staff should educate themselves on issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and on the means to combat racism and become inclusive of all students in our department." To accomplish this, DEI will be discussed periodically at department faculty meetings. Faculty will be charged with reviewing various resources and undergoing professional development on DEI. Faculty involvement in DEI workshops, webinars, and conferences is expected.

The Department of Physics and Astronomy's Faculty Representative seeks to curate "DEI online training modules" that would be required for students in the near future.

The Department of Physics and Astronomy's Faculty Representative holds an annual Inclusion in STEM event as well as DEI mental health seminars. Additionally, the department offers "identity-based conferences" where minoritized students are encouraged to attend.

The Student Leadership Institute is a workshop series that provides students certificates by "exploring various topics related to diversity and social justice."

IDEAS hosts Peer Educator Virtual Workshops where educators "work to create original and engaging workshop sessions to help students in the Ithaca campus community understand aspects of inclusion, equity, and social justice, all aimed to improve our collective understanding of lived experiences here at IC."

In response to student demands to end racism in the Department of Theatre Arts, Ithaca College leadership released a statement, stating that in order to address these issues, Ithaca College may conduct "policy review and revisions, training for new and returning faculty, and expanding opportunities for hard conversations among and between the faculty, administration, staff, and students about how to be better when it comes to dealing with issues of race."

As part of its "Specific Tasks" for the 2023-2024 academic year, the newly established Center for Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging will "[c]ontinue leading inclusive hiring workshops."

In the Fall of 2023, the BIPOC Unity Center offered a diversity, equity, and belonging course for incoming students that focused on "Power, Privilege, and Oppression," "Bias and Unconscious Bias," and "Allyship."

The Peer Education Program (hosted by the BIPOC Unity Center) is a "five-part workshop series for the fall semester [2023], covering conversations based on understanding the definitions of allyship, consent, micro-aggressions, implicit bias, and intersectionality."

Diversity is a required course subject for the Integrative Core Curriculum liberal education program.

The university will "implement action plans resulting from completed academic program reviews with regard to curriculum diversification" and also "add language regarding curriculum diversification to the curriculum section of the academic program review guidelines, so that it is incorporated into the program review moving forward."

The Physics and Astronomy Anti-Racism and Inclusivity Plan also included a desire to educate students on diversity, equity, and inclusion using "discussions and informative displays designed for our hallways and classrooms." The department stated that the "Student Liaison works with student organizations to create a hallway display of hidden figures and informative poster displays regarding DEI for our classrooms." The department seeks to incorporate DEI into its curriculum.

Ithaca College's Women's and Gender Studies department carried out Faculty to Faculty Salons on April 22, 2021 in order to "showcase our feminist, anti-racist, decolonialist faculty." Critical race theory is explicitly stated to be a part of the core curriculum.

The subjects of racism and colonialism are central to the Sociology major at Ithaca College.

Critical Race Theory is one of the core requirements of the B.A. degree in "Race, Power, and Resistance" which is part of Ithaca's Liberal Arts Program.

Ithaca outlines its Bias Reporting procedures and states that the Bias Reporting Form is "intended to provide students, staff, and faculty with a centralized way of accessing resources if they experience or witness a bias incident on campus, via social media, virtually, or at a college-affiliated event."

Ithaca College held an event called "Leading With Love." The goal of this event was to discuss "the importance of anti-racism at the community level."

The National Science Foundation gave Ithaca College a $650,000 grant. This money will be used to fund 14 scholarships for "diverse STEM students."

In 2018, the Center for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Social Change was created in order to "empower marginalized students." Today, the center holds programming such as Intercultural Career Connections.

The BIPOC Unity Center at Ithaca "works to build and bridge communities that welcome and affirm people to be their whole selves, honoring their multiple identities and lived experiences, by empowering IC students to resist and interrupt systems of oppression." The center provides initiatives "aimed at creating a sense of belonging for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) students through support, resources, education and programs at Ithaca College."

The 2023 African Latino Society Memorial Scholarship aims to "honor students who have worked to influence and promote the academic, political, social, economic, and cultural welfare of students o[f] color at IC and the greater Ithaca community."

The Antiracism Institute at Ithaca is part of its Faculty Development Program and "addresses racism head on and adopts a non-neutral approach in pedagogy, curriculum, campus culture, and community."

Ithaca College hosts the Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity which offers a minor in African Diaspora Studies. The minor discusses "the historically constructed and contested nature of individual identities" as well as "issues of cultural and historical representation, social justice, and struggles for racial redress." Students are required to take coursework in the areas of "Conceptual Frameworks," "Power and Liberation," "Comparative and International," "Policy and Praxis," and "Culture and History."

The Campus Climate Action Group will also "revise the college diversity statement and promote its use in advertising the curriculum."

The Department of Physics and Astronomy shared its Anti-Racism and Inclusivity Plan. As part of this, the department stated that its "anti-racism action team will remain an active body that works with the department community."

Ithaca College's "Working to Improve Schools and Education" programming hosts resources for Whiteness Studies that discuss anti-racism and white privilege.

The university states that, "The Center for IDEAS aims to proactively engage the campus community through educational opportunities focusing on identity, power, equity, and social justice issues to encourage social change. " This is accomplished through IC Unity and other programs.

IDEAS also holds a podcast called "IDEAS Hour" which discusses "social justice issues."

The Ithaca Achievement Program supports students of color financially and provides cohort materials as well.

Ithaca College provides students of color with various scholarships and programs such as the  Rashad G. Richardson “I Can Achieve” Memorial Scholarship, the African-Latino Society Memorial Scholarship, and the MLK Scholar Program.

The university's IDEAS Center "honors the graduating students of color and holds the Seniors of Color Leadership Awards ceremony." Awards are given to students who demonstrate work towards social justice.

Additionally, the college held an "Honors Program Rapid Response Salon conversation that focuses on black bodies, racist rhetoric, and violence in the wake of the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis."

On April 14, 2023, the student organization IC Rise Up published its list of "demands" in order to improve the lives and education for students of color at Ithaca. The group's demands include the following: "We demand a Critical Race Theory requirement for all majors in addition to existing diversity ICC requirements."; "We demand a freshman seminar created for incoming students of color to prepare them for the reality of being a student of color at a predominantly white institution."; "We demand funding set aside for aiding BIPOC students.”; and "We demand anti-racism workshops for faculty. (once each semester minimum)."

In response to the death of George Floyd, the president released a statement saying, "Like so many of you, I woke up thinking about the gut-wrenching loss of George Floyd, an African-American man from Minneapolis who was killed last week while under police custody. Mr. Floyd is the third person of color since February to tragically and unjustly be taken away from us."