Ithaca Students Rally for ‘Solidarity Walkout’

The students at Ithaca College have staged their own walkout in order to get President Tom Rochon to resign from his position at Ithaca.

Ithaca students from Ithaca College in NY recently rallied their way via a Solidarity Walkout with the University of Missouri, calling for the resignation of their school’s president, who they believe to be inadequate to respond to the emerging racist incidents in their schools.

Ithaca President Tom Rochon has been accused of inadequately addressing occurrences of racism on campus, and both students and faculty are using this opportunity to voice their discontent.

The forceful protest wave that has ousted two top University of Missouri administrators over racial neglect has shaken up other US college campuses on Wednesday to denounce past and present systemic racism.

The two recent events that are upsetting students the most is a “thug”-themed party that was held by unaffiliated fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi, and an incident earlier this school year when two white male alumni called a black female alumna a “savage” after she described her will to succeed in higher education as a “savage hunger”. An estimated 1,000 people attended, chanting, “Tom Rochon: No Confidence”, in reference to a vote by the Student Government Association of “confidence” or “no confidence” in Rochon. “Moments like this reinforce that the College is a place for dialogue and a campus that welcomes all students, all people”, McConnell said in a statement to The Post and Courier.

“Some professors don’t understand the privilege of being white”, Danielle Walker, a Missouri graduate student, told Fusion.

Students at over 20 campuses have planned solidarity protests this week.

The Ethos Political Action Committee at Wellesley College sent out a mass email to students in light of the credible threats that were made over social media.

“The document states that the college will not try to prevent protests or demonstrations and encourages guests to go to http://ithaca.edu/diversity to learn about the college’s plans to address issues related to racism and cultural bias”.

Vivian Conger, a member of the Faculty Council, said she thinks the council has been very productive throughout this process. Board members and I are in contact on a daily basis with the president and other campus leaders about the issues that are taking place, and I am committed to helping the institution address its problems so that we may become the Ithaca College that we all know we can be. Incidents include racially insensitive comments that were made by Public Safety officers during RA training.

“Thousands of students filled the Ithaca quad and gathered around an area on campus known as ‘Free Speech Rock”.

The Ithacan student newspaper reports that the specifics of a referendum would be discussed by faculty during a meeting today.

Rochon announced in a statement on Tuesday that he has begun a search for a Chief Diversity Officer to improve the campus’ “racial climate and build a culture that lives up to its values of civility, mutual respect and justice”.