Park Scholars continually lead on campus, from President of TEDx Ithaca — organizing a TEDx event held at Ithaca College in October 2022 — to President of 180 Degrees Consulting. Park Scholars have held leadership positions in the Office of Student Engagement and IC After Dark; Disability Education, Advocacy, and Resources at Ithaca College; Challah for Hunger; Planned Parenthood, Generation Action; Passion Project digital, multimedia magazine, Buzzsaw magazine, ICTV News, The Ithacan, Park Promotions, and Park Productions; the Society of Professional Journalists; Sister to Sister and the Black Student Union. Park Scholars have created programming to increase diversity and inclusion in student broadcast and print media; they have formed and managed a new organization to promote gender equity and inclusion in film and television productions; they have worked to become a certified handler of guide dogs in training. In doing so, Park Scholars have inspired their peers and organized other students to work effectively and ethically to create a more diverse, inclusive, and academically engaged campus.
Park Scholars Inspire Collaboration
Leaders On Campus
Leaders in the Community
Park Scholars continually hold positions of leadership off campus, as well. They have served as Founding Associate Board member for the New York Birth Control Access Project. They have founded, led, and grown the New York Film and Television Student Alliance, dedicated to helping students find opportunities to create meaningful media content. They have organized town halls and worked to prevent gun violence and promote equity and inclusion, for example as a congressional intern. They have given young people the tools to register to vote and to speak out in the public square, for example as a local New York Director of March for Our Lives, and they have fought tirelessly on behalf of voter registration, from New York to Kentucky to Texas. They have provided college and career help for underrepresented communities in New York City through the Opportunity Network Fellows program, and they have helped to promote the Women’s Sports Foundation.
The Class of 2026 — the 27th Park Scholar cohort at Ithaca College — are, like their predecessors, a diverse group of people who already demonstrated commitment to service before arriving in Ithaca. Consider just a small sample of their good works. They made an admissions video for their high school that showed the diversity and richness of student life; started a digital magazine honoring Asian-American culture, dispelling stereotypes, combatting xenophobia and anti-Asian hatred, and giving voice to members of the Asian- American community; represented and raised money for the Doug Flutie, Jr., Foundation, which serves the autistic community and their families in many ways and works to provide more inclusive spaces; provided creative opportunities in the dramatic arts for fellow students who otherwise would not have had outlets for their artistic expression during the pandemic; helped children with autism by giving them opportunities to serve their local community making clothing for community members in need; took to the streets of a major city to distribute food and clothing to marginalized, unhoused members of the community; and made a film highlighting the importance of a local non-profit that served people facing mental health challenges and helped people in need find their way to this resource.