“A Damn Good Year”

By Sloan MacRae, August 25, 2026
At Convocation, the Class of 2030 begins its Ithaca College journey with an invitation to be wrong, embrace Change, and help determine what comes next.
A woman wearing academic regalia speaks at a podium.

President Cornish welcomes the Class of 2030 to IC. (Photo by Robert Daniels '27)

Eva Horst ’27 had some bad news for Ithaca College’s newest students.

“Over the next four years, you are going to be wrong … a lot,” the Student Governance Council president told them at Convocation, the ceremony that formally opens the academic year and welcomes new students into the Ithaca College community.

Being wrong, Horst made clear, was not necessarily a failure. It could mean that students had tested an assumption, taken a risk, or discovered a possibility they had not imagined. Her challenge was not simply to accept that they would sometimes be wrong, but to pursue opportunities that might prove them wrong about themselves.

Horst knew from experience. At her own Convocation, she had watched the student body president speak and thought, “I would never be good enough to do what she’s doing.”

She was wrong about that, too.

Now Horst was the Student Governance Council president addressing a new class at Convocation and asking its members to consider what they might be wrong about, too.

Horst delivered that challenge inside the cavernous Glazer Arena, where 1,130 first-year and transfer students had gathered. The students entered through a chute of cheering faculty and staff. Once they were seated, the African Drumming and Dance Ensemble launched the ceremonial procession, setting the rhythm as faculty, staff, and college leaders crossed the arena in academic regalia. Over the course of the ceremony, speakers returned to what the students might accomplish, how the experience might change them, and how they, in turn, might change Ithaca College.

Change is the theme of the 2026–27 academic year. For the Class of 2030, it had already begun.

Arriving on South Hill

Two college students pose with a hand truck and flex their biceps.

Volunteers assist with Move-In. (Photo by Bella Bastos '26)

Timmy VanderWall ’30 was already picturing what South Hill might look like a few months from now.

“I’m excited for fall, and seeing the scenery light up, and change colors,” said the Park Pathways student from Colorado.

For now, the leaves were still green, and the Class of 2030 arrived in gorgeous late-summer weather. Earlier in the week, members of IC Athletics teams (student-athletes who had already arrived on campus for pre-season practices) joined families at the residence halls to haul boxes, bedding, appliances, and the accumulated necessities of a new life on campus.

Some students had gotten an early start through Jumpstart, which gave them time to meet classmates and explore both the campus and their new hometown before Welcome Week began.

Asked what excited them about the year ahead, students talked about making friends, finding their way around campus, and getting involved.

Ashley D’Elia ’30, an education studies major from Long Island, was excited about “meeting new friends.” Gabrielle Ward ’30, an architectural studies major from Schenectady, wanted to begin “learning my way around campus.” Noa Ibson ’30, an education studies major from Vermont, was looking forward to “joining sports and clubs.”

Dylan Zimmerman of Rochester entered the Business Pathways program, where he can explore different areas of business with faculty guidance before choosing a major. He was more certain about one goal.

“I’m really excited to be with the team, playing the games, and winning some games for the Bombers,” the men’s soccer player said. “Yeah, let’s go!”

Hundreds of students pack an indoor arena.

The Class of 2030, welcomed by faculty and staff, enters Glazer Arena. (Photo by Robert Daniels '27)

Who Is the Class of 2030?

“From where I stand, you look marvelous,” President La Jerne Terry Cornish told Ithaca College’s newest students. “Let’s talk about who’s in the room.”

The Class of 2030 includes 240 first-generation college students and 44 students from Tompkins County. Around the arena, 13 flags represented the home countries and territories of 16 of their classmates, who came to IC from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Norway, Russia, Nepal, Mexico, Ghana, Nicaragua, Canada, India, Argentina, Japan, and Greece.

They brought different experiences, talents, perspectives, and ambitions to South Hill, along with different ideas about what they hope to find here.

With The Odyssey back at the center of popular culture this summer, Cornish drew applause by turning the epic’s destination into a point of departure.

“Not all odysseys end at Ithaca,” she said. “Some begin here.”

Cornish carried the idea into the year’s theme. Ithaca College would change the students before her, she said, but they would also change the college through their voices, ideas, and experiences.

A Year of Change

Two college students pilot a red kayak.

Jumpstart students hit Cayuga Lake. (Photo by Bella Bastos '26)

Change is the theme for the 2026–27 academic year, and each Convocation speaker approached it from a different direction.

Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Melanie Stein acknowledged that change can bring excitement and possibility, but also anxiety and uncertainty, particularly for students living away from home, meeting new people, and adjusting to new expectations.

“If you’re feeling a little uncertain, that’s okay,” Stein told them. “In fact, uncertainty is often a sign that learning is about to happen.”

She encouraged students to remain curious, take intellectual risks, and remain open to ideas and people who challenge them. The purpose of college, she said, is not to leave exactly as they arrived, but “to become more fully yourself.”

Faculty speaker Kari Smoker, associate professor of accounting and business law and director of the master’s program in accounting, brought the theme down to the choices students will make every day. Be present, she told them. Explore what IC offers. Engage in class, get to know the people around you, and support others as they find their way.

“Never be afraid to ask for help,” Smoker said. “We all need help from time to time, and we are here to offer that help to you.”

Cornish also spoke candidly about the change ahead for Ithaca College and for her.

“This will be my final year as the president of Ithaca College,” she said. “Your first year here will be my last year in this role, which is not an easy thing for me to say. Serving this community has been one of the greatest honors of my life; I care deeply about what happens here and I always will.”

But the president’s transition did not anchor her message. Instead, it underscored the role everyone in the community can play in what comes next.

“Change is not something that simply happens to us,” Cornish said. “Change is something we can shape. That is true for institutions, and it is true for people.”

Over the next four years, she told the students, their interests, relationships, and understanding of the world will change. Ithaca College should serve as a catalyst—not by telling them what to think, but by challenging them to think; not by giving them every answer, but by teaching them to ask better questions.

The relationship works both ways. Students can shape IC through their voices, their ideas, and their participation in the life of the college.

Cornish closed her charge by adapting a line from activist Angela Davis: “I pray you choose to no longer accept the things you cannot change but instead choose to change the things you cannot accept.”

She gave the community one shared goal for the year ahead: “Let’s make this a damn good year.”

What Might You Be Wrong About?

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