Sustainability took center stage at Ithaca College’s 2024 Convocation—not only in terms of IC’s commitment to environmental responsibility and stewardship (see the story “Blue + Gold = Green” on page 24) but also by embracing sustainability’s broader connotations of financial stability, self-care, community engagement, and social justice. Together these additional realms constitute a holistic sustainability to ensure Ithaca College remains strong for future generations, fosters supportive environments on campus and with neighbors in the greater Ithaca community, and prioritizes a personal sustainability including self-care and physical and mental well-being for students, faculty, and staff.
Of the “four Rs” of sustainability— reduce, reuse, recycle, and rethink—IC’s president, La Jerne Terry Cornish, told the incoming class of 2028 that the fourth R, “rethink,” is her favorite.
“My charge today is to ask you to rethink what sustainability means to each of us, beyond protecting the natural world, as critically important as that is,” Cornish said at Convocation. “I’m talking about your sustainability—about sustaining your personal and emotional resilience, and about sustaining your physical and mental health. I was in a meeting recently with other college presidents, and one of them said this: ‘We want our campuses to be safe spaces for our students—physically, socially, and emotionally—so that we can make students uncomfortable intellectually.’”
Melanie Stein, IC’s provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, wove these themes into her address for the 2024 December Commencement: “In this time of political polarization, where we face so many critical global challenges, it is you and your classmates, armed with the skills and knowledge you have built over your time here, who have the power to build bridges across divides and create a thriving and sustainable future.”
IC’s legacy of commitment to the greater Ithaca community is evident through its ongoing collaborations that enrich the region’s cultural, economic, and social fabric. The college’s ongoing partnership with Longview Senior Living Community recently commemorated 25 years (see “Taking the Long View” on page 12). IC enhances Ithaca’s arts and culture with performances and exhibitions that engage the public on campus and throughout the region. The School of Health Sciences and Human Performance provides health-care services through student clinics that benefit local residents. Interns from IC support local businesses and nonprofits. Athletic events invite our neighbors to experience Bomber pride.
By addressing all the facets of sustainability together, the community of IC addresses the welfare of students, faculty, and staff to cultivate a resilient, equitable, and sustainable community to serve as a model for other institutions and communities