Ithaca College

Building on its heritage, the school provides media-related and entertainment programs within the Roy H. Park School of Communications and the Ithaca College School of Music, Theatre, and Dance.

• Name — Ithaca College • Image Upright —.6 • Former Names — Ithaca Conservatory of Music (1892–1931) • Motto — Commitment to Excellence • Type — Private college • Endowment — $437.1 million (2025) • President — La Jerne Terry Cornish • City — Ithaca, New York • Country — U.S. • Students — 6,266 (Fall 2019) • Undergrad — 4,957 (Fall 2020) • Postgrad — 414 (Fall 2019) • Faculty — 721 • Administrative Staff — 987 • Campus — Small city, 757 acre • Colors — #FFBB00 Blue, gold, gray • Sporting Affiliations — NCAA Division III – Liberty League, USCSSA • Sports Nickname — Bombers • Academic Affiliations — NAICU CIC • Website — https: ithaca.edu • Logo — Ithaca College logo.svg Ithaca College is a private college in Ithaca, New York, United States. Founded in 1892 as a music conservatory, the college has a liberal arts focus, and today confers degrees in over 100 majors. In addition to several pre-professional programs, it offers several graduate programs, mainly in business, health sciences, and teaching degrees through the School of Humanities and Sciences. Building on its heritage, the school provides media-related and entertainment programs within the Roy H. Park School of Communications and the Ithaca College School of Music, Theatre, and Dance.

• Illustration — Boardman House, the original site of Ithaca Conservatory of Music Ithaca College was founded as the Ithaca Conservatory of Music in 1892 by local violin teacher William Grant Egbert. For nearly seven decades the institution grew in the city of Ithaca, adding to its music curriculum the study of elocution, dance, physical education, speech correction, radio, business, and the liberal arts. In 1931 the conservatory was chartered as a private college under its current name, Ithaca College. Music remained a cornerstone of the institution. In 1934, composer Sergei Rachmaninoff joined the Board of Trustees. The college was originally in the Boardman House; that building later became the Ithaca College Museum of Art, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. • Illustration — Job Hall By 1960, the college had some 2,000 students. A campus was built on South Hill in the 1960s, and students were shuttled between the old and new locations during the construction. As of 2009, the student body included representatives from most U.S. states and 78 countries. In August 2025, it was reported that the college agreed to settle a class action made by a group of former students regarding tuition refunds during the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the settlement, the college agreed to pay the claimants a total of $1.5 million.

The college is governed by a board of trustees, composed of 25 non-executive trustees. The board is currently chaired by John Neeson. Presidents of Ithaca College have included: • President — Life — Tenure • 1) W. Grant Egbert — 1867–1928 — 1892–1924 • 2) George C. Williams — 1874–1971 — 1924–1932 • 3) Leonard B. Job — 1891–1981 — 1932–1957 • 4) Howard I. Dillingham — 1904–1998 — 1957–1970 • 5) Ellis L. Phillips Jr. — 1926–2006 — 1970–1975 • 6) James J. Whalen — 1927–2001 — 1975–1997 • 7) Peggy R. Williams — 1997–2008 • 8) Thomas Rochon — 2008–2017 • 9) Shirley M. Collado — 2017–2021 • 10) La Jerne Terry Cornish — 2021–present During the fall 2015 semester, multiple protests focusing on campus climate and Thomas Rochon's leadership were led by students and faculty. After multiple racially charged events including student house party themes and racially tinged comments at administration led-programs, students, faculty and staff all decided to hold votes of "no confidence" in Rochon. Students voted "no confidence" by a count of 72 per cent no confidence, 27 per cent confidence, and 1 per cent abstaining. The faculty voted 77.8 per cent no confidence to 22.2 per cent confidence. Rochon retired on July 1, 2017. Shirely M. Collado was president of Ithaca College from 2017 to 2021 and was the first Dominican American to be named president of a college in the United States. In October 2020, the college announced that 130 of its 547 faculty positions would be cut to reduce the school's budget by $30 million because of declining enrollment. 4,957 undergraduate students enrolled in the fall of 2020, versus 5,852 in 2019 and 6,101 in 2018.

• Illustration — Ithaca College and South Hill, viewed from Eddy Street in 2020 • Illustration — Dillingham Center and its fountains in 2018 Ithaca College's campus was built in the 1960s on South Hill. The college's final academic department moved from downtown to the South Hill campus in 1968, making the move complete. In February 2025, the college announced the development of a new outdoor track facility at the college, due to be completed in spring 2026.

Besides its Ithaca campus, Ithaca College has operated satellite campuses in other cities. The Ithaca College London Center has been in existence since 1972. Ithaca runs the Ithaca College Los Angeles Program at the James B. Pendleton Center. Former programs include the Ithaca College Antigua Program and the Ithaca College Walkabout Down Under Program in Australia. As of 2009, Ithaca College operated direct enrollment exchange programs with 14 universities, including Griffith University, La Trobe University, Murdoch University, and University of Tasmania (Australia); Chengdu Sport University and Beijing Sport University (China); University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong); Masaryk University (Czech Republic); Akita International University and University of Tsukuba (Japan); Hanyang University (Korea); Nanyang Technological University (Singapore); University of Valencia (Spain); and Jönköping University (Sweden). Ithaca College is also affiliated with study abroad programs such as IES Abroad and offers dozens of exchange or study abroad options to students.

• Illustration — Muller Faculty Center and Class of 2003 clock

• Forbes — 431 • Usnwr Reg — 13 • Wamo Mastersu — 111 • The Wsj — 234 The college offers a curriculum with more than 100 degree programs in its five schools: • School of Business • Roy H. Park School of Communications • School of Health Sciences & Human Performance • School of Humanities & Sciences • School of Music, Theatre, and Dance Until the spring of 2011, several cross-disciplinary degree programs, along with the Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity, were housed in the Division of Interdisciplinary and International Studies; in 2011, the division was eliminated and its programs, centers, and institutes were absorbed into other schools. As of 2017, the most popular majors included visual and performing arts, health professions and related programs, business, management, marketing, and related support services and biological and biomedical sciences.

Historically, various independent and national fraternities and sororities had active chapters at Ithaca College. However, due to a series of highly publicized hazing incidents in the 1980s, including one which was responsible for the death of a student, the college administration reevaluated their Greek life policy and only professional music fraternities were allowed to remain affiliated with the school. As of 2024, professional coed music fraternity Mu Phi Epsilon is the only remaining recognized Greek organization on campus. Previously, three other recognized music and performing arts houses also existed on campus: • Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia (Delta Chapter) - became inactive in 2024 • Sigma Alpha Iota (Epsilon Chapter) - became inactive in 2024 • Kappa Gamma Psi (Iota Chapter) - became inactive in 2008 There are various Greek letter organizations at Ithaca College that are unaffiliated with the school, and not subject to the same housing privileges or rules that contribute to the safety of their members such as non-hazing and non-drinking policies. Additionally, while not particularly common, Ithaca College students may rush for Greek houses affiliated with nearby Ivy institution Cornell University, subject to the rules of each individual fraternity or sorority. Some Cornell-affiliated Greek organizations actively recruit Ithaca College students. There are a few unaffiliated fraternities which some Ithaca College students may join, ΔΚΕ (Delta Kappa Epsilon), ΑΕΠ (Alpha Epsilon Pi), ΦΚΣ (Phi Kappa Sigma), ΦΙΑ (Phi Iota Alpha), ΛΥΛ (Lambda Upsilon Lambda), and ΚΣ (Kappa Sigma). There are unaffiliated sororities including ΓΔΠ (Gamma Delta Pi), ΠΛΧ (Pi Lambda Chi), ΦΜΖ (Phi Mu Zeta),.

Ithaca College has a successful music school, and offers opportunities to perform music, such as ensembles within the official School of Music, Theatre, and Dance or student-organized organizations dedicated to performing music outside of the official School of Music. The School of Music offers many audition-based ensembles including symphony orchestra, chamber orchestra, wind ensemble, concert band, multiple choir ensembles, multiple jazz ensembles ranging from instrumental to vocal, as well as several other chamber groups focusing on a multitude of instruments. It also offers multiple opportunities to perform opera works like the school's Opera Workshop, which offers a variety of focused training in such areas as audition technique, interpretation, and scene study through multiple performance opportunities. The school offers several non-auditioned ensembles, such as the symphony orchestra Sinfonietta. Additionally, several non-auditioned ensembles for band, jazz, and choir opened up to non-music majors. The School of Music, Theatre, and Dance showcases multiple audition-based productions a year, typically featuring multiple musical theater productions and an opera. Outside of the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, there are several student-run a cappella groups on campus including: • IC Voicestream, founded in 2002, is the college's premier all-gender inclusive a cappella group. • Ithacappella, founded in 1996, is the college's only all-male identifying a cappella group. • Premium Blend, the college's only all-female aligned a cappella group • Tone Cold, an all gender inclusive a cappella group • Pitch Please, the college's only non-auditioned all-gender a cappella group • NUVO (New Voices), founded in 2024, is the college's BIPOC inclusive a cappella group.

Ithaca competes in athletics at the NCAA Division III level as a members of the Liberty League and the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC). The Bombers have won 14 national titles in seven team sports and five individual sports. Ithaca was a member of the Empire 8 prior to being in Division III.

Along with Intercollegiate athletics, Ithaca College has a large intramural sport program. The extracurricular program serves approximately 25% of the undergraduate population yearly. Among the 14 traditional team activities offered throughout the year are basketball, flag football, kickball, soccer, softball, ultimate (ultimate frisbee), ski racing, and volleyball. For most activities there are divisions with men's, women's, and co-recreational teams.

• Illustration — The Peggy Ryan Williams Center is LEED Platinum Certified. Ithaca's School of Business was the first college or university business school in the world to achieve LEED Platinum Certification. Ithaca's Peggy Ryan Williams Center is also LEED Platinum certified. The college also has a LEED Gold Certified building, the Athletics & Events Center. The college composts its dining hall waste, runs a "Take It or Leave It" Green move-out program, and offers a sustainable living option. It operates an office supply collection and reuse program, as well as a sustainability education program during new student orientation. Ithaca College received a B− grade on the Sustainable Endowments Institute's 2009 College Sustainability Report Card and an A− for 2010. In 2017, Ithaca College was listed as one of Princeton Review's top "green colleges" for being environmentally responsible.

In the spring of 2007, President Peggy R. Williams signed the American College & University President's Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), pledging Ithaca College to achieve "carbon neutrality". In 2009, the Board of Trustees approved the Ithaca College Climate Action Plan, which called for 100% carbon neutrality by 2050. It also offered a 40-year action plan.

The college purchases 100 percent of its electricity from renewable sources. Including solar offsets, the college reports its overall energy usage as 45% carbon neutral.

The college aims to optimize investment returns and does not invest the endowment in on-campus sustainability projects, renewable energy funds, or community development loan funds. The college's investment policy reserves the right of the investment committee to restrict investments for any reason, which could include environmental and sustainability factors.

Ithaca College has over 70,000 alumni, with clubs in Boston, Chicago, Connecticut, Los Angeles, Metro New York, Washington D.C., North and South Carolina, Philadelphia; Rochester, New York; San Diego, and Southern Florida. Alumni events are hosted in cooperation with city-specific clubs and through a program called "IC on the Road".