Ithaca College is a private college located on the South Hill of
Ithaca, New
York
. The school was founded by William Egbert in
1892 as a conservatory of music. The college has a strong liberal
arts core, but also offers several pre-professional programs and
some graduate programs. The college is also known internationally
for its communications program.
The college is at the center of a
sophisticated cultural community, with a backdrop of Cayuga Lake
, Cornell University
, and hundreds of waterfalls and gorges. The
college is perhaps best known for its large list of alumni who play
or have played substantial roles in the world of broadcasting.The
college has been ranked among the top ten master's universities in
the
North by U.S. News &
World Report every year since 1996. For the 2009 rankings, the
college was ranked 7 in this category.
History
Beginnings
Ithaca College was founded as the Ithaca Conservatory of Music in
1892 when a local violin teacher, William Grant Egbert, rented four
rooms and arranged for the instruction of eight students. For
nearly seven decades the institution flourished 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.
The college was originally housed in the
Boardman
House
, that later became the Ithaca College Museum of
Art, and it was listed on the National Register of
Historic Places in 1971.
Modern Era
By 1960, some 2,000 students were in attendance. A modern campus
was built on South Hill in the sixties, and students were shuttled
between the old and new during the construction. The hillside
campus continued to grow in the ensuing 30 years to accommodate
more than 6,000 students.
As the campus expanded, the college also began to expand its
curriculum. By the 1990s, some 2,000 courses in more than 100
programs of study were available in the college's five
schools.
The school attracts a multicultural student body with
representatives from almost every state and from 78 foreign
countries.
Academics
The college offers a curriculum with more than 100 degree programs
in its five schools.
Schools
|
|
Divisions
- Division of Interdisciplinary and International Studies
- Division of Graduate and Professional Studies
|
Student Life
Media and publications
- The Ithacan is Ithaca College's
official newspaper. The paper is written, edited and published by
students. The Ithacan is available in print every Thursday
morning and online. The Ithacan and its staff have won
many major collegiate journalism awards, most notably, the
Associated Collegiate Press' National Pacemaker Award, which it
has won five times, most recently in 2008. The Pacemaker has been
widely considered the Pulitzer Prize of collegiate journalism.
- IC View is Ithaca College's
publication for alumni, parents of students, and friends of the
college. The paper is written, edited and published by students.
The publication was formerly known as Ithaca College
Quarterly and it published four times per year. Many of the
articles are also available on the publications website: ICView
- Ithaca College Journal of Race, Culture, Gender and
Ethnicity, founded in 2004, is an academic journal
that explores complexities of such topics and welcomes student
contributions. The journal is available in print and online.
- WICB
is an FCC-licensed station that
operates at 7500 Watts at 91.7 on the FM band. The majority
of its programming falls under the modern rock category. While
broadcasting modern rock, the station is run similarly to a
commercial modern rock station, with the inclusion of playlists
planned by the programming and music departments that include
leeway for listener requests and DJ choices. The station was
recently honored with the MTVU Woodie Award for Best College Radio Station. Other
programming ranges from mainstream hip-hop and R&B, to
underground, downtempo, and other lesser-known genres of what is
generally considered urban music. In addition to a lunchtime Jazz
show, WICB broadcasts a number of other specialty shows throughout
the week. These shows, which usually run 2–3 hours in length, come
from genres such as blues, broadway, jam band music, and "homeless"
music, that is not normally heard on the public airwaves.
- VIC Radio once known as 106-VIC, is
an Internet radio station broadcasting via Live
365 at www.vicradio.org. The majority of VIC's programming
falls under the indie pop, alternapop, and power pop genres. The
playlists are planned by the Programming Department, with leeway
for on-air talent favorites and listener requests. The rest of its
programming consists of specialty shows, programmed by student DJs,
which are more representative of a typical college station. The
station also hosts an annual 50 Hour Marathon, where two DJs stay
awake for fifty hours straight to raise money for a local charity.
The marathon, which is simulcast on 92 WICB and ICTV 16, typically
involves events such as concerts, scavenger hunts, and remote
broadcasts around Ithaca.
- Imprint Magazine: College Life’s
Internet Magazine, published from Ithaca College, is published by
college students, for college students, about college students.
Imprint strives to inform its readers of national issues and give
them the opportunity to voice their opinion and become involved in
the discussion.
- Buzzsaw Magazine, formally Buzzsaw
Haircut, was founded in 1997 and is the college's monthly
alternative news magazine. It is available in print and online
every month. The magazine is produced by the Ithaca
College community and printed by Our Press of Binghamton, NY
. It is funded by the Ithaca College Student
Government Association, the Park School of Communication, local
advertising, community support, and a grant from Campus Progress. It has won a number of
national awards, including the Campus Alternative Journalism
Project's award for "Best Sense of Humor" in 2003 and the
Independent Press Association's Campus Independent Journalism
Awards for "Best Campus Publication with a Budget Under $10,000"
and "Best Political Commentary" in 2005.
Music Groups
Within the Ithaca College School of Music:
- Symphony Orchestra
- Chamber Orchestra
- Choir
- Madrigal Singers
- Vocal Jazz Ensemble
- Chorus
- Women's Chorale
- Concert Band
- Symphonic Band
- Wind Ensemble
- Cello Choir
- Trombone Troupe
- Brass Choir
- Contemporary Chamber Ensemble
- Guitar Ensemble
- Percussion Ensemble
- Early Music Ensemble
- Sinfonietta
- Jazz Workshop
- Opera Workshop
- Outside the Ithaca College School of Music
- Ithacappella - All-Male a cappella
- Premium Blend - Female a cappella
- Amani Gospel Singers
- VoiceStream - Co-ed a cappella
Greek Life
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 that was responsible for the death of a
student, the College administration removed all but four Greek
letter organizations from campus, and adopted a non-expansion
policy, prohibiting any new Greek houses from affiliating with the
College. As of 2008, three recognized Greek organizations remain on
campus, all of which are music oriented:
However, there are various Greek Letter Organizations at Ithaca
College that are unaffiliated with the school, and are underground.
Athletics
The Ithaca athletics nickname "Bombers" is unique in
NCAA athletics, and the mystery surrounding its origin
is almost as rare. Ithaca College's sports teams were originally
named the Cayugans, but the name was changed to the Bombers
sometime in the 1930s. Several possibilities for the change have
been posited. It may have made reference to the
New York Yankees, who are known as the
Bronx Bombers, or (less likely) boxer
Joe
Louis, known as the Brown Bomber. The most common explanation
is that the school's baseball uniforms - white with navy blue
pinstripes and an interlocking "IC" on the left chest - bear a
striking resemblance to the distinctive home uniforms of the New
York Yankees. It may also have referred to the Ithaca basketball
team of that era and its propensity for half-court "bombs."
Grumman Aircraft also manufactured airplanes
including bombers in Ithaca for many years. The first “Bombers”
reference on record was in the December 17, 1938 issue of the
Rochester Times-Union in a
men’s basketball article.
The name has at times sparked controversy for its perceived martial
connotations. It is an occasional source of umbrage from Ithaca's
prominent
pacifist community, but the
athletics department has consistently stated it has no interest in
changing the name.The athletics logo has in the past, but currently
does not, incorporated
World War II era
fighter planes.
Ithaca is a member of the
NCAA's Division
III, the
Empire Eight Conference, and
the
Eastern College
Athletic Conference. Ithaca has one of Division III's strongest
athletic programs. The Bombers have won a total of 15 national
titles in seven team sports and five individual sports.
Coached by
Jim "Butts" Butterfield
for 27 years, the football team has won three NCAA Division
III National Football Championships in 1979, 1988 and 1991 (a total surpassed only by Augustana
and Mount Union
). Bomber football teams made a record seven
appearances in the Division III national championship game, the
Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, which
has since been surpassed by Mount Union in
2003.
The Bombers play the SUNY
Cortland
Red Dragons for the Cortaca
Jug, which was added in 1959 to an already
competitive rivalry. The matchup is one of the most
prominent in
Division III college
football.
Most recently, the women's crew won back-to-back NCAA Division III
championships in 2004 and 2005.
Women's soccer has won two national championships in Division III
and is consistently ranked in the top 20 nationally.
Ithaca is also home to more than 60 club sports, many of which
compete regularly against other colleges in leagues and
tournaments.
Sustainability
Ithaca's School of Business was the first college or university
business school in the world to achieve LEED Platinum
Certification. 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 also operates an office supply
collection and reuse program, as well as a sustainability education
program during new student orientation. Ithaca received a B- grade
on the Sustainable Endowments Institute's 2009 College
Sustainability Report Card and an A- for 2010.
Campus
Ithaca
College's current campus was built in the 1960s on South
Hill
. In 1968 the College's final academic
department moved to the South Hill campus from downtown, making the
move complete.
Satellite Campuses
Besides its Ithaca campus, Ithaca College also operates the
following satellite campuses:
- Ithaca
College London Center in London,
UK
offers both Semester and Summer study-abroad with
an option of an internship.
- Ithaca College Washington Semester Program
in Washington,
D.C.
. In addition to the Semester Program, there
is a summer option for the Washington Program. The Washington
Program is internship based, which is usually supplemented with
classes for a semester.
- Ithaca College Los Angeles Program, an extension of the
Roy H. Park School of
Communications at the James B. Pendleton Center in Los Angeles,
CA
. The LA Program is internship based,
supplemented with classes during the semester and an option for a
class in the summer.
- Ithaca College Walkabout Down Under Program, a defunct program
which gave students the opportunity to experience several different
regions of Australia in one semester.
During
the semester students studied at Murdoch University, University of Tasmania and La Trobe
University
. This program ended in spring 2008 due to
financial reasons. The college maintains direct enrollment exchange
programs with all three Australian universities.
- Ithaca College Antigua
Program, a short-term study abroad program, with
the development of a semester program expected.
Ithaca College also operates direct enrollment exchange programs
with the following universities:
- Griffith University
on Gold Coast,
Queensland & Brisbane,
Queensland
, Australia
- La Trobe University
in Melbourne
, Australia
- Murdoch
University in Perth, Western Australia
, Australia
- University
of Tasmania on Tasmania
, Australia
- Chengdu Sport University in
Chengdu
, China
- Beijing
Sport University in Beijing, China

- University of Hong Kong
in Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong
- Masaryk University
in Brno
, Czech
Republic
- Akita International
University in Akita, Akita,
Japan

- University of Tsukuba
in Tsukuba,
Ibaraki, Japan
- Hanyang
University in Seoul
, Korea
- Nanyang Technological
University
in Singapore
- University of Valencia
in Valencia, Spain
- Jönköping
University in Jönköping
, Sweden
Presidents
Current president
Ithaca's current president is Thomas Rochon. Thomas Rochon was
named the eighth president of Ithaca College on April 11, 2008.
Rochon took over as president of the college following Peggy
Williams, who had announced on July 12, 2007 that she would retire
from the presidency post effective May 31, 2009 following a
one-year sabbatical.
Former presidents
| President |
Life |
Tenure |
| W. Grant Egbert |
1867-1928 |
1892-1924 |
| George C. Williams |
1874-1971 |
1924-1932 |
| Leonard B. Job |
1891-1981 |
1932-1957 |
| Howard I. Dillingham |
1904-1998 |
1957-1970 |
| Ellis L. Phillips Jr. |
1926-2006 |
1970-1975 |
| James J. Whalen |
1927-2001 |
1975-1997 |
| Peggy R. Williams |
|
1997-2008 |
Alumni
Ithaca
College has 49,570 alumni in the United States
. There are alumni clubs for Boston
, Chicago
, Connecticut
, Los
Angeles
, Metro New York
, National
Capital
, N. & S. Carolina,
Philadelphia
, Rochester
, San
Diego
, and Southern Florida
. Alumni events are hosted in cooperation
with the specific clubs and also through a program called 'IC on
the Road'.
Following is a brief list of noteworthy Ithaca College alumni and
faculty.
For a more extensive list, see main entry List of Ithaca College
alumni.
- Jessica Savitch (B.S. 1968),
first female network news anchor
- Robert Iger (B.S. 1973), president
& CEO, The Walt Disney
Company
- Rod Serling (former faculty),
Emmy Award-winning screenwriter, creator
of The Twilight
Zone
- Mark Mahoney (B.S. 1985), Pulitzer Prize for
Editorial Writing, The
Post-Star
- Barbara Gaines (B.A. 1979),
Emmy Award-winning executive producer,
Late Show with David
Letterman
- Chris Regan (1989), Emmy Award-winning writer for The Daily Show from 1999-2006.
- David Muir (B.S. 1995), ABC news
anchor for World News Saturday and co-anchor of
Primetime
- Karl Ravech (B.S. 1987), ESPN sportscaster
- Ricki Lake, actress (only completed
her freshman year before departing).
- David Boreanaz (B.S. 1991),
actor, Bones,
Buffy the
Vampire Slayer and Angel.
- Robert Marella aka Gorilla
Monsoon (B.S. 1959), World
Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Fame wrestler, former ringside
commentator
- Bob Kur (B.S. 1970), Washington Post Radio, former NBC News National Reporter
- Richard Jadick (B.S. 1987),
combat surgeon who was awarded the Bronze Star for service in Iraq
- Steven Van Slyke (B.S. 1978),
chemist, 20 patents related to Organic Light Emitting
Diodes
- Kate Aldrich (B.M. 1996),
internationally-renowned mezzo-soprano
- David Guy Levy (B.S. 2003), film
producer, August and
Patriotville.
- Scott LaFaro, influential jazz
bassist with the Bill Evans Trio
(1959-61).
- Dimitri Milovich, inventor of
the first Winterstick snowboard in 1970.
- Kerry Butler (B.F.A. 1992),
Tony Award-nominated Broadway
actress
- Michelle Federer (B.F.A. 1995),
theatre and film actress; originated the character, Nessarose, in
Broadway's Wicked
2003-2006
- Matt Cavenaugh (B.F.A. 2001),
film, tv, and Broadway actor
- Aaron Tveit, film and Broadway
actor
- Kristen Britain (B.S. 1987),
author, Green Rider,
First Rider's Call, and
The High King's
Tomb
- Jon Bloostein, CEO Heartland
Brewery, NYC
- Henry C Baer III, Founder of
BancFirst Operational Standards
Division
External links
References
- Carnegie Classifications: Ithaca College
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
- "U.S. News & World Report America's Best
Colleges" Ranks Ithaca College in Top Ten - News Release - Ithaca
College Office of Media Relations
- Master's Universities (North) Rankings,
America's Best Colleges 2009, U.S. News & World
Report. 2009.
- Office of
Institutional Research - Institutional Research - Ithaca
College
- The Ithacan
Online
- The Ithacan Online - Awards The Ithacan
- ACP Contests Associated Collegiate Press
- About Us - IC View - Ithaca College
- Ithaca College Journal of Race, Culture, Gender &
Ethnicity
- VIC Radio -
Home
- Buzzsaw Haircut
- "Music fraternities break stereotype" The
Ithacan, November 11, 2004
- December 07, 2000 - Stories swirl around about
Mascots
- Ithaca College Quarterly, 2003/No. 1 - Farewell to
a Legendary Coach
- The Ithacan Online | Media gear up for Cortaca Jug
- November 8th, 2007
- Green Report Card 2009 - Ithaca College
Sustainable Endowments Institute
- Ithaca College International Programs
- Ithaca College Selects Thomas R. Rochon As Eighth
President
- Intercom - Important News to Share
- W. Grant Egbert - Office of the President - Ithaca
College
- George C. Williams - Office of the President -
Ithaca College
- Leonard B. Job - Office of the President - Ithaca
College
- Howard I. Dillingham - Office of the President -
Ithaca College
- Ellis L. Phillips Jr. - Office of the President -
Ithaca College
- College’s fifth president dies The
Ithacan, October 05, 2006
- James J. Whalen - Office of the President - Ithaca
College
- Ithaca College Mourns Passing of President Emeritus James
J. Whalen - News Release - Ithaca College Office of Media
Relations
- Peggy R. Williams - Office of the President -
Ithaca College
- Ithaca College President Peggy R. Williams
Announces Plans to Retire in 2008 - News Release - Ithaca College
Office of Media Relations
- Ithaca College:Alumni, Parents, & Friends - Alumni
Association - Alumni Clubs
- Ithaca College: Alumni, Parents, & Friends - IC on the
Road
- The Pulitzer Prizes - The 2009 Pulitzer Prize Winners
The Pulitzer Prizes
- Ithaca College Grad Wins Pulitzer - News Release -
Ithaca College Office of Media Relations