Ithaca College

Early history Boardman House , the original site of Ithaca Conservatory of Music 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 under its current name, Ithaca College . 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. [ 5 ]

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. The hillside campus continued to grow in the ensuing 30 years to accommodate more than 6,000 students. [ citation needed ] As the campus expanded, the college began to expand its curriculum. [ citation needed ] By the 1990s, some 2,000 courses in more than 100 programs of study were available in the college's five schools. [ citation needed ] The school attracts a multicultural student body with representatives from almost every state and from 78 other countries. [ 6 ] 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. [ 7 ] In February 2025, the college announced the development of a new outdoor track facility at the college, due to be completed in spring 2026. [ 8 ] 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. [ 9 ] As part of the settlement, the college agreed to pay the claimants a total of $1.5 million. [ 9 ]

Leadership The college is governed by a board of trustees, comprised of 25 non-executive trustees. [ 10 ] The board is currently chaired by John Neeson. [ 10 ] Ithaca's current president is La Jerne Terry Cornish , who has held the position since March 2022 as the college's 10th president. [ 11 ] She replaced Shirley M. Collado , who served as the ninth president from July 2017 to August 2021. [ 12 ] She was previously executive vice chancellor and chief operating officer at Rutgers University–Newark and vice president of student affairs and dean of the college at Middlebury College . She is the first Dominican American to be named president of a college in the United States. [ 13 ] The college announced in July 2021 that Collado was stepping down in January 2022 to become chief executive of College Track, a college completion program based in Oakland, California . [ 14 ] Collado succeeded Thomas Rochon, who was named eighth president of Ithaca College on April 11, 2008. [ 15 ] Rochon took over as president of the college after Peggy Williams, who announced on July 12, 2007, that she would retire from the presidency post effective May 31, 2009, following a one-year sabbatical . [ 16 ] During the fall 2015 semester, multiple protests focusing on campus climate and 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. [ 17 ] The faculty voted 77.8 per cent no confidence to 22.2 per cent confidence. [ 18 ] Rochon retired on July 1, 2017. [ 19 ] More information President, Life ... President Life Tenure W. Grant Egbert [ 20 ] 1867–1928 1892–1924 George C. Williams [ 21 ] 1874–1971 1924–1932 Leonard B.

Ithaca's president is La Jerne Terry Cornish . She was named the school's 10th president, in March 2022, after having served in as interim president since August 30, 2021. [ 7 ] She replaced Shirley M. Collado who departed Ithaca College to become the president and CEO of College Track, a comprehensive college completion program. [ 8 ] Collado was named the ninth president of Ithaca College on February 22, 2017, and assumed the presidency on July 1, 2017. She was previously executive vice chancellor and chief operating officer at Rutgers University–Newark and vice president of student affairs and dean of the college at Middlebury College . She is the first Dominican American to be named president of a college in the United States. [ 9 ] During Collado's time as president she was the center of multiple controversies. She faced backlash when students and faculty discovered she was accused of sexually abusing a female patient while working as a psychologist in Washington, D.C. , in 2000 and was convicted of sexual abuse in 2001. [ 10 ] Students questioned her transparency when she announced plans to cut 116 full-time faculty members, some of whom had worked at the school for decades, after receiving a $172,769 payment. [ 11 ] Collado eventually announced in July 2021 that she was stepping down in January 2022 to become president and CEO of College Track, a college completion program based in Oakland, California . [ 12 ] Collado succeeded Thomas Rochon, who was named eighth president of Ithaca College on April 11, 2008. [ 13 ] Rochon took over as president of the college after Peggy Williams, who announced on July 12, 2007, that she would retire from the presidency post effective May 31, 2009, following a one-year sabbatical . [ 14 ] During the fall 2015 semester, multiple protests focusing on campus climate and Rochon's leadership were led by students and faculty.