Students demand Ithaca College president resigns over response to campus racism

Students of colour across the US are adopting a zero tolerance of racism

Students stage a die-in at Ithaca College. (Stringer/Reuters)

Students in upstate New York are demanding that the president of Ithaca College submits his resignation.

The protests began as the “Solidarity Walk Out” inspired by the recent protests at the University of Missouri, which led to President Tom Wolfe’s resignation. Now, many students are calling for a vote of no confidence for Ithaca College President Tom Rochon.

The Ithacan, the university’s student newspaper, reports that the People of Color at Ithaca College group lead the protests which grew to nearly 1,000 students.

"It's a true respect issue where these students feel pushed to the margins every single day on this campus," student body president Dominick Recckio told CNY Central. "That's what truly reflects in the president of the college. He holds the future of this college very strongly in his hands and he's letting it slip.”

Faculty members and staff will hold a no confidence vote for President Rochon at noon on Thursday, the Ithacan reports. Several faculty members claim that for the university to move forward, the president will need to step down from his position.

Silence now at the die in. pic.twitter.com/A42wSUJgAP

— Kelsey O'Connor (@ijkoconnor) November 11, 2015

The pressure comes from a number of racist incidents across the campus, one including an alumni forumn where one woman of colour was repeatedly referred to as a "savage."

The protesters released a statement on Wednesday saying that they were fighting covert and overt racism for all students of colour across the US.

"In the past couple of weeks, the racial tension and degradation of human dignity that have existed on this campus have heightened. Despite numerous protests, rallies, and stories that have been shared with the president and the administration, these testimonials have fallen on deaf ears. We will no longer consent to empty dialogue. We will no longer be ignored."