Diversity Profile

Ithaca College values diversity because it enriches our community and the myriad experiences that characterize an Ithaca College education.  Diversity encompasses multiple dimensions, including but not limited to race, culture, nationality, ethnicity, religion, ideas, beliefs, geographic origin, class, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and expression, disability, and age.  We are dedicated to addressing current and past injustices and promoting excellence and equity.  Ithaca College continually strives to build an inclusive and welcoming community of individuals with diverse talents and skills from a multitude of backgrounds who are committed to civility, mutual respect, social justice, and the free and open exchange of ideas.  We commit ourselves to change, growth, and action that embrace diversity as an integral part of the educational experience and of the community we create.

Ithaca College’s vision of becoming the standard of excellence for residential comprehensive colleges by fostering students’ intellect, creativity, and character is directly related to its mission to attract a diverse body of faculty, students, and staff.  We acknowledge that recruiting, retaining, and supporting a diverse faculty, staff and student body is crucial to our sustainability as an institution of higher education. Therefore, achieving diversity at Ithaca College requires much more than the celebration of differences.  It requires members of the Ithaca College community to acknowledge:

• That given the increasingly diverse composition of the United States and globalization of virtually every aspect of our general experience, multicultural and international understanding are fundamental to our daily interactions, well-being, and future success.
  
   
• That some groups of people in the United States have been and continue to be under-represented and under-served in institutions of higher education, both among the students and in the highest ranks of faculty and staff.
  
   
• Throughout the history of the United States some groups of people have been and continue to be subject to systematic discrimination due to their race, age, religion, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, ethnicity, economic class, and disability. 

Ithaca College commits itself to addressing these current and past injustices and to building a college community which values the diversity of the local, regional, national, and global communities we serve.