Mei Dennison
Junior Nathan Zakim writes about the need for an updated mascot to promote unity across the campus community.
Editor’s Note: This is a guest commentary. The opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial board.
A common gripe with Ithaca College’s prospective, current and former students is in our name: the Ithaca Bombers. With unknown origins grounded in local newspaper references dating back to the late ’30s and early ’40s, the “Bomber” has been the official banner to reference students and athletes alike for the better part of the college’s existence. Accompanying its unknown origin, there is a vague nature to the name itself, neither connoting a person nor an animal to represent the nearly 6,000 current students and the tens of thousands of graduates and faculty. Instead, the word “bomber” has a specific militaristic evocation that seemingly goes against our liberal arts school’s guiding values.
The college symbol, however unimportant to the daily lives of the many people on South Hill, indicates a larger problem that the student body faces. For a school that consistently stewards its alumni into successful post-college careers, the current student body completely lacks a shared campus identity. Besides shared living areas and chance encounters, students in the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, the School of Business and the Center for Health Sciences exhibit little unity other than a shared residence and academic institution. The connective tissue between students exists only in a geographical sense.
This lack of unity is especially unfortunate given the excellent academic programs that make up the college. It is no secret that our shared institution has an air of prestige when it comes to our physical and occupational therapy programs, as well as theater arts, music and film studies. This is not to speak anything of the wonderful STEM and humanities concentrations that produce a large number of successful graduates. Suffice to say that a great school is worthy of a strong sense of unity.
We are a small but mighty few, and though we lack tens of thousands of students and a mascot, we can still display our pride. It is easy to look at the academic institutions to our left and right and see unity in their campus identities. Some have century-long traditions, many paint their faces for weekly sporting events, while others display a quiet yet proud name on their back. But the Bomber? I cannot speak on behalf of the entire past and current student body, but is a vague name likened to an explosive device a cause worthy of wearing on our backs? “Bomber pride” is a socially constructed farce held together by students’ relative athletic achievement and a status quo too lofty to be changed. To this, I say we as a student body deserve better than the current campus symbol.
Ithaca College is vast and contains multitudes of diversity in its student body. Ithaca College is a place of true scholars and high-achieving academics. What Ithaca College lacks is a shared identity among those who attend this institution. We are a student body yearning for unity. It is my most fervent hope that everyone who has called Ithaca College their home, with a sense of collegiate love and pride, can come together in the name of a unifying campus symbol. After all, before we are “Bombers,” we are a family, and what is a family if not a group who cheers each other on?
Nathan Zakim (he/him) is as junior writing for film, TV, and emerging media major. Contact him at [email protected].