While the current staff of Ithaca College’s BIPOC Unity Center do an admirable job, the postponement of the college’s search for a director is endemic of many community-based issues in Ithaca — the options for support fall consistently on the same leaders, who can be stretched thin by the responsibilities with which they are tasked. Both the students they serve and the leaders themselves deserve an attitude of increased urgency from administration.
The college has a history of high turnover for faculty and staff that it is still attempting to rectify. In Spring 2024, the college hired various new positions throughout administration. While the decision to postpone the search for a new director may initially come from a desire to find the perfect fit, it is unclear how long the search will continue or when the campus community can expect an update to the situation. A new hire is especially important because the campus community was left without answers in regard to the departure of former center director Angélica Carrington last year.
The work of Shadayvia Wallace, associate director of the BIPOC Unity Center; Cliff-Simon Vital, interim associate director of the BIPOC Unity Center; Luca Maurer, executive director for Student Equity, Inclusion and Belonging; and the employees at the BIPOC Unity Center is both commendable and important. Their efforts have not gone unnoticed. The center is an essential institution at the college that serves many students who have often expressed the need for increased support. In order to continue their indispensable work, they deserve the support that an official director would be able to provide. Just because something is functioning well without a full host of resources does not mean that those resources should not be allocated. In turn, if the search is paused indefinitely that leaves the center without a director for possibly the entire academic year. It is unclear when the search will resume.
In light of frustrations voiced by the BIPOC community at the college in recent years, it is of the utmost importance that the college prioritize both speed and intentionality in its search. While students and other campus community members have been assured that the center is functioning successfully, there is always potential for increased support. It is important that the center both focuses on serving its current population of students and ensures that future students have the support they need. Postponing the search puts a bandage on the issue, rather than reinforcing efforts that would lead to the successful hiring of a candidate.
