The U.S. Department of Education’s 2024 Title IX Regulations, which expanded protections for LGBTQ+ students, were rescinded after a Jan. 9 Federal Court ruling. The changes in Title IX along with President Donald Trump and his administration’s return to Washington, D.C., have created concerns among Ithaca College students and faculty over the protection of transgender students.

On Jan. 7, Cayuga Health and Arnot Health in Elmira, New York announced their merger, known as Centralus Health. The goal of the merger is to provide a streamlined healthcare system and a larger community reach. Because Ithaca College’s Hammond Health Center merged with the Cayuga Health System, students will be able to access new resources and technologies from Arnot Health

SGC was joined by Casey Kendall, deputy chief information officer and associate vice president of applications and infrastructure; and Jenna Lamb, coordinator for AI initiatives and senior IT project manager. Kendall is the chair and Lamb is the coordinator of the Presidential Working Group on AI — a team of two students, three faculty and seven staff — formed in July 2024 to recommend guidelines for the use of AI that aligns with the college’s Vision, Mission and Values statement to the president and her cabinet. 

Public Safety Logs 2/5-2/9

On Feb. 16, the Ithaca College Alert Emergency Notification System sent out two emergency notifications to students, faculty and staff via phone call, text and email to give updates about the extreme ice and snow in the area. 

Ithaca College administrators shared updates about their efforts to close the college’s budget deficit — guided by the administrative analysis study conducted with the Huron Consulting Group — at the State of the College meeting Feb. 11 in Emerson Suites. 

On Jan. 30, Jesus Romero-Hernandez was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Tompkins County Department of Social Services. Community members came together to promote unity and protest against ICE’s presence in Ithaca. There were three demonstrations, two taking place on The Commons and one in City Hall. 

Melanie Stein, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, met with the Ithaca College Student Governance Council at its Feb. 10 meeting to discuss upcoming changes to the college’s academic calendar, scheduling grid and the Academic Policy Committee. SGC also heard from Cliff-Simon Vital, interim director of the BIPOC Unity Center, about this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Campus-Wide Celebration Week, held Feb. 10-16.