Ithaca College
Ithaca College Faculty Vote ‘No Confidence’ in President
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Approximately 78 percent of Ithaca College’s faculty members — or 316 of the 406 that participated — voted no confidence in I.C. president Tom Rochon on Monday after a similar vote in which 72 percent of participating students voted no confidence in their president following a string of issues over race and freedom of speech on campus. “Since Rochon arrived on campus in summer 2008, faculty have issued many public statements, petitions, letters to the campus newspaper and op-eds articulating their opposition to his autocratic leadership style and other grievances,” said a press-release from three I.C. faculty members with the results. “This semester’s vote of no confidence is the product of several years of profound faculty dissatisfaction.”
“Both the faculty and the students have been clear,” said I.C. Prof. Mary Bentley, health promotion and physical education. “I can’t imagine how [Rochon] would lead in a place where faculty and students have not authorized him to.”
Out of 469 faculty members, 406 cast a ballot in the ‘no confidence vote’ — roughly 86.6 percent of all full-time, continuing faculty members eligible to vote. “These results are also remarkable because so many people voted, despite fears of retribution in this toxic environment,” said I.C. Prof Nick Kowalczyk, writing, in the press release.