College Protests Over Racial Discrimination

Students gather at Ithaca College. Reuters

From coast to coast in the U.S. this week, college students have marched in solidarity with students of the University of Missouri. The student group largely responsible for the demonstration, People of Colour at Ithaca college, said their goals for the university include increased safety and emotional well-being for students of colour on campus. In Ithaca College in Upstate New York, hundreds of students demanded the resignation of Tom Rochon, the college’s president. Tom Rochon had been dismissive to the complaints of racial insensitivity on campus, even when ‘two white male alumni on a panel called a black alumna a “savage”, after she said she had a “savage hunger” to succeed’. 100 students from Smith College in Northampton, Mass stood along their ally schools in Ithaca and Missouri to protest over racial discrimination. These campus-wide protests against racial discrimination at the Ithaca colleges have led to the resignation of the school’s top leaders.