Editorial: 63rd Cortaca Jug Sparks Concerns

former President Shirley M. Collado and current President La Jerne Cornish.

“It’s a big declaration to say and to make, even if it’s in two years, that a lot of money and a lot of resources will be allocated to Cortaca when there are so many people who are still feeling the effects of being laid off from the college,” Machlin said.

Tim Mirabito, assistant professor in the Department of Journalism, also said the unknowns of specific financial details make the optics of the game worse.

“The contrast of having layoffs occur and then very shortly after having a football game at a professional stadium implies that there are costs that would be much more suitably applied to retaining faculty or going back into the academic budget,” Mirabito said. “I do think that, from an optics standpoint, it is a tough look.”

Bassett said all of the travel expenses for both Ithaca College and Cortland are being covered by promoters Hudak and Bob Garone ’87. However, she declined to comment on the exact expenses of the event.

“For the athletic department, it’s a budget neutral event,” Bassett said. “For the college, it’s an opportunity for enormous positive publicity in the tri-state area and metropolitan New York.”

On the other side of the coin, Ithaca College will not host a home Cortaca game at Butterfield Stadium until 2024. That means that multiple classes will go through the college without being able to experience a home Cortaca game, something that Price said is a unique experience.

“I know that atmosphere, regardless, is fantastic and it draws in a huge crowd on the South Hill,” he said.

Bassett said that canceling the game in 2020 forced some shuffling that led to the college giving up a home game in return for the chance to play at Yankee Stadium.

“In order to get [SUNY] Cortland to participate, we felt like, in fairness, we had to give them the opportunity [to host in 2021],” Bassett said. “We were the hosts of the game in 2019. 2020 didn’t happen, so it didn’t seem fair for us then to host this year because why would [Cortland] agree. We really wanted to make the Yankee Stadium thing work.”

Mirabito said he thinks that holding the Cortaca game at Metlife and Yankee Stadium is fantastic for alumni but that it takes away some important experiences for current students at the college.

“There’s obviously a ton of people that have connections to Ithaca College that live in and around New York City, which is great,” Mirabito said. “But when you start to do things like this, and especially the way that the calendar has fallen … we’re eliminating home games for our students.” Bassett said that the success of the game at MetLife Stadium led to a conversation about something similar happening every four years or so. She said that the college’s alumni raised over $100,000 on the day that the rivals faced off at MetLife Stadium in 2019.

The main reason the college agreed to play at Yankee Stadium shortly after the 2019 Cortaca Jug game, Bassett said, is because the venue does not have an opening other than 2022 until 2027.

However, Holtzman said, if the game goes as well as expected, there is a possibility of the game being held there again in the future.

“Certainly, if the game is as successful as we all believe it would be, we’d want to have it back here at some point in the future,” Holtzman said. “But I think you want to also keep the specialness of it. You would have to figure out how many years apart you would want to have the games.”

Correction: A previous version of this article states that the 77th annual Cortaca Jug game was held in 2019. It was the 61st annual Cortaca Jug game.

With the announcement of the 2022 Cortaca Jug game being held at Yankee Stadium comes a multitude of emotions, ranging from excitement to confusion. In any other situation, this would be seen as an incredible opportunity for Ithaca College’s athletics and for the college community. Moreover, it should be an exciting piece of news, and the community should be overjoyed at the opportunity to have a fun weekend away from campus that is flled with school spirit. However, the circumstances do not allow for this excitement to spread to everyone. The college is currently evolving — for better or worse. The community is facing a landslide of changes, including program additions, faculty and staff cuts, fnancial instability and a global pandemic, and as we return and try to stabilize our community, the college is adding to the landslide with this announcement. It is easy to parade around with excitement over the news, but there are some students, faculty and staff members who just cannot fnd it in themselves to celebrate or be joyous over next “I do think that, year’s event. Many are wondering how the college cannot afford to hire more staff members; how 116 full-time from an optics equivalent faculty positions were eliminated; how departstandpoint, it is a ments across the college have seen signifcant budget cuts; how the library at a private college had to decrease tough look [for its hours; and yet, the college is going to host the game at the college].” Yankee Stadium. A sense of unity within our community is essential, especially following the aftermath of the decisions made by -Tim Mirabito the Ithaca College Board of Trustees and the Senior Leadership Team. There is no denying that this game will be an incredible experience for many members of this community. This game could heal some of the open wounds left behind from the previous academic year by providing a distraction to the day-to-day worries many have about the college. It could be benefcial for mental health among students to spend time just enjoying a game in the city. This does not justify nor does it rationalize how the college cannot provide its students, faculty and staff with the necessities they need because of the fnancial diffculty they have proven over and over that the college is facing. Before we can celebrate or rejoice as a community, the college’s needs should be met frst. In order for these concerns to be quelled, the college needs to be transparent in its current fnancial situation and make it clear how it

Editorial: Cortaca 2022 venue sparks concerns within IC community

intends to fnance this football game.

From one perspective, the college looks like it may be favoring the athletic community over the basic needs across campus. The college needs more staff and faculty members and increases in budgets in nearly every department and offce, but what the college does not need is to put on a fashy performance for one weekend while neglecting its obligations to its students and the community as a whole.