We, the Ithaca College student body, petition the Office of the Provost as well as the Dean of the Humanities and Sciences, Claire Gleitman, for a redress of grievances concerning the addition of the Artificial Intelligence major as well as the removal of the Theater Administration and Anthropology majors.

Ithaca College has recently introduced a major focusing on the development and creation of Artificial Intelligence. We, as students who dedicate ourselves to the arts, do not want our tuition being used to support a major that propels an industry which is actively taking away our jobs. The college has been dismantling programs that the student body cares about such as the theater administration program, anthropology major, and deaf studies minor. In addition to cutting these majors, Ithaca College has also been cutting parts of CAPS, the counseling and psychological services center which provides the necessary support to the hundreds of students suffering with issues regarding their mental health and wellbeing. Instead of providing more support to students in crisis, the college has instead removed walk-in counseling and has been promoting the use of an artificial intelligence chatbot, WYSA, to cut corners and deal with students' mental health. A 2025 research study by members of the American Psychiatric Association found that compared to artificial intelligence, a human therapist outperformed in tasks such as agenda-setting, and eliciting feedback. While WYSA can assist with basic therapy structures such as wellness checks it lacks empathy, providing impersonal responses that will not give students the support they need. A significant number of students on campus have reported that WYSA is not an adequate resource and need greater support from CAPS. 

Ithaca College has been a liberal arts institution since its inception. It started as a music conservatory, and is now most known for producing graduates that specialize in the musical arts, communications, and the theatrical arts. Ithaca college is renowned across the nation for its theatrical arts program, which includes the theater administration major, a degree that has proven to be extremely valuable and versatile in the world of theatre. Ithaca College is an institution that celebrates human creativity and the pursuit of the arts. Diverting funds and focus away from the arts disrespects decades of academic studies and the work of thousands of graduates, in favor of funding artificial art. It pollutes our water supply and steals the work of creatives in all different fields. It will put thousands of human artists, writers, musicians, filmmakers, and aspiring actors out of jobs. 

In addition to harming the works of the past, current, and future students, the AI major itself is a repackaging of existing classes that is no different than existing computer science concentrations. Despite what the administration says, the addition of the major is not a bold new venture, it is a desperate attempt to gain more funding through following the controversial and popular path of generative AI in hopes that it will bring more attention to Ithaca College. Only two new classes have been added to the program, and, what is most disheartening, is that neither of those classes place an emphasis on AI ethics. It is not worth the extra resources it would require and is certainly not worth cutting pieces of the arts programs in order to fund a major that does not address the growing concerns regarding the ethics of AI in creative or academic spaces.

If Ithaca College is going to pursue AI at all, it should do so responsibly and without taking away from the programs that give the school its heart. We, the student body of Ithaca College, request the removal of the AI major and for the reinstation of funds towards the theater, anthropology programs and CAPS mental health support programs. If the administration is unwilling to remove AI as a larger subject taught by the school, a concentration in its place would serve as a suitable solution.

Written by

Bella Tolento

Cassandra Maicher

Alex Habert

Gideon R. Dunbar

Tyler Proctor