Case Particulars

Tribunal

N/A

Date Filed

May 28, 2024

Docket No.

N/A

Case Status

Letter to Ithaca, NY, City School District Delivered; Students of Color Summit Opened to All; Ithaca City School District Apologizes for Use of Exclusionary Language

Case Overview

On Tuesday morning, May 28, 2024, the Equal Protection Project delivered a letter to the Ithaca City School District (ICSD) Superintendent Dr. Luvelle Brown and Board of Education President Dr. Sean Eversley Bradwell, regarding the Student of Color United (SOCU) Summit 2024, scheduled for May 31, 2024. In the letter, EPP detailed substantial evidence that for 2021-2023, the SOCU Summits were limited to students and staff ‘of color’ and that the 2024 Summit promoted the same racial exclusion.

At a Board of Education on May 28, 2024, Dr. Brown addressed EPP’s letter and denied that any students ever were excluded from any event based on identity or race, and proclaimed that the SOCU 2024 Summit was “open to everyone.”

On May 30, 2024, ICSD sent a mass email, stating: “The Students of Color United (SOCU) Summit will be held this Friday, May 31, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Ithaca High School. Please know that SOCU is open to all of our secondary students. We apologize for any previous communication that included exclusionary language about the event. Anyone who wishes to attend on Friday is welcome!”