Laura Zhou-Hackett
Laura Zhou-Hackett is a current piano performance major and journalism at Ithaca College class of 2027. She enjoys capturing human emotion and experience through her storytelling.
Authentic. Impactful. Storytelling
MOCA Keeping IC Musicians of Color Warm this Winter
December 14, 2025. By Laura Zhou-Hackett
What does a paint n sip event have to do with music? The answer is community. The Musicians of Color Assocation (MOCA) is a student-run organization at Ithaca College (IC) aimed at building community for musicians of color (and anyone who loves music) at IC.
MOCA is an organization that supports musicians of color at IC by holding showcases, and promoting recitals of MOCA members on their Instagram page. However, it’s not solely through music that MOCA supports these musicians. MOCA’s most recent event was a Christmas paint n sip. While an event like this isn’t directly related to music, the MOCA meetings serve another purpose. At a predominantly white institution like IC, IC musicians of color and allies find it beneficial to have a space to relax and bond over music together.
A student's painting from MOCA's paint n sip on December 4th.
According to MOCA’s IC Engage page, “The Ithaca College Musicians of Color is an organization dedicated to enriching cultural diversity, inclusion, and understanding in communities through music. MOCA strives to provide support for musicians of color on campus and in the community, both social and educational, while learning about social justice efforts in music across the country.”
MOCA’s Instagram page reposts the recital poster of any MOCA member who has a recital, to generate more awareness and to remind members of the club and any other followers to attend other MOCA members’ recitals. Additionally, MOCA holds events, such as the paint n sip that occurred December 4th, 2025, to give IC musicians of color a space to just be in community with each other and feel safe and supported.
According to Jazmen Robsinon, MOCA Treasurer,
"MOCA is a group that is open for all people who love music. We are a musicians of color association. We highlight and we give students of color the platform to showcase their gifts and their talents. We also fight for change and equality within curriculum changes within Whalen, where a lot of people do not have the musical training as of others who have trained for 10 plus years and we just want everyone else to have the same musicianship and training as their other counterparts."
From a performance at MOCA's BIPOC Spring 2025 showcase. From left to right: IC students Jayna Simeon, Lusitania Halaifonua, Jasmine Foster.
Black students in PWIs often contend with what Brower and Ketterhagen (2004) described as an “inherent mismatch” (p. 96) between their expectations and those of the prevailing White culture found on their campuses (NAFME). IC is a predominantly white institution, which is why it’s so necessary for a student org like MOCA to exist at IC.
IC Themed Living - Worth Keeping?
November 19, 2025. By Laura Zhou-Hackett
This semester, Ithaca College rolled out a new housing plan for first-year students: themed living. All first years are placed into themed living communities, unless they apply to be in a Residential Learning Community instead. According to the IC Themed Living Website, “Theme-based Living is all about connection, creativity, and making your college experience unforgettable.” There are 11 themes in total, but one example is Themed Living, which is designed to help students get to know the Ithaca area.
Themed Living communities differ from Residential Learning Communities (RLCs) in that while students must apply to get into an RLC, first-years for Fall 2025 were placed into themed based on a preference form in the housing application. RLCs were implemented at IC starting in 2019. Also, while attendance at a certain number of RLC events per semester is required for students to remain in the RLC, attendance is not required in themed living communities. Themed Living isn’t an idea unique to IC. Other schools such as Cornell University, University of Michigan, and Penn State all have their own versions of themed living communities.
According to IC Upper Quads Area Coordinator Melissa Stough, the purpose of themed living is to “create small neighborhoods on campus that are connected by a unifying theme, to help first-years feel more at home at IC.” But are students feeling more connected at IC as a result of themed living?
On Saturday, September 13th, 2025, the Explore Ithaca theme RAs (these individuals preferred to remain anonymous or privacy reasons) tried to host an event called Frolick and Feast. The idea was to take students on a short walk through the IC natural lands, and then return to the dorm space for snacks and general socializing. The event was scheduled to begin at 1PM. By 1:15PM, however, no residents had showed. The RAs decided to cancel the walk through the natural lands, and instead sat in the dorm lounge for the next 45 minutes, waiting for residents to pass by. The total attendance for the event was under 10. For a building with over 90 people, such a low attendance number wasn't a good sign.
This is just one example, but it brings about a new question. If themed living really isn't working as hoped to bring students together, should fault be placed on the Office of Residential Life for not having enough meaningful theme-related programming? Or are the students that joined Ithaca College this semester simply less wiling to take time out of their days to attend events? While it's difficult to answer these questions right now, the Office of Residential Life is currently in the process of surveying first-years on their experience so far with themed living. Once that data is collected and surveyed, IC will have a clearer answer of whether themed living is working as was hoped- and whether it’s worth bringing back for the 2026-27 school year.
Authentic. Impactful. Storytelling