Students conducted a "die-in," where they lay down throughout the campus, simulating being dead throughout campus as a form of protest.
Ithaca's student government has also asked students to cast a vote of "confidence" or "no confidence" in Rochon, due back on November 30, according to USA Today.
"Our hearts are heavy with the pain of Mizzou and Yale and Smith and every person of color on a college campus simply because of the color of their skin, the texture of their hair or their ancestry," a woman said at the Ithaca protest, according to the Ithaca Journal.
"This a problem of the nation. However, how can a campus dedicated to preparing us for the real world not actively foster growth to our consciousness of oppression and privilege?"
.@IthacaCollege students and faculty fill the academic quad. pic.twitter.com/gb7OgHF0t2
- WICB News Team (@WICBNews) November 11, 2015
The woman's words acknowledge a trend sweeping college campuses throughout the US. Young people are conducting student-led protests fighting against alleged institutional racism on campuses, and claiming their schools are run by ineffectual leaders who refuse to address the issues.
The University of Missouri made headlines earlier this week due to a student-led protest by a group calling themselves Concerned Student 1950, a reference to the year an African-American student was admitted at the school. Students say there have been many instances of hate speech on campus, and their efforts forced the resignation of Mizzou President Tim Wolfe and university chancellor
At Yale, students have held similar protests arguing that administrators have not addressed the problems on campus.