The power of a loving community

Hello and good morning/afternoon/evening friends and neighbors, and thanks, as always, to Tompkins Weekly staff for providing this space the first and third Wednesdays of each month for East Hill Notes.

I feel fortunate to have lived and worked in Ithaca/Tompkins County for 28 years.

I grew up in Canandaigua and moved around the country and lived overseas for a while — including in Russia, right after the fall of the Soviet Union — but I always wanted to get back to the Finger Lakes. (I have met few people who moved from Moscow to Ithaca, but I am sure they exist, and if you’re in that demographic, give me a holler.)

Through many years as The Ithaca Journal’s Opinion Page editor (1993-2002), and then with my current role in Cornell University Community Relations, I have seen our beloved communities face various stressors but usually for a defined period of time and nothing compared to current events. That said, I have never been prouder to live in Tompkins County, as we’re all in this together.

One of last week’s town-gown “wins” is a video that had a prominent place on Cornell’s home page for several days, featuring Ithaca City School District Superintendent Luvelle Brown, Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Jennifer Tavares, City of Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick, Tompkins County Legislature Chair Leslyn Mc-Bean Clairborne and Downtown Ithaca Alliance Executive Director Gary Ferguson. Check it out at cornell.edu/video/ithaca-area-leaders-welcome-cornell-students-back-fall-2020.

Another win last week was the annual Leading with Love event that marks the start of our collective academic years.
In 2017, Brown — in concert with community and campus leaders — led the first Leading with Love Walk to mark the start of the school year, in response to race-related violence nationwide. In recent months, high stress and angst involving race, violence, the pandemic and other factors have created tensions and uncertainty in Tompkins County and around the world.

As K-12 and higher ed begin their 2020-21 academic years, the fourth Leading With Love gathering took place last Thursday with Brown and diverse faith leaders, who touched on the importance of love and inclusiveness in challenging times (icsdcultureoflove.com/icsd-culture-of-love).

Speakers who made brief remarks, in addition to Brown, included Rabbi Suzanne Brody of Temple Beth-El, Cornell University Muslim Chaplain Yasin Ahmed, Rev. David Kaden of the First Congregational Church of Ithaca and Rev. Nathaniel Wright of the Calvary Baptist Church.

And finally, the recording of that wonderful gathering can be found at cornell.app.box.com/file/712610175241.

As we all know, it is important to find bright spots in the tension of daily life. In Tompkins County, increasingly, people are leading with compassion and collaborations, and for that, we are grateful.

East Hill Notes are published the first and third Wednesdays of each month in Tompkins Weekly. Gary Stewart is associate vice president of Cornell University’s Office of Community Relations.