Figure Skating Team Advances Ithaca Joins Four NY Cities with Legal Weed Dispensaries

“There are so many more people for competitions, and we do so much better because of our numbers,” said Grace Yao ’23, a competitor who joined during her freshman year.

Julia Forte ’24, one of CUFSC’s captains, noted the club’s potential for future success.

“The club is mostly freshmen and sophomores, which is good because they will be here [to compete] after we graduate,” Forte said.

The competing skaters have a diverse range of skating experiences. Tory Watnick ’23, Forte’s co-captain, attended a commuter school to pursue her figure skating career before transferring to Cornell her sophomore year.

“Joining [the CUFSC] was a way for me to still be a part of skating, but in a less intense manner,” Watnick said.

Karen Chen ’25 has competed and medaled in multiple national figure skating competitions and the Olympic Games. This year will be her first time competing in the NIF with the CUFSC.

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“With the opening of William Jane in Ithaca, we’re continuing to build an adult-use cannabis industry in our state that works to offset the harms caused by disproportionate arrests made during cannabis prohibition,” Governor Kathy Hochul (D-N.Y.) said in a press release announcing the dispensary. “As more dispensaries like this open across New York State, consumers now have the option to buy legal, safer products while also reinvesting in their communities.” locations where people [can] start new businesses for their families and friends, but more importantly, employment opportunities with the community serving good cannabis that is tested and high quality.”

William Jane is still in the process of hiring more employees. Not only does it offer job opportunities for many locals, but it allows people to be a part of a new change in the Ithaca community.

The team and their coach Robyn Bentley have undergone a lengthy competition process to qualify for the Final. The nation’s undergraduate figure skating clubs are divided into regional leagues of Northeast, Southeast, Midwest and Pacific Coast.

Cornell competes in the Northeast Conference, which held three competitions at New York University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and at the Skating Club of Utica, New York. At the Utica competition from March 10 to March 12, the team placed third, securing a trip to the NIF alongside Boston University, NYU and Sacred Heart University.

Club members emphasized the team’s self-sufficiency in the competitive league. Lynah Rink’s limited availability hinders competitors’ abilities to frequently practice. The club is granted two full-body practices during the week and one competition-only practice on Saturdays.

Figure skating is not recognized as a varsity sport by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, placing the team into club status. This deprives the CUFSC of direct University funding that would pay for full-time coaching, travel expenses and competition fees. As a result, the club must rely on club dues and donations to fund its endeavors.

Despite these setbacks, CUFSC has seen sub-

“I know it will be a lot of fun,” Chen said. “At all of these other competitions, we bring a lot of energy and team spirit. We’re definitely going to bring that to nationals as well.”

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Ducson Nguyen, the Common Council’s alderperson for the 2nd Ward, concurred with Hochul’s statements at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

“To focus on those who are harmed by that failed war [the War on Drugs] with an emphasis on lifting people of color and other communities that were harmed by that legislation is really gratifying to see,” Nguyen said. “I really look forward to the vibrancy that this business and other businesses like it will bring to Ithaca in particular, but Upstate [New York] in general, which certainly needs it.”

A few hours prior to William Jane’s grand opening, the city, the Downtown Ithaca Alliance and Durham held a press conference.

“You think about Ithaca. You think about Harlem. You think about Binghamton,” DIA executive director Gary Ferguson said, referring to locations in New York with legal weed dispensaries. “You know these are great

“We want to have a lot of fun at the end of the day,” Durham said. “Cannabis is something that we used to have to hide. [Recreational cannabis in] New York became legal recently, and now we actually have a clean product that we can actually all enjoy.”

While he acknowledged that cannabis is still a big concern for many parents, Durham understood the importance of having locally sourced and tested products that are safe for the community of Ithaca. He also has some fun events planned for his dispensary, including jazz and art shows.

“With a lot of college kids being in the area and their parents are still kind of worried about some of the products that they’re smoking, you know this is something you don’t have to worry about [at William Jane],” Durham said.

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