Documenting a Legacy

By Patrick Bohn, May 9, 2025

Professor Ben Crane’s impact on Ithaca College is measured through the work of his former students and the respect of his colleagues.

Retiring associate professor Ben Crane, sporting a look that fellow professor Jack Powers called "quintessentially Ben."

The legacy of the Documentary Studies and Production degree within the Roy H. Park School of Communications has the imprints of dozens of talented faculty and hundreds of alumni stamped across it.

But talk to students who’ve spent time in Park’s classrooms and editing bays, and many will say the documentary studies program exists today because associate professor Ben Crane helped lay the groundwork—long before it became an official and highly regarded degree. For years, his Documentary Workshop course, known informally as “Doc Research,” taught students the fundamentals that the program now builds on. And as a result, his name has become synonymous with a course in a way that few professors have.

That course was taken by hundreds of students, many of whom would go on to produce award-winning professional work. And it grew to almost legendary stature within the Park School, thanks in large part to Crane, who simultaneously held his students to the highest possible standards while being a tireless advocate for their work.

After 43 years as a professor at Ithaca College, Ben Crane is officially retiring at the end of this academic year. And in true documentary fashion, we’re going to tell the story of his impact at IC not in our words, but the ones of those who experienced it firsthand.

“If asked what two words would best describe Ben Crane’s impact and influence, I would choose ‘legendary’ and ‘mentor,’” said Tom Bohn, who served as the Dean of the Park School from 1980 to 2003. “Taken together, they perfectly describe his role in and contribution to the school: that of a legendary mentor. He accomplished this primarily through his Documentary Research course. As countless students will attest, this course was a highlight of their time in Park and at Ithaca College.”

“No course in the past 40 years has produced more memorable long-form journalism than Doc Workshop, and a significant part of Park's reputation is because of the standards Ben Crane set.”

Mead Loop ’84, professor of journalism and chair of the Ithaca College sports media program

“No course in the past 40 years has produced more memorable long-form journalism than Doc Workshop, and a significant part of Park's reputation is because of the standards Ben Crane set,” said Mead Loop ’84, professor of journalism and chair of the sports media program. “Hundreds of students have sweated out Ben’s repeated rejection of story ideas, then labored late into the night to tell important long-form stories.”

One former student who can speak to the process through which rejection resulted in success is Jeremy Levine ’07. Now an Emmy Award-winning producer and director, Levine still remembers the pitch process.

“It was such intense work rummaging through newspapers and magazines in the library to find ideas,” Levine recalled. “He told me ‘no’ a lot. But it was never discouraging, because he also spent so much time talking about what makes an effective story. So, you knew he was just trying to push you to be better. He demanded exceptionalism.”

Levine’s “noes” eventually turned into a yes when he pitched a story about private citizens turned vigilantes along the border of the United States and Mexico. Levine and Landon Van Soest ’04 travelled to Arizona in 2004 to conduct interviews and shoot footage.

“I think that’s what I found so thrilling. It’s my second semester in college and I’m in the Arizona desert, carrying cameras and talking to guys wearing camouflage and standing in the back of a pickup truck.”

Jeremy Levine ’07

“I think that’s what I found so thrilling,” Levine said. “It’s my second semester in college and I’m in the Arizona desert, carrying cameras and talking to guys wearing camouflage and standing in the back of a pickup truck.”

The resulting film, Walking the Line , was eventually shown at more than two dozen film festivals and screened in five countries.

“What I was doing in his course as an undergraduate changed my career trajectory,” said Levine, who later teamed up with Van Soest to produce the feature documentary Good Fortune about the challenges of giving aid to communities in Africa. That film won an Emmy Award in 2010.

Another successful former student is Adam Ellick ’09, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist currently serving as director and executive producer of Op-Docs and Opinion Video at The New York Times .

“The lessons from [Professor Crane’s] classes had an incredible impact on my career, and my life,” Ellick said. “They taught me how to think, how to evaluate information, and how to be skeptical

“He taught [generations] of students how to critically assess information ... I can think of no better accomplishment for a professor: to specialize in teaching a skill that literally counters one of the world’s greatest crises. I am anxious imagining how my brain would work today if I had never enrolled in his classes.”

Adam Ellick ’09

“He taught [generations] of students how to critically assess information, and now, 20 years later, disinformation is a global crisis that has led to death — and continues to tear apart political and societal systems,” Ellick continued. “I can think of no better accomplishment for a professor: to specialize in teaching a skill that literally counters one of the world’s greatest crises. I am anxious imagining how my brain would work today if I had never enrolled in his classes.”

Crane’s classes — Doc Research in particular — were known for being rigorous. But the difficulty brought out the best in his students.

“Ben takes young filmmakers seriously and expects them to produce critically acclaimed work in an industry that doesn’t give anyone the green light,” said award-winning filmmaker Leah Galant ’15.

Ultimately, Crane’s unwavering support of his students’ work made him an unparalleled professor whose impact is felt throughout the industries they make their mark in as professionals.

“Ben’s passion for film isn’t why he has been a professor for over 40 years. He teaches because he wants his students to know that someone believes in them, that they can pursue their dreams, and that stories and art can create real change,” said Audrey Warner ’20, an award-winning documentary filmmaker and journalist.

“I’m not sure Ithaca College will ever truly appreciate how fortunate the Park School has been to have Ben teach students here for more than four decades,” said Jack Powers, who is professor and chair of Media Arts, Sciences, and Studies. “He is one of a kind and I celebrate [Ithaca’s] good fortune to have had such a wonderful teacher these past 43 years.”