When Syracuse tipped against Colgate on Wednesday night, less than 100 students stood in the Carrier Dome’s normally crowded student section. It was part of the #unpackthedome campaign organized by Syracuse’s student section, Otto’s Army. 

The stance was the latest in a slew of protests on SU’s campus in response to racial slurs being found on two floors of Day Hall and the subsequent lack of communication from the University about the incidents. The slurs were written late last Wednesday and weren’t addressed by the university to the entire student body until Monday at 5:20 p.m. 

Rather than attend the 70-54 Syracuse win over Colgate, Otto’s Army members urged students to attend the sit-in being held at the Barnes Center at The Arch where students have provided a list of demands to SU Chancellor Kent Syverud. Otto’s Army president Kennedy Hagens said that the organization wanted to “stand in solidarity” with those impacted by the Day Hall incidents and hoped to motivate the administration to make changes. 

“By doing this at an athletic event, we’re showing that this goes beyond just us as students, it’s something that is university-wide,” said Hagens, who is also the co-chair of Diversity Affairs committee in Student Association. “It’s something that is very near and dear to our hearts and we won’t stop at anything to ensure that a change is made.”

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Otto’s Army announced its decision on Twitter just shy of three hours before the start of the game. Several Syracuse players remarked after the game that they weren’t aware of the student section’s part in the protests and therefore didn’t comment. 

A few hundred students filled the area in all, with some taking Otto’s Army’s floor seats. But less than half of the students in the section stood for the games entirety, a tradition normally employed in that section of the arena.

“Whatever they think is best,” sophomore guard Buddy Boeheim said. “I think that definitely resolution needs to come from that. It’s unacceptable … You love when the students come to support, but when it comes to stuff like that you got to understand their position.”

None of Otto’s Army’s executive board attended the game. Matthew Jensen, the group’s treasurer, was in the Carrier Dome prior to the game informing students of the protest. Since Otto Army’s statement was sent out so close to game time, many fans — like the players on the court — hadn’t heard about the plans. 

Jensen and another student representative, who stood outside of the student entrance at Gate F, informed students about the plan to unpack the Dome. To Jensen’s surprise, many students he spoke with turned around and left the Carrier Dome.

“We are a student organization,” Jensen said. “Student being the first word, student comes first. And if any part of our student community is hurt, we feel that we should stand along with them and do what we can to help them out.”

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When asked about the incident, Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim sounded off for the final four minutes of his press conference. Boeheim, who’s been a part of the Syracuse community since 1962, highlighted diversity he’s seen on campus over the last 57 years. He also addressed Chancellor Syverud’s interaction with the students at the Barnes Center, which students said was too brief. 

“I know the Chancellor well and he does not want to have any semblance of that and he reacted to it,” Boeheim said. “You know, you go and meet with people but you have other things to do and all of a sudden, ‘He didn’t meet with us long enough.’ Well, how long is long enough? One hour? Two hours? What is it got to be? I think we got a great school, we have a diverse school and it’s always been that way.” 

Boeheim noted that the university needs to find out what happened and that there’s no room for that at Syracuse.

It’s unclear whether the student section will return in full force for Syracuse’s game on Saturday against Seattle. The executive board members that spoke to The Daily Orange said it depends how SU reacts to the protests. 

“At the end of the day, we are the Syracuse student section leaders. We truly do bleed orange and we love Syracuse Athletics more than anything,” Jensen said. “But we do truly think this is a good cause.”

— Asst. Copy Editor Andrew Crane and Asst. Digital Editor Arabdho Majumder contributed to this story. 

Published on November 13, 2019 at 10:57 pm

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