Chancellor Kent Syverud addressed his response to student demands in an interview with student media about three hours after the university released an 11-page action plan.

The university’s delayed communication about racist graffiti found in Day Hall on Nov. 7 prompted outrage among students of color. #NotAgainSU, a movement led by black students, has led a sit-in in the Barnes Center at The Arch for seven days. The group released a list of 18 demands and set Wednesday as a deadline for Syverud’s response.

#NotAgainSU’s demands have largely focused on diversity and inclusion initiatives, including stronger consequences for hate speech, a rehaul of SEM 100, mandatory bias training for faculty and staff and more counselors of color. International students have also provided a list of demands to the chancellor that repeats some of those from #NotAgainSU.

“Working on diversity and inclusion issues is something I’ve been doing my entire career,” Syverud said. “My belief is it’s always got to be an ongoing process, so I would always expect people to say more can be done.”

The chart Syverud sent in a campus-wide email on Tuesday breaks down SU’s responses to demands from both #NotAgainSU and international students.

For the Barnes Center protesters, the university plans to expand mandatory diversity training and to clarify SU’s opposition to hate speech in the Code of Student Conduct. For international students, the university pledges to more effectively position security cameras and to recruit more international and multilingual resident advisers.

SU will hold a forum Wednesday in Goldstein Auditorium at Schine Student Center to discuss the university’s response to students’ demands. Protesters originally called for Syverud’s resignation if he didn’t meet their demands by Wednesday at 5 p.m.

Asked about calls for resignation, Syverud said he doesn’t think the focus should be on him.

“I’ve been working 24/7 on the important thing, which is student safety, so this is not about me,” he said. “This is about doing the right thing under very rapidly changing circumstances. I’m very proud of a lot of people that have stepped up and have worked hard, including students, in responding to this situation.”

The chancellor noted that recent racist and anti-Semitic incidents have caused “incredible concern and anxiety” across campus. Information that came out Tuesday added to those concerns, he said.

A white supremacist manifesto was allegedly AirDropped to students’ cellphones at Bird Library, the Department of Public Safety announced in a campus-wide email early Tuesday morning. A link to the document was also posted in a Greekrank.com forum at 10:34 p.m Monday.

Some professors and departments canceled classes due to widespread fear about student safety. Numerous events were also canceled or postponed. The Syracuse Police Department and DPS have repeatedly said there was and is no direct threat to the campus or city.

“It has been a rapidly evolving situation where we have to make the judgment call each hour, including in the middle of the night, about what the right thing to do for the safety of our students is, and that’s what we’ve been doing the best we can,” Syverud said.

The university has responded to recent hate crimes and bias-related incidents by doubling patrols and requiring 16-hour shifts for officers. SU has committed to notifying the campus of racially-motivated incidents within a maximum of 48 hours unless doing so would impede an investigation, according to the chart SU sent. Syverud held a printed copy of the chart during his interview with The D.O.

Asked about his role in changing the campus climate, Syverud said some things fall within the responsibility of administration, like changes to the Student Code of Conduct and working closely with law enforcement. Other changes will require input from students, faculty, deans and the University Senate, which plays a significant role in curriculum, he said.

“There’s some things that are the responsibility of each one of us in terms of how we live our lives and behave,” he said.

In the chart SU released, the “accountable” column lists different officials under “Lead Responsible Party” and different opportunities for input from students and faculty under “Other University Assistance.” The chancellor pointed to this outline when asked about what institutional checks would be put in place to ensure administrators carry out those goals.

Protesters in the #NotAgainSU movement have described SU’s response to recent incidents as a trend in how the university treats students of color. One sign handed out to students at the Barnes Center lists several incidents, including Theta Tau’s expulsion in April 2018, the assault of three students of color along Ackerman Avenue in February and recent graffiti in Day Hall.

#NotAgainSU is not the first sit-in Syverud has experienced since he became chancellor in 2014. Many of the same concerns — a lack of transparency and a perceived disregard for students of color — led to an 18-day sit-in at Crouse-Hinds Hall in 2014 and campus-wide protests in April 2018.

Syverud said some aspects of recent incidents are different than what has happened in the past. “Hence they are the first time we’ve thought about what to put in place,” he said.

“What is disturbing is the degree to which it continues to be the case that many students do not feel at home on our campus, and that I’ve heard before here,” Syverud said. “Indeed, previous chancellors have told me that’s been true for a long time, so I just think we have to keep working on it.”

Published on November 19, 2019 at 7:10 pm

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