Protesters’ chants rang through Crouse-Hinds Hall on Friday as Syracuse University officials left a fourth round of negotiations with #NotAgainSU organizers. The groups have yet to reach an agreement.

“Shame on you,” some protesters shouted.

#NotAgainSU, a movement led by Black students, has occupied Crouse-Hinds since Feb. 17 to protest the university’s response to at least 30 racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic incidents that have occurred at or near SU since November.

The movement has said it will occupy the building until negotiations on its revised demands are complete. Organizers and university officials made slow progress this week negotiating on the demands in three previous sessions.

Protesters and SU officials exchanged a tense back-and-forth Friday over #NotAgainSU’s demand that the university publicly acknowledge hate incidents at SU as indicative of institutional white supremacy. Organizers warned of escalated action if SU refused to release a statement.

“If we do not get a statement, we will be in this building, and escalation will occur,” an organizer said.

Keith Alford, chief diversity and inclusion officer, initially said the university would need until at least the end of the semester to draft such a statement. The statement would require input from faculty and other SU constituents, he said.

Organizers said this was not soon enough.

“The fact that you’re saying it will take you eight additional weeks to write an email that says there are issues on this campus that deal with white supremacy is very distressing,” said Jenn Jackson, an assistant professor of political science who was present during the negotiations.

Gabe Nugent, deputy general counsel for SU, said after a caucus that the university could not comment further on its response to that demand. #NotAgainSU organizers said they could not reach an agreement with the university without such a statement.

One organizer said she and other protesters have been called “liars” and have received death threats because the university will not publicly acknowledge what happened inside Crouse-Hinds during the first days of the movement’s occupation.

The Department of Public Safety sealed off Crouse-Hinds as of Feb. 18, preventing outside food, medicine and supplies from entering until the afternoon of Feb. 19. SU provided lunch and dinner to organizers Feb. 18 and breakfast Feb. 19. The building reopened Feb. 20.

Organizers have criticized DPS officers’ interactions with protesters inside Crouse-Hinds throughout the movement’s occupation.

“My life is in danger when I leave this building because you don’t want to acknowledge what you did to the people in this room,” the organizer said. “People have threatened my life, threatened to kill me because they think I’m a liar.”

Any harm that comes to students will be on the administration’s hands, the organizer said.

A university official read a statement from Chancellor Kent Syverud at the beginning of the negotiations. Syverud, who is currently coordinating the university’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, was unable to attend the negotiations in person.

In his statement, Syverud took full accountability for the university’s response to the occupation and declined to provide the names of other administrators involved in the decision. Syverud had previously told protesters he would find out who was behind the decision to prevent food and supplies from entering Crouse-Hinds.

“Actions of the university and my administration are actions I take full responsibility for,” a university official read on Syverud’s behalf. “We will not be providing names of those who make recommendations to me.”

Protesters had previously requested the Syverud also publicly acknowledge and apologize for the events of Feb. 18. And 19. Syverud said he had already apologized, both directly to the protesters and at a University Senate meeting.

Syverud’s previous apologies didn’t do enough to acknowledge the treatment of student protesters, organizers said.

“It’s funny how he can write letters but never show up,” an organizer said. “This is a bigger problem than coronavirus at this point.”

SU placed at least 30 members of #NotAgainSU under interim suspension after remaining in Crouse-Hinds passed the building’s 9 p.m. closing time Feb. 17. The university lifted the suspensions a day later.

The university mistakenly sent letters of suspensions to four students who were not present at the Crouse-Hinds protests. Rob Hradksy, senior associate vice president for the student experience, said Feb. 19 that SU has rescinded the letters.

Organizers pressed university officials on whether facial recognition software had been used to identify the protesters in Crouse-Hinds. #NotAgainSU has demanded that SU disclose whether facial recognition played a role in the identification of students.

Neither DPS nor the Office of Student Affairs has access to facial recognition software, Hradsky said. University officials identified the protesters by circulating camera footage from inside Crouse-Hinds, he said.

“I will say one more time—we do not have facial recognition software,” Hradsky said.

The university used a database of student I.D. photos to corroborate the identities of student protesters, Hradsky. No separate folder exists containing information on #NotAgainSU protesters, he said.

Hradsky declined to name faculty who helped identify students. Any misidentification of protesters resulted from human error, Hradsky said.

University officials also told protesters that the DPS bias incident reports page had been updated to include a subscription feature. Through the feature, students can opt to receive email notifications of bias incidents on campus, officials said.

Organizers and SU officials agreed at the start of Friday’s meeting to aim to reach an agreement by Monday. Syverud would likely sign that agreement, Hradsky said.

By the end of the meeting, that deadline had come into question. Protesters said they would be available to meet Monday at 4 p.m, but it is unclear if negotiations will continue at that time. An SU official said talks would resume “at a later date.”

“I don’t think that we need to be bargaining time with you all, when you all should have been here weeks ago,” an organizer said. “We’ve been making ourselves available, now you need to make yourselves available to come to resolve this issue.”

Published on March 6, 2020 at 11:37 pm

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