In an interview on Saturday with The Daily Orange and CitrusTV, Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud responded to six questions regarding at least 16 reported racist, anti-Semitic and bias-related incidents around campus since Nov. 7.

Earlier on Thursday, Syverud said he had signed to agree to 16 of 19 demands from international students and #NotAgainSU protesters, after they called for his resignation the previous night. By Thursday evening, he had also met with Jewish students and agreed to six demands proposed by them.

The following is the transcript of Thursday’s interview.

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CitrusTV: Last night a lot of protests happened following that meeting. A lot of that was picked up by media, not just on campus but across the country to parents, prospective students and everyone watching that. What do you have to say to them?

Syverud: I think that Syracuse will get better because of this experience. And I think it’s a place that we have a stake in making better. I do think being at Syracuse is a better education in so many ways, and it has to be a better education in inclusivity as well. So I think there’s a lot of work that’s going to have to be done in the current context. I think it’s actually been work that’s had to be done before at Syracuse in our 150 year history. I think we are the way we are because of that history, and we are different than many places because of that history. So I think we need to learn from the past and some fearless things we’ve done in the past and be fearless now and what we’re trying to do now.

The D.O.: What have negotiations been like with #NotAgainSU, international students and Jewish students since the forum last night? 

Syverud: They have been productive. It’s been a long 24 hours. So there were extensive discussions very late last night and into the morning with international students. And then extensive discussions this morning with Jewish students. Both of which produced agreement. I met with a smaller group of #NotAgainSU students in Hendricks Chapel, actually during the forum.We reached what I believe is agreement on what seems to me like 98% of the issues. We wrote that up in the format that I think they found more helpful than what we’d previously provided. I know they’ve taken that back to their group. I haven’t heard back from them yet on that, but I hope there’ll be further dialogue on that.

CitrusTV: You mentioned further dialogue with #NotAgainSU. Again, SU students, many of them, and some of them are still in the Barnes right now. And as we head into this break, will they be allowed to stay in there for break?

Syverud: I don’t know what they’re planning to do, so I have to answer that as we’re confronting the question. Break is not here yet. There’s a full day of classes tomorrow. But that’s the right question. I will say that the students in the Barnes Center have behaved with pretty amazing restraint in my view, under stressful circumstances, so I hope to continue to work with them.

The D.O.: I know you’ve already kind of addressed the delayed communication of the original graffiti in Day Hall. I was wondering, what are some, or perhaps your biggest regret, in the last two weeks? 

Syverud: Boy, uh, I think it’s too early to do a post-mortem on these events because they aren’t done yet.

I think it’s a fair question for me to have an answer to ultimately. The truth is each day has brought new developments that have required us to focus on things of the moment more than figure out the things from the day before. I regret I had to take a pass on that. I am going to be very reflective because I think it’s important for all of us to learn from what all of us have been doing so that we can do better the next time. I say do better the next time with caution because, as the students have pointed out, they’ve heard that before. And yet nevertheless, I don’t know any other way than to confront honestly what worked and what didn’t and educate everybody to that, including in education, including in curriculum, including in security and safety. And that’s what we need to do.

CitrusTV: Going back to that original incident, there was a lot of fundraising going on across campus, Boost the Cuse and then the Forever Orange campaign. Was that any part of the decision to hold off on announcing it?

Syverud: I believe it was not. I think we heard Keith Alford explain in the University Senate that story. I do want to assure you, I am aware of nothing to suggest that anyone intentionally concealed what they knew about the Day Hall incidents. And certainly I don’t think anybody in connection with development or the campaign had any knowledge of it. I did not. Okay. So I don’t think there was a cover-up. As I’ve said though, I think we could have communicated better and that’s one of the things we need to learn.

Staffer: To ask one question for our own use. Before we came up here, we saw a petition that’s in your support to keep you here. You know, I think it was over 500 signatures. Can you comment on that? 

Syverud: Again, I don’t think this is about me. I think this is about our students and their safety and the culture on this campus. And so I do appreciate that some people have expressed support about me. I also appreciate that many people have expressed concern about the climate on campus and how to make the administration’s response to that better. I do think that in stressful times and many of our students have been shaken, it can be scary what the future holds. It can be scary what change is needed. I think the important thing is for all our students, all our community come together and reject bigotry and say what we’re going to do about it.

Published on November 21, 2019 at 7:30 pm

Contact Casey: [email protected] | @caseydarnell_