THETA TAU
One year later
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‘Crazy I came here’ Stories behind the incoming students who encountered Theta Tau protests
Story by KJ Edelman asst. sports editor
Photos by Molly Gibbs photo editor
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he path to Goldstein Auditorium, about a 50-foot walk from one side of the lobby to the other, had a roadblock — block-letter posters and the glares of Syracuse University students. Smiles of SU officials meeting students’ chants about a lack of representation on campus. Admitted students — then-seniors in high school — expected a classic college tour. Instead, they were met with protest. It took a lot for Madii Goldberg, one of about 100 protesters, to stay calm when student after student and parent after parent blew by her. Accepted students were told to keep walking. The 17- and 18-year-olds wouldn’t look up. A video made at an SU professional fraternity, Theta Tau, was released 36 hours prior displaying behaviors that Chancellor Kent Syverud had called “racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, sexist, and hostile to people with disabilities.” Goldberg said her protest was just met with eye rolls from parents and passersby. In the corner of her field of vision, one family of color — two parents, a younger child and an accepted student — stopped in the middle of the path, against the flow of the crowd. They read protesters’ signs. The four took the time to ask questions, to commend them. Goldberg told one of her friends to look. And in between the crowd of people fast-walking by, that one family started to clap. “You blow off the accepted students that are just walking by, but you really remember the ones that spent that time, that cared,” Goldberg said. “In that moment, I knew we were doing this for a reason.” Student protesters organized the sit-in in Schine Student Center during the April 2018 Admitted Students Day. For some accepted students, it was an indication of empowerment — a sign that this school was for them. Others couldn’t understand why Recognize Us, the group who set up April’s protest, worked to distract SU’s pitch to them. One year later, they’re now freshmen at the school they were told to think twice about, to not “commit to SU until SU commits to you.” “You witness everything that hap-
(ABOVE) MIRA FLESCHMAN, an SU freshman, stands in the atrium of Schine Student Center. One year earlier, she encountered protests on an admitted students day. (BELOW) TARA GORDON said she wasn’t shocked by the Theta Tau videos.
pens that day, everything in real time,” current SU freshman Mira Fleschman said. “This school seemed so accepting, like this isn’t what I knew. It’s just crazy I came here after that.” Before the intersection of current and prospective students at Schine, everyone had different motives for why they wanted to attend SU. For most, it was the academics — the high-end programs in communications, policy studies and architecture. But also, they yearned for the diversity many of their suburban hometowns lacked. Fleschman would watch YouTube vlogs of Margot Lee, a lifestyle YouTuber and SU student with more than 350,000 subscribers, and noticed a lot of people’s views aligned with hers. From south of Boston, Tara Gordon wanted to stray away from her town, specifically her high school that embraced the Confederate flag — phone cases, screensavers, flags — and she needed out. SU appealed to freshman Luca Giacobbe because he saw “old-school history with culture and parties.” First-year student Emily Kinka “people-watched” for 45 minutes after her first tour in September 2017. Other students visited often and decided to apply through early decision, a binding agreement to
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attend SU upon acceptance. Touring SU meant prospective students would also have to face their own perceptions of Greek life, regardless of whether it was a big part of their decision to commit to the university. Connor Muldoon, a prospective student at the time, believed fraternities were for “certain brands of people.” Fleschman planned on joining a sorority but wanted to meet a mix of people. Kinka, now a communication and rhetorical studies major, was unsure how deeply Greek life culture was rooted in SU. “I was like, ‘Is it just this school that’s beefy about Greek life?’” Kinka said. “Then I looked at all the other schools, and it was the same.” But most didn’t know how to distinguish professional and social fraternities and sororities. When mulling over her college decision, Gordon had questions. Weren’t they all the same? Was there a difference between a social fraternity, and say, Theta Tau? ƀƀƀ or some high school seniors planning to attend SU, a large part of their decision rode on April 20, 2018. For Fleschman, it was her first time visiting her dream school. Students like Kinka and Gordon wanted to be “wowed.” Would SU convince them? They had all been on college tours, but Admitted Students Day would be different, they thought. After riding up with parents and staying in hotels near campus, students received messages regarding an incident with Greek life. Muldoon’s sister’s best friend, who attends SU, texted him “Oh my god, you’re literally visiting on the worst day.” Fleschman met with a then-senior at SU at Cafe Kubal who filled her in. Parents and neighbors heard the news with details still unclear. “I didn’t think it was that big of a deal at first,” Gordon said. “I was like, aren’t all fraternities like pieces of sh*t? Not shocking.” It was just another fraternity incident like University of Oklahoma and University of Georgia, some thought. But this time, they were in the middle of it. They would have to see the aftermath firsthand. “My mom was joking like, ‘You can’t back out now,’” Kinka said. Syverud’s initial email announcing Theta Tau’s suspension was sent on April 18 to the campus community. Shortly after that, a Facebook page and GroupMe chat called “Recognize Us” were created. Recognize Us organized a protest with about 100 people outside the chancellor’s house and near Theta Tau’s property. The accepted students stayed in their hotels that night, as current students filled Hendricks Chapel to voice their concerns: How would the school respond? Where was Syverud? Later that night, while students
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LANDYN ESHAM (LEFT) AND EMILY KINKA, now SU freshmen, came to Syracuse from eastern Pennsylvania. Both said they felt insipired after witnessing student protests last April. They are now members of Greek life.
remained in Hendricks, The Daily Orange published one of the Theta Tau videos. The Recognize Us group chat amassed more than the 500 allotted slots on GroupMe, and was granted an extension. And as the night came to a close, the rumbling of another, bigger, protest filled the group. It had to be secretive, though. “We were told we could not hold it because of accepted students and the location we wanted to hold it,” Goldberg said. “And we were like ‘There, perfect, we’re holding it there.’ That’s exactly what I wanted to do.” By 6:30 a.m. the day of the protest, a list of demands started to cover front and side doorways of Schine. Positioned posters lined a pathway: “ACCEPTED STUDENTS This University doesn’t ACCEPT you.” “How About a Student-Led Tour of Campus Discrimination.” Recognize Us had obtained the itinerary for Admitted Students Day and planned to follow it. Twenty minutes before students arrived, Goldberg said they were told to not hand out fliers because it was “solicitation.” They did anyway. Fleschman heard the loud noises before she reached Schine, where accepted students were gathering
with their families. Members of University 100, a group of university-run campus tour guides, tried to create a path so that families could get through, students and protestors said.
I didn’t think it was that big of a deal at first. I was like, aren’t all fraternities like pieces of sh*t? Not shocking. Tara Gordon
freshman public relations major
“It was like out of a movie,” said Giacobbe, an admitted student. Giacobbe’s mom turned toward him, away from the mix of smiling tour guides with orange rugby shirts and loud protesters, and asked: “Is this about the frat?” He shot back, “It has to be.” Gordon’s mother was “visibly salty,”
Gordon said, telling her daughter that it needed to be brought up during the information session. They felt intimidated. “I remember admin walking in students like we were violent or something,” Goldberg, a protester, said. Giacobbe felt like the protestors were trying to deter prospective students from SU. Others like Fleschman and Landyn Esham, another prospective student, were inspired. While they still walked with the crowd, they quietly felt empowered. As Goldstein Auditorium filled up, Maurice Harris, dean of undergraduate admissions, took the microphone. Syverud stood outside, making his first remarks since the video was released. Harris did what Gordon’s mom wanted — he acknowledged and supported the protests. “You’ve obviously seen the news, this isn’t who we are,” Harris said to the crowd of parents and potential students. “If you want information, seek it.” “I don’t think they wanted to accept the blame,” Gordon, now a public relations major, said. “They were clearly avoiding the fact that they didn’t regulate Greek.” After the program, the group — now bounded together as witnesses to the demonstration — went their separate ways. Near the Carrier Dome, one protester approached Kinka and her mother and told her to not be scared or upset, and that “I love this school, and I just want you to be informed.” Later on, Muldoon spoke back to a shouting protester near the same spot. “I totally get what you’re doing, but why did you pick today?” Muldoon said. They responded that they wanted to disrupt the administration, make their voice feel heard. “‘But we’re visiting,’” Muldoon said to them. “‘Thousands of prospective students were here, like today? Really?’” ƀƀƀ hat Admitted Students Day, a year later, has just become a “weird story,” students said. It comes up in icebreakers. Class discussions. And sometimes, grew into the epicenter of an argument in SEM 100 — a class launched this academic year for firstyear students meant to spark conversation on diversity and inclusion. But for Goldberg, the protest did its job. It informed students of the current state of a university in a state of change. Some are still annoyed. Some know if it happened again, they’d be on the other side of the line. Still, for the people who were there, it’s a moment they look back on often. Now freshmen, they walk into Schine regularly — the remnants of a divided campus are reminders that they were a part of campus that day. They were in the middle of it.
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LUCA GIACOBBE, a freshman sport management major, said he remembers the April 20 protests like they were “out of a movie.” He didn’t fully understand what was going on at the time, but Theta Tau has come up often during his first year at SU, he said.
kjedelma@syr.edu | @KJEdelman
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After protests, forums and activism, students are divided over whether SU
By Emma Folts and India Miraglia the daily orange
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n late April 2018, Syracuse University students protested outside Chancellor Kent Syverud’s house. They spoke at town halls. They occupied Schine Student Center. They marched to the Carrier Dome. They rallied against behaviors depicted in the Theta Tau videos that rocked SU’s campus one year ago. Those students now have varying opinions on the roles of the university and student body in facilitating progress on campus, on the next steps the SU community should take and to what extent change has happened on campus. And whether or not they were actually heard. For the students who spoke out after Theta Tau’s suspension and eventual expulsion, the actions of the students in the videos were representative of the problematic social culture at SU, they said. Jett Cloud, a junior political science major, attended the April 20 sit-in at Schine Student Center that followed the release of the first Theta Tau video. When the protesters marched past the Carrier Dome chanting “Black Lives Matter,” Cloud said the problem was about more than just Theta Tau. “I think they’re much more still representative of the Greek life system as a whole,” he told The Daily Orange. Courtney Jiggetts, a senior design major who protested in front of the chancellor’s house, said SU is not as diverse of an institution as it could be. Marginalized communities across campus do not feel like the university is listening to them, she said. But the problem is not exclusive to SU, she said — predominantly white institutions nationwide use students of color on promotional material. “If we are important to the university and if we’re important to allowing the university to maintain its diversity standards or quota, then why did we have to do some much just to be heard?” she said. When Sadia Ahmed paneled a Student Association-sponsored forum last April, she was wearing a hijab — something she no longer wears. She felt unsafe wearing it at SU, so she decided to take it off over the summer. Ahmed said she needed to prioritize her mental health — which was deteriorating — and though she had worn the hijab for nearly eight years, she thought she could come back to wearing it. She’s not there yet. “I don’t have that mental strength in me to walk across this campus and receive racial slurs,” Ahmed said. Several students who spoke out last year said they feel like the social climate at SU has not changed significantly. They said that change started to slow after the initial outrage over the Theta Tau videos. Ahmed said she doesn’t feel safe to practice her religion at SU, or even walk across campus as a student of color. When she took off her hijab, she noticed her professors from last year treated her differently. “It’s crazy how much your appearance can change the way you’re treated on this campus,” she said. Nathan Gansworth attended the protest at Schine. He said that as a Native American student — a group that makes up less than 1% of SU’s student population — he was affected by the fact that multiple communities were attacked in the Theta Tau videos. He said he felt compelled to speak up and stand with other students. At first, the campus protests led to big steps, such as the expulsion of Theta Tau from campus or the suspension of the students involved in the videos, but then the pressure from the community died down, Gansworth said. “It just seems like a big situation will happen and there’s a lot of outrage, and then it kind of just fizzles away until the next thing happens,” he said. Change does not seem to happen unless a
Heard their
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NATE GANSWORTH participated in the protest at Schine Student Center in April 2018. Gansworth, a Native American student, said he felt compelled to speak up and stand with other students. dan lyon asst. photo editor
NATHAN SHEARN, a student activist, said keeping a movement’s momentum going is a challenge for on-campus activists. Many issues at SU stem from the university’s culture, he said. dan lyon asst. photo editor
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big, negative event like Theta Tau happens, Gansworth said. He referenced SU’s Department of Public Safety’s recent clarification of its jurisdiction, which he said only happened as a result of student demands following the assault of three SU students of color along Ackerman Avenue in February. Nathan Shearn, an on-campus activist who spoke at a forum for the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs last year, said that keeping a movement’s momentum going is a challenge for on-campus activists. He said that right now the focus should be on changing campus culture. “I don’t think the Syverud administration has made a genuine effort to create a more equitable campus. The impetus for any change has come from, and only from, the student body,” said Raymundo Juarez, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, in an email. Cloud added that he disagrees whenever Chancellor Kent Syverud sends out an email saying a particular incident is not reflective of the university’s values. He said he believes SU’s values are still in line with racism, homophobia, sexual assault and misogyny, which is why similar events keep recurring. Theta Tau, the Ackerman assault and SU’s Madrid Center incident —people said the “N-word” in classes earlier this spring semester — are all connected, he said. “They’re all linked with each other and they’re all very much still representative of larger, systematic issues with Syracuse University that I think are inherent to the university, I don’t think you can separate the racism from Syracuse University,” he said. Dara Royer, chief marketing and communications officer at SU, said the campus community has worked to create meaningful change and foster an environment where all people feel welcomed, respected, empowered, supported and valued. “We still have work to do. Our community must continue to engage in open and constructive dialogue that results in tangible action,” Royer said. After protests, forums and activism, students were divided about the role of the university and student body in creating further change. Shearn said the university heard the voices of those who spoke out and is now more cognizant about how it approaches issues that affect marginalized communities. But, he said that many problems come from the culture on SU’s campus. Cloud said SU listened only as far as was needed to combat the negative publicity the university was receiving. The issues are systematic, he said, and will never be fixed through university administration. “Students will never be able to trust the administration to actually protect us and to actually rectify these issues,” he said. Junior Rachel Ameen said she wasn’t sure if it is reasonable to expect the university to listen to everyone’s concerns. It’s not realistic for administrators to sit with each student and ask how they can make the campus better, she said. Gansworth said it was up to the university’s administration to make changes at SU. “You can only have so many movements, you can only get so many students to speak up about stuff. It’s tough when you’re a student,” Gansworth said. “There’s not much you can do except speak up.” Some students spoke about what they wished they would had done different in their actions after Theta Tau’s expulsion. Ahmed said she wishes she was more transparent about the reasons behind her taking off her hijab. While she said the Theta Tau videos did not specifically address the Muslim community in content, she still felt vulnerable at SU. She said sharing why she decided to remove her hijab — which is not a decision to make lightly — could’ve helped others. “That was a huge mistake on my part because I know there are other students who are going through the same struggles on this campus,” said Ahmed, adding that people are scared to walk across SU’s campus. Hanz Valbuena, a senior television, radio and film major, wants people to be consistent in their demands from the school, and stick to their word. He said he knew students who protested Greek life in light of Theta Tau, then rushed the next semester. Cloud said he would have been more vocal about the toxicity of the Greek life system, and would’ve tried to direct the conversation toward removing Greek life from the university as a solution.
MARIA NORRIS, a senior film major, was a member of the student movement Recognize Us. Holding forums and meetings aren’t enough and SU needs to help members of marginalized communities feel safer, she said. doug steinman staff photographer
HANZ VALBUENA, a senior television, radio and film major, wants people to be consistent in their demands to the university. He said he knew students who protested Greek life, then rushed the next semester. aaron kassman staff photographer
RACHEL AMEEN said it’s not realistic for administrators to sit with each student and ask how they can make the campus better. laura oliverio staff photographer
Because the Theta Tau incident occurred toward the end of the school year, Ameen said it became harder to maintain momentum into the summer. With a 24-hour news cycle, Ameen said one can’t expect to be outraged about one issue for a year. “Things change too fast. So it’s unfortunate, I think we did some good, but still have a long road ahead of us,” Ameen said. Students provided several suggestions on how campus culture could be improved and the actions SU and the student body should take to implement those changes. Maria Norris, who wrote a letter to the editor to The Daily Orange last year in response to the second video, said structural changes were needed to help members of marginalized communities feel safer at SU — creating committees, holding forums and having meetings is not enough, she said. Cloud said Greek life at SU needs to be abolished, and that the university should work to improve diversity and inclusion beyond what he said was artificial and done for branding. The Greek life system is elitist in its cost and its environment, in which certain students receive an education on racism, homophobia and other issues, Cloud said. Shearn said students should be informed about ongoing forms of discrimination, harassment, sexual violence and marginalization on campus. Continuing forums and discussions, as well as inspiring new classes of students to continue to organize and be active can help. “It’s constantly exposing, constantly holding people accountable,” Shearn said. “I think that is one of the most important parts, because changing hearts and minds is really what changes the campus culture.” esfolts@syr.edu | @emmafolts irmiragl@syr.edu | @IndyRow
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Universities across the country face Greek life controversies, as audits reveal
Common challenges By Emma Folts and Natalie Rubio-Licht the daily orange
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niversities across the country have conducted reviews of Greek life in recent years, revealing behavioral incidents, violations of student conduct codes and issues of diversity among members and Greek chapters. In January, Syracuse University released the results of an external review following a monthslong investigation into the university’s Greek life system after Theta Tau’s expulsion last year. Videos released by The Daily Orange showed students in the engineering fraternity’s house engaging in behavior Chancellor Kent Syverud has called “extremely racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, sexist, and hostile to people with disabilities.” SU’s report identified six “challenges” within the Greek community: a lack of diversity and inclusion among members, insufficient staffing and funding in the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, poor communication with stakeholders, differing law enforcement jurisdictions, “risky behaviors” and unrecognized groups. A recommendation to improve the FASA’s internal communications and a proposal to hold annual meetings with representatives from SU’s Greek organizations were among the review’s 33 suggestions for improvement. Here are the results of reviews from five other universities:
WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY
In November 2014, Nolan Burch died as a result of alcohol poisoning during a hazing incident involving the Kappa Sigma fraternity at West Virginia University, according to Campus Safety Magazine. The fraternity had its charter pulled two days before his death. Matthew Richardson, director of the Office of Fraternity & Sorority Life at West Virginia University, told The Daily Orange that he was part of a 14-member work group that reviewed Greek life at the university from February 2018 to August 2018. The review did not mention Burch’s death. The work group, made up of students, faculty, alumni and headquarters partners, presented its findings in a report published Aug. 6, 2018. Richardson said the report focused specifically on the social culture of Greek life, as well as the recruitment and new member education processes. The report reviewed all operating Greek organizations at the university and offered recommendations for improvement where needed, including hazing-related educational programs for the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity and an academic support mentor for the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. The plan was in response to “numerous allegations” of hazing and sexual misconduct, as well as alcohol abuse and possible drug distribution, Richardson said. SU’s report did not offer specific suggestions to any particular fraternity or sorority group. It did include several methods for addressing hazing, including creating a hazing education program and a
photo illustration by bridget slomian presentation director
hazing report form. “We now have had a death in a secondary school or college each year from 1961-2019. The first fraternity death from hazing was 1873; the last was February 2019,” said Hank Nuwer, journalist and author of “Hazing: Destroying Young Lives,” in an email. Nuwer said he thought the hazing solutions suggested by SU’s reviewers were a good start, but recommended strengthening New York state’s anti-hazing laws to be more like those in Florida. The Chad Meredith Act, in effect since 2005, classifies hazing incidents in Florida resulting in death or serious injury as third-degree felonies. As a result of the WVU report, five fraternities disassociated from the university and formed an independent interfraternity council, Richardson said. The Kappa Alpha Order and the Alpha Sigma Phi, Sigma Chi, Theta Chi and Phi Sigma Kappa fraternities disassociated, Richardson said. Ten chapters remained with the university’s own interfraternity council following the report. The students believed the report violated their rights to associate, Richardson said. “We do not believe that we infringed on that at all, (the review) was not a disciplinary process, it was a recognition review process,” he said. No fraternities or sororities disassociated from SU following the release of the Greek life report.
PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY
Pennsylvania State University administrators announced reforms for Greek life in June 2017 following the death of Timothy Piazza, who died due to hazing and intoxication in the Beta Theta Pi fraternity in February 2017. Penn State has not conducted an external review of their Greek life system. An internal Greek life response team of five administrators and an advisory group of 14 “key stakeholders” collaborated on the reform plan, said Heather Hottle Robbins, manager of External Communications News and Media Relations at Penn State. Hottle Robbins said in an email to The D.O. that Penn State has made “strong progress” in implementing the reforms. Penn State has hired monitors to perform unannounced spot-checks of off-campus fraternity houses, Hottle Robbins said. She said Penn State deferred fraternity and sorority recruitment and halted all Greek life activities following Piazza’s death. Greek life activities were not canceled following the Theta Tau incident in April 2018 or while conducting the Greek life report at SU. Hottle said Penn State also supported passing the Timothy J. Piazza Antihazing Law, which establishes a tiered penalty system for punishing hazing and see audits page 14
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Recognize Us, the student movement, organized protests across Syracuse University’s campus in April 2018 and again in September 2018 after students said SU didn’t meet the deadline for all of their demands. Some of those demands, including a review of Greek life, have been met. dan lyon asst. photo editor
Making demands A checklist of Recognize Us’ calls for SU action post-Theta Tau suspension By Jordan Muller
semester of 2018.�
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Chancellor Kent Syverud announced a review of SU’s Greek life and culture in the days after the Theta Tau fraternity’s initial suspension. The review included a survey open to undergraduate students in summer 2018. The results of the review were released in January 2019. Some of the Greek life challenge areas identified in the review were: Ć€É " É ),! (#4 .#)( &É -.,/ ./, É ( É operational practices in the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Ć€É )(-#-. (.É )''/(# .#)(É 1#."É internal stakeholders around policies and processes Ć€É #0 ,-#.3É ( É #( &/-#)(É 1#."#(É , %É communities Ć€É 1É ( ), ' (.É $/,#- # .#)(É , & . É to parties, hazing and event security Ć€É Ć† #!"Ć?,#-%Ć‡É " 0#),-É --) # . É 1#."É a party culture, lack of clarity surrounding rules and hazing Ć€É (, )!(#4 É !,)/*-É )* , .#(!É )(É campus
ute towards its composition. The inclusion of these departments is not just because they incorporate diverse identities among faculty on campus, but because their historical and pedagogical legacy engages American history, particularly regarding systematic oppression. This identifies that one cannot merely be told not to discriminate, and be expected to follow these guidelines, when systems such as white supremacy, patriarchy, and racism are so knitted into the fibers of society. Being that this is an intellectual and academic institution, students and faculty need to be trained to engage oppression as an intellectual discourse to thoroughly understand how it manifests throughout our society and university social climate. This will highlight how we can be better human beings to each other ranging to how we can be better agents for justice throughout our society. This needs not be villainized as any one-sided political agenda, being that it aligns with the identity of our country, The United States of America, as a land of freedom and equal opportunity. Additionally, these departments need to receive more and sufficient resources to make this possible.�
“2. A complete reshaping of “Diversity and Implicit Bias Training� into a required introductory first year course, which replaces the current first year seminars. This should strongly engage faculty from the African American Studies, Asian American Studies, Disability Studies, Hispanic/ Latinx Studies, Native American and Indigenous Studies, LGBT Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies, and other faculty members who engage liberatory discourse to contrib-
SU launched SEM 100, a five-week seminar designed to confront implicit # -É ( É *,)'). É " &."É ( É 1 &&( --É and communication skills, in fall 2018. As part of the seminar, students were required to read comedian Trevor Noah’s ' ')#,É Ć† ),(É É ,#' ĹťĆ‡É 1"# "É , )/(. É ) "Ɖ-É 2* ,# ( -É -É É "#& É ) É É & %É mother and white father in a country where government-mandated racial segregation, Apartheid, persisted until the
asst. digital editor
ecognize Us, a student coalition, released a set of demands last spring to advocate for minority students in the wake of the Theta Tau videos controversy. Here are Recognize Us’ demands and what has happened in the year since the release of the videos: “We Demand: 1. A thorough evaluation of Greek life and culture on Syracuse University (SU) Campus. This is to determine the ways in which the racist and sexist practices employed by Syracuse University’s Greek letter organizations deducts from the upliftment of the university campus. This investigation needs to center the voices and experiences of Syracuse University students. So, a thorough survey needs to be provided to the campus body by Fall 2018, where students are allowed to anonymously disclose their sentiments and experiences with relation to Greek life, and the nature of violent traditions such as hazing. The results of these surveys should be shared with the entire student body by October 2018, in addition to the results gathered through the auditing process that has already begun. This will create a campus wide dialogue about how Greek life can be restructured to continue its positive contributions to student life, while synonymously ending its oppressive enactments. This dialogue should lead to concrete implementations during our fall
mid-1990s. É ĹąĹ°Ĺ°É 1 -É 0 &)* É ), É ." É " . É /É 0# )-É )(.,)0 ,-3ĹťÉ /.É #'*& mented during the semester after the professional fraternity’s expulsion. “3. All professors and teaching assistants must go through a mandatory a “Diversity and Implicit Bias Programâ€? to address the problematic and oppressive conduct against marginalized students by faculty. Professors have been active enactors of micro- and macro-aggressions along with and in addition to students. For example, students have reported being asked invasive discriminatory questions about their race and skin color by faculty. Such aggressions also include the failure of teachers to hold students accountable for oppressive behavior towards other students within the classroom. Additionally, Chancellor Syverud and the Board of Trustees need to also participate in this training, so they can be aware of necessary things to consider when planning ways to serve the entire campus community.â€? It is unclear if the university has introduced faculty-wide diversity and implicit # -É ., #(#(!ĹşÉ (É ." É 1 %É . ,É ." É " . É Tau videos controversy, the College of Engineering and Computer Science (()/( É ." .É ." É (Ɖ-É ,-"#*É Team would participate in mandatory #0 ,-#.3É ., #(#(!É ), É ." É ( É ) É ." É 2017-18 academic year. The college’s day&)(!É , ., .É 1)/& É &-)É É 0). É .)É diversity training. see demands page 15
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Hundreds of pages of Jeffers detail a back-and-forth bet the Theta Tau videos an
By the Daily Ora
the daily
1
DOCUMENT 1 Students involved in the videos argued against their SU suspensions in a variety of ways, including that the “skit” was never intended to be seen by anyone outside of the Theta Tau house, court records show. DOCUMENT 2 Many respondents were found not responsible for violating code of conduct Sections 1 and 10 and guilty for violating sections 2, 3 and 15 of SU’s code of conduct, court records show. DOCUMENT 3 A video that was not released by The Daily Orange is detailed. In the first scene, several respondents simulate sexual activity. In the second scene, respondents enact a gym scene where one respondent places his groin in another respondent’s face, according to court records.
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Timeline: Theta Tau-related lawsuits against SU, officials APRIL 22, 2018 Bobby Maldonado, Syracuse University’s Department of Public Safety chief, announced in a campus-wide email that DPS and the Student Affairs office filed complaints against 18 people present in the Theta Tau videos. Maldonado said the students were removed from academic participation out of an “abundance of caution” and concern for the university community.
APRIL 24, 2018 Four prospective members and one brother of the Theta Tau professional engineering fraternity filed a lawsuit against SU, claiming the university rushed to name them as “criminals” in an attempt to “malign the students personally” to salvage SU’s reputation, according to court records. M AY 4, 2018 Chancellor Kent Syverud announced in a campus-wide email that conduct hearings
will be held within the following week for the 18 students charged for their connection to the Theta Tau videos. A letter to the editor sent to Syracuse.com by the fraternity said the 18 students were charged by the university with causing or threatening physical harm to persons, harassment and violation of SU’s drug and alcohol policy, among other things. M AY 9, 2018 The conduct hearings for the 18 students
began in the College of Law, three weeks after the fraternity was initially suspended by the university. JUNE 18, 2018 An attorney defending SU in the April 24 lawsuit filed a motion to require the public release of the five students’ names in court documents. JUNE 28, 2018 A federal judge denied five students involved in the Theta Tau videos requests for a prelimi-
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DOCUMENT 4 In the SU board’s rationale for determing punishment for respondents, the board listed several factors, including the nature and severity of the conduct and the impact the videos had on the community, according to court documents. DOCUMENT 5 Many respondents claimed that the University Conduct Board could be biased. Several students involved in the videos said a faculty member had already been terminated because of his response to the videos, records show. DOCUMENT 6 Other objections that students involved in the videos had with the conduct process included that they said the SU board considered videos that were not released to the public when determining sanctions and that the students appeared together in their hearing, court records show.
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nary injunction that would wipe a disciplinary notation from their SU transcripts while the university considers appeals on their student conduct violations.
of SU’s Theta Tau fraternity, for conduct violations in connection to the Theta Tau videos-possibly allowing him to return to campus on disciplinary probation.
JULY 9, 2018 Four students involved in the Theta Tau videos controversy joined the April 24 lawsuit against SU, bringing the number of students anonymously suing the university to nine.
Ten students involved in the Theta Tau videos filed a second lawsuit against the university. According to court records, a New York state judge signed an order temporarily prohibiting SU from enforcing disciplinary action against the students until a Sept. 19 court hearing.
AUGUST The university reduced the initial suspension of Tyler Vartabedian, the former vice regent
SEPTEMBER Lawyers for the nine students suing the uni-
versity in federal court filed a motion to drop the April 24, 2018 lawsuit. SEPTEMBER 10, 2018 A judge in the April 24, 2018 federal lawsuit against SU denied the university’s motion to require the nine students suing to be publicly named in court documents. SEPTEMBER 12, 2018 The hearing in the state lawsuit was adjourned, allowing at least two students to return to campus until mid-October.
SEPTEMBER 18, 2018 A federal judge denied SU’s request to halt the state lawsuit filed by 10 students involved in the Theta Tau videos. OCTOBER SU’s Theta Tau engineering fraternity sought to reverse its permanent expulsion from the university in Jefferson County Supreme Court. JANUARY 7, 2019 A state judge upheld the suspensions of 18 SU students involved in the creation of the controversial Theta Tau videos last spring.
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‘This is forever’
KAREN DAVIS, interim assistant dean of inclusive excellence, has spearheaded the College of Engineering and Computer Science’s diversity and inclusion initiatives since her appointment in September 2018. She has worked at SU since 2004. corey henry staff photographer
2021 semester. Shiu-Kai Chin, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science and facilitator for aren Davis’ office sits in the some of the dialogues, has a long history of social corner of Link Hall, with a large justice — teaching “Alternatives to Violence” window facing the College Place workshops at Auburn Correctional Facility in bus stop. Day and night, students the 1990s, for example — and serves on Interwave at her as they pass by. Some throw Faith Works’ board of directors. pebbles at the window to get her attention. Chin said facilitators pay attention to In April 2018, students in the college moments of silence, when people might be demanded change after the expulsion of Theta uncomfortable, because that’s where the most Tau, the professional engineering fraternity learning takes place. One part of the dialogues chapter at Syracuse University. Then-College includes a privilege walk, where participants of Engineering and Computer Science Dean stand in a line and move forward or stay behind Teresa Dahlberg appointed Davis as interim assistant dean to lead a new office depending on their answers to questions about their experiences. that would examine the college’s diversity and culture: the Office of Inclusive At the end of the courses, participants are asked to set attainable goals of how Excellence. Davis has worked at SU since 2004. they can improve moving forward. In the past year, Davis has overseen the creation of the Inclusive Excellence Miguel Aguilera, president of SU’s Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Council, a group of students, faculty and staff from various is currently enrolled in one of the dialogues. He also serves on the departments and organizations. The council conducted a collegeInclusive Excellence Council. wide diversity audit and created a dialogue course designed to The dialogues allow students, faculty and staff to have meanbring together students, faculty and staff. ingful about race, gender and discrimination, as A deep look into well asconversations “A deep look into our culture was something that we really had learn how to discuss these issues in the workplace, Aguour culture was to do,” Davis said. “We had to listen to people, to hear people’s ilera said. concerns and understand what type of treatment they felt they “For me the biggest issue is communication,” he said. “The something that we were receiving.” biggest reason Theta Tau happened is that people felt comfortable really had to do. The council worked with InterFaith Works — a Syracuseenough to say those things despite knowing those people exist.” based organization that aims to build understanding among Serving on the council are the presidents of other cultural Karen Davis people of different religions and races — to create the dialogue organizations: the National Society of Black Engineers, the Sociinterim assistant dean of inclusive excellence sessions, offered as six-week elective course, ECS 400 or 600. ety of Women Engineers and the Society of Asian Scientists and The dialogues first build trust and common ground between the Engineers. Davis said each of the students acts as a liaison, relayparticipants, then go deeper into discussions of privilege to create understandings ing student concerns and informing them about the council’s plans. between people of different backgrounds, Davis said. Aguilera, a senior chemical engineering major, said he now feels more empowInterFaith Works has trained 29 people in the college to work as facilitators, ered to bring his concerns to the college’s dean or other upper-level administraDavis said, and 135 people have participated in the circles so far. All of the front- tors. Davis being appointed interim assistant dean showed Aguilera that the end staff on the first floor of Link Hall have gone through a dialogue session. Davis college was taking issues of diversity seriously after Theta Tau’s expulsion, he said. has set a goal to have 500 people volunteer for the course by the end of the spring Chin said the college followed the saying, “Never waste a good crisis.” By Casey Darnell asst. news editor
K
Karen Davis is creating long-term plans for the College of Engineering and Computer Science to diversify its faculty, staff
see engineering page 14
theta tau 2019 11
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‘Moved by the movement’
Students formed the Recognize Us movement on April 18, the day of Theta Tau’s initial suspension. The movement organized protests with hundreds of students outside Chancellor Kent Syverud’s house, in Hendricks Chapel and in Schine Student Center. A year later, Recognize Us is now inactive. dan lyon asst. photo editor
Participants of Recognize Us reflect on efforts to keep their activism alive By India Miraglia and Natalie Rubio-Licht the daily orange
L
Recognize Us advocated for minority students and called for a review of Syracuse University Greek life organizations and culture last year. dan lyon asst. photo editor
ast fall, roughly two dozen students gathered in front of Hendricks Chapel to protest Syracuse University’s handling of the Theta Tau videos controversy, almost five months after the fraternity was expelled. They held signs reading “all power to the students” and “fund scholarships not frats.” The protestors also listed demands for the university: funding for advocacy and resource centers on campus, implicit bias training, a “cluster hire” of employees of diverse backgrounds. The demands were what was left of a longer list, and the protestors were what was left of a larger movement — Recognize Us. Recognize Us emerged as a social movement at SU after the release of videos showing people in the Theta Tau fraternity’s house engaging in behavior that Chancellor Kent Syverud has called “extremely racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, sexist and hostile to people with disabilities.” The coalition advocated for minority students at SU and works to address systemic issues of race and discrimination at the college. “Recognize Us took advantage of the uproar on Theta Tau and tried to push that towards social change,” said senior Quincy Nolan. “At the end of the day, it was aimed at any student concern that was voiced.” Recognize Us protested on April 20, 2018 to express their grievances over the university’s response to the fraternity’s video. That began with a two-hour sit-in at Schine Student Center, where the group presented a list of demands to Chancellor Kent Syverud directly — including that Theta Tau be expelled and the university hold a town hall with Syverud, the Board of Trustees, administrators and deans in attendance. The day after the Schine protest, Syverud announced the see movement page 13
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photo illustration by talia trackim digital design director
Objection Students involved in Theta Tau videos said there were conflicts of interest in code of conduct board hearings By Gabe Stern
asst. news editor
A
t a code of conduct hearing in May 2018, a former student involved in the Theta Tau videos said he had a problem with the fairness of the Code of Student Conduct process. Chancellor Kent Syverud had already called the videos “extremely racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, sexist, and hostile to people with disabilities.” The ex-brother, referred to as “John Doe,” was worried about the influence of the university on his University Conduct Board hearing. “I feel that there may be a conflict of interest,” John Doe stated in state court documents. “The Board may be worried about losing their jobs if they were to render a verdict that was not in the Chancellor’s favor.” SU initially suspended 18 students involved in the Theta Tau videos for one to two academic years. According to court
filings, 14 students appealed the University Conduct Board’s decision to suspend them. In their appeal, several students claimed that procedural error had a detrimental impact on the outcome of the hearing and that the Board misinterpreted university policy to the extent that they denied a fair hearing, court records show. Ten of the suspended students also went on to sue SU in Jefferson County state court in August, claiming that SU didn’t follow Code of Student Conduct rules when suspending them. They filed their lawsuit as an Article 78 proceeding, a provision of New York civil law that challenges an organization’s internal review process. The students objected to numerous aspects of their university conduct hearing, including the addition of seven videos as evidence that were not released to the public, their separate cases being tried together in one hearing and the role of the University Conduct Board adviser and Board alternates, according to court records.
see hearings page 14
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from page 11
movement fraternity’s permanent expulsion from SU in a video distributed through a campus-wide email. A town hall was held, where Recognize Us presented a second list of demands. Junior Iris Guzman said that the energy felt “different” at the protest in the fall. The initial popularity of Recognize Us was caused by the anger surrounding the Theta Tau incident, Guzman said. Once that anger subsided, the popularity did too. “Some people see the hype of the moment and some people just want to be part of something that’s going on,” Guzman said. “When you see a massive crowd of students, you want to walk with them. This year it was literally like 10 of us. We were just being loud. But we’re still here.” Now a year later, Recognize Us is inactive, said Nolan, who was one of the original participants in the movement.
Some people see the hype of the moment and some people just want to be part of something that’s going on. When you see a massive crowd of students, you want to walk with them. This year it was literally like 10 of us. Iris Guzman
junior recognize us protester
“Being students, it gets tiring really quick,” Nolan said. “Activism work in general is completely unpaid, and it’s very emotionally taxing. We aren’t professional activists. We’re students. It was too exhausting.” Nolan said that Recognize Us was not sustainable. Because it was a single entity representing many different students, it created disagreement internally and became a “problematic space,” they said. Junior Raymond Perez said Recognize Us struggled to remain an entity representing many groups of students because activists cannot speak on behalf of groups that they do not identify with. “You can only serve (those groups) by advocating for the spaces so that they can advocate for themselves,” Perez said. First-year graduate student Sam Norton said they think the administration had predicted the momentum of Recognize Us would slow down. “This is something that comes again and again with student activism,” Norton said. “They know that a lot of experienced organizers graduate, and people leave.” Despite a lack of Recognize Us protests, the momentum has not been lost, said junior Elise Marlin. She said that, due to the stress of college, it is hard to bring people together at all. “When it comes down to it, it’s just an individual thing if you were moved by the movement,” Marlin said. “I know that I was, and my momentum hasn’t changed.” Recognize Us brought a lot of attention to the work of individual advocacy groups on campus, Nolan said. They said that Recognize Us should be remembered for the work of the students. Nolan said Recognize Us opened up more discussions about topics that might have otherwise been ignored by the majority of the student body. Many students who participated in Recognize Us are working on activist efforts within smaller groups on campus that existed prior to the movement, Nolan said. They said the individual efforts of the students in these smaller groups keep the mission of Recognize Us alive. “There was a lot of good that came out of (Recognize Us). I just think I don’t know how sustainable any all-encompassing student movement is,” Nolan said. “It becomes more efficient, more beneficial and less oppressive to try and boost each other’s activist efforts.” irmiragl@syr.edu | @IndyRow nrrubiol@syr.edu | @natalierubio_
QUINCY NOLAN (LEFT) AND LIAM MCMONAGLE, two SU students, led a Recognize Us protest in September 2018 with about two dozen people. Their signs read “student power” and “decolonize your curricula.” alexandra moreo senior staff photographer
A protester created a sign that read “Abolish frats,” with the “o” stylized to look like the Greek letter Theta. Consultants conducted a review of SU’s Greek life in fall 2018 and SU released those results in January 2019. alexandra moreo senior staff photographer
Protesters at the September rally said they were disappointed with the university’s response to Theta Tau. Students demanded additional funding to resource centers on campus and implicit bias training for all faculty and staff. dan lyon asst. photo editor
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from page 6
audits classifies new types of hazing. It also holds individuals and organizations accountable to required institutions to publish antihazing policies and hazing violations. Penn State also created the Timothy J. Piazza Center for fraternity and sorority research and reform, pledging $2 million toward it, she said. The university extended its Responsible Action Protocol guidelines, which protects students who are intoxicated and encourages them to seek help from another student. The changes now protect students who help intoxicated individuals. “We are optimistic about the initial progress being made and remain committed to focusing on student safety and wellbeing for all students,” Hottle Robbins said.
BLOOMSBURG UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania published an external review of its Greek life in January 2018. The review involved an analysis of prior reports, interviews with students and community members and takeaways from a forum for students involved in Greek life. Dione Somerville, vice president for student affairs at Bloomsburg, said there was no particular incident involving fraternity or sorority members that created a need for the report. Greek life philanthropy and community service were one of the report’s most positive findings, Somerville said. Issues with Greek life outlined in the report included inconsistent chapter advising and poor tracking of Greek life membership data within the student information system, she said. The consultants recommended restructuring the university’s Greek life office and adjusting hazing policy to specify who can report conduct violations. The reorganization of Bloomsburg’s Greek life office is a similar recommendation to SU’s report, which suggested improving FASA’s organizational structure. Bloomsburg’s review found 25 formal complaints alleged against members of Greek life organizations for violations of Bloomburg’s Student Code of Conduct between 2012 and 2017, according to the report. About half of the complaints concerned hazing, while the others involved sexual misconduct, fighting, illegal pledging and substance abuse, per the report. Of the examined cases, two students were suspended and eight were placed on probation. Only 10 of the cases could be formally reviewed, as some complainants chose to remain anonymous, leading the consultants to conclude that there is “reasonable speculation” that conduct violations are underreported. “One of the recommendations from the consultants was to review our hazing policy, which we did,” Somerville said. She added that, after the report was conducted, the Piazza law was passed, further shaping the university’s hazing policies and procedures. As part of the law’s requirements, Bloomsburg now publishes and updates cases of hazing to its website every six months. Behavioral incidents were briefly discussed from page 12
hearings They also expressed concern about the impartiality of SU during their hearing process. For many Code of Student Conduct hearings at the university, SU’s conduct board is comprised of university-employed faculty who are trained to determine a student’s punishment objectively, said Christopher Burke, director of Student Legal Services who was a procedural adviser to multiple students. The cases they often see include disorderly conduct, smoking cannabis and underage drinking, Burke said. The board for the Theta Tau-related hearing was made up of non-tenured faculty, according to court documents. This made the students question whether the board could be impartial if the board members were under the employment of Syverud, who had publicly expressed his disapproval of the content of the videos, court records show. “The first person to make this complaint was the chancellor himself,” Burke said. “The students raised the question ‘How can you be
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in the SU report, with no data given on the number of incidents reported over any particular time period. The Bloomsburg data report also found that 9.5% of the university’s 1,166 Greek life members in 2017 were students of color, while 61.4% were white. More than 30% of students did not state their ethnicity. Additionally, the report found that 22 students were involved in multicultural Greek chapters. SU’s review found their Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Council combined had 4,081 members. The National PanHellenic Council, National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations and the Multicultural Greek Council have 163 members combined. Members of SU’s multicultural organizations said they felt marginalized within the Greek community, according to the report. The report did not specify the demographics of Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Council members. Somerville said the review “provided a road map for us to move forward, to make improvements to our Greek community,” adding that the scope of the consultant’s research “helped create an awareness of the needs of our Greek life community.”
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON
The University of Wisconsin-Madison conducted an external review of their Greek life system from March 31 to April 4, said Assistant Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life Maggie Hayes in an email to The D.O. The review team members have not been confirmed, Hayes said. “While we know that many students have positive experiences, we also know that there are challenges nationally and at UW-Madison,” she said. Hayes said the report will help fraternities utilize best practices that follow national trends of Greek life reform and increase student safety. The Theta Chi chapter at UW-Madison was recently suspended from the university due to drug and alcohol violations. Five fraternities are unrecognized at the university, and four have been expelled since 2015. Hayes said the report will investigate six areas: accountability, diversity and inclusion, institutional relationship, membership experience, resources and support and student safety. She added that reviewing diversity and inclusion will assess community climate for underrepresented students, programming and institutional support. When reviewing diversity and inclusion, SU’s external review found that members of multicultural Greek organizations detailed instances of microaggressions and cultural appropriation. UW-Madison will review student safety by evaluating current programs and policies related to alcohol, drugs, sexual violence and hazing, Hayes said. SU’s report found that affiliated students mentioned some underlying concerns with hazing, including sleep deprivation, extreme exercise and emotional abuse. It said that students requested training around bystander behavior, identifying hazing and creating “alternatives to hazing behavior.” esfolts@syr.edu | @emmafolts irmiragl@syr.edu | @IndyRow
impartial if the chancellor’s signature is on your paycheck?’” The students also collectively claimed that Syverud’s communications to the university — including emails, statements and condemnations from him — negatively impacted the community’s reaction to the conduct portrayed in the videos. Court documents show that Jackie Dorchester, the board’s chairperson, said in her response to the students’ concerns that the board is made of a group of trained volunteers. The volunteers had experience in student conduct hearings and had served on the University Conduct Board for between two and five years. “The Board members are neutral and impartial; having no prior connection to or relationship with the parties or the facts,” the documents stated. SU’s University Conduct Board did not respond to an online request for comment through the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities. Several procedural advisers for students and every member of the con-
from page 10
engineering Dahlberg moved quickly to establish the Office of Inclusive Excellence, appoint Davis and bring in InterFaith Works to create the dialogue course, he said. “We were in a crisis,” Chin said. “I’m not glad for what happened, but I am glad for the response.” Dahlberg left the college in March to become vice chancellor and provost of Texas Christian University. She said in an email that she decided to partner with InterFaith Works after listening to the SU community call for a more inclusive culture within the college. She said creating a position that addresses diversity and inclusion will help retain more diverse faculty and students. “People start coming and knocking on my door and say, ‘Can I give you a suggestion? I have a suggestion,’” Davis said. “That means they bought in, and that means they’re on the train. It’s not only me on that train anymore.” Several students in the college said their main concern about the college relating to diversity and inclusion is the lack of women professors and professors of color. Elizabeth Tarangelo, a senior bioengineering major, is a volunteer for Engineering Ambassadors, a program that brings SU students to schools in the Syracuse City School District. Tarangelo serves on the Inclusive Excellence Council, and worked on the diversity audit conducted last fall. The audit showed something everyone already knew, she said: the college did not have many women faculty members, and white and Asian men were represented disproportionately to the student body in some departments. Women represent only 12.5% of tenured professors and 26% to 28% of tenure-track assistant and associate professors, according to data compiled by the Inclusive Excellence Council. There are no women professors at the distinguished professor or university professor level, and no women run research centers in the college. But Tarangelo said another fact was much more surprising to her. “Women professors have slightly more credit hours that they’re teaching than men, but their research is vastly underfunded in comparison to male professors,” she said. In 2018, the average funding for research by men professors in the college was $298,000. For women professors, the average was $66,000. One of the council’s recommendations is to create more opportunities for women to run research centers so women professors can receive more sponsored funding for their research, Tarangelo said. The council also plans to develop a climate survey specific to the college and evaluate the college’s hiring and promotion processes. When Tarangelo first joined the council, she was frustrated because she wanted more immediate change, she said. “Now students are being listened to and people feel they can make a change,” she said. “Progress is kind of slow, but when you’re changing things that regard administration and different policies, it does take a while.” Adia Gist, a sophomore chemical engiduct board for the hearing did not respond to requests for comment. After the fourteenth student’s initial appeal to the university itself, the University Appeals Board found that the university had followed its standard procedures. “Having reviewed all the above-mentioned items in the case file, the UAB finds that there was no procedural errors, or errors in policy interpretation. As a result, the sanctions determined by the UCB were justified and appropriate,” the UAB determined. In the state lawsuit, Jefferson County Supreme Court Judge James McClusky ruled in January that the university had “complied with (its) procedures” in its suspension of the 10 students who had sued. McClusky had previously allowed at least two students involved in the state suit to return to SU and enroll in classes. In January, an attorney representing the students in the state lawsuit told Syracuse. com the students plan to appeal the judge’s decision. Nine students are also suing SU in federal court for a reversal of their suspensions and $1 million each in damages. That
neering major, said she sees the college is trying to be more inclusive. She gets Davis’ emails about the dialogues and the Inclusive Excellence Council. The culture, though, still feels the same to her — she often has classes where she’s the only woman of color, or there is only one other black student. She said the college needs more professors and advisers of color. “Definitely if I had more professors of color, I would feel more comfortable going to them to ask for extra help,” Gist said. Yezully Retana-Moran, a senior aerospace engineering major, said she has seen students of color in the college struggle academically more often than their white peers — with some staying an extra year to finish their studies. She said this might happen because they don’t feel comfortable going to their peers for help, or they didn’t know other people with similar backgrounds were in their major. Her department only has two women professors, she said. “I’m a Latina from Central America. I’m from the other side of the country, so I didn’t know anyone here,” Retana-Moran said. “Upstate New York is primarily Caucasian from my experience. When I got into the school, not only was I a girl, but it was culturally very different.” The college sent people to the National Society of Black Engineers conference in March to try to recruit doctoral graduates, Davis said. To recruit more diverse candidates, Davis also plans to reach out to organizations like the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers when positions are open. “It’s about widening your search. You can’t just put a search out there and take whoever you get,” Davis said. “You have to put more effort towards outreach in other areas, and that’s what we’re doing.” A model roller coaster sits on filing cabinets in Davis’ office. On Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day several years ago, a group of women engineering students at SU guided girls in elementary school to build the model. The group that built the rollercoaster in Davis’ office sat so close to another group that one of their parts was taken by accident. They managed to put it together anyway. Davis said she’ll never get rid of the model because there are so many stories to tell from it. “And that was just a bunch of women that put that together, a bunch of young girls,” she said. Davis said events such as Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day show kids from underrepresented backgrounds that they can become an engineer if they want to. Before she came to SU, Davis worked as a recruiter for Carrier Corporation, the heating and air-conditioning company for which the Carrier Dome is named. She often went to City College of New York to recruit students. The education there costs less, and the school has less resources, she said. On one visit, the students had a question for Davis: “You know why we’re the best students, Karen? Because we do so much with so little.” cdarnell@syr.edu | @caseydarnell_
lawsuit was ongoing, as of January. On the SU campus, both Student Association and the Graduate Student Organization are working to develop initiatives and standards to assist students going through the University Conduct Board process. In March, SA and the university’s Student Legal Services created an internship program in which SU students can provide aid and support to students in Conduct Board hearings. GSO President Jack Wilson has recently pushed to give students more rights in Code of Student Conduct hearings. Wilson is particularly focused on making it so a procedural adviser can speak on behalf of the students, he said. Burke said currently only procedural advisers can consult with students. “It’s supposed to be a friendly process but that same group of people asking you questions in this friendly process has the power to suspend you,” Wilson said. “That’s going to be intimidating, that’s going to be scary.” Both GSO and SA have condemned actions in the videos of the Theta Tau fraternity. gkstern@syr.edu | @gabestern326
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from page 7
demands “4. Useful responses must be put in place to service individuals who are victims of sexual assault on SU Campus, and to better train the student body so we are not enabling the perpetuation of sexual violence. This includes the replacement of ItsOnUs with a more in depth educational mandatory first year training. ItsOnUs student org production is an ineffective follow up from the online sexual assault training, mainly because issues of assault are engaged as laughing matters. This discourages students from taking their conduct seriously, and enables participation in the sexist culture that taints the Syracuse University community. This helps to explains why sexual assault is such a rampant occurrence on our campus. Additionally, better provisions must be created to employ more Title IX officers and make filing reports of assault an easier and more timely process. There must be a larger investment into expanding the Counseling center, with more counselors, necessarily including diverse faculty, as well as larger and more inclusive programs. This will undoubtedly serve not just sexual assault victims but will aid the well-being of the entire campus community.� SU’s chapter of It’s On Us, a national campaign and cultural movement aimed at changing discussions about sexual assault, still operates on campus. SU announced extended Counseling Center hours in January 2018, prior to the Theta Tau videos controversy. The university also hired three new Counseling Center staff members, including two staff therapists, in summer 2018. “5. Syracuse University must be accessible to all students, staff, faculty, and community members. This means all campus buildings, such as the LGBT Resource Center, must be made accessible to disabled individuals and to all other marginalized identities. When new buildings, restructuring or construction is planned, accessibility must be a foundational requirement. This also means there needs to be a central-
In September 2018, Recognize Us protesters marched from the former Theta Tau fraternity house to Hendricks Chapel, where they highlighted demands they said university officials had not met. dan lyon asst. photo editor
ized budget set for students, staff, and faculty to acquire accommodations, such as but not limited to American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Real-time Translation (CART), for meetings and events.� It is unclear what part of SU’s budget is set aside for student, staff and faculty accommodations. The LGBT Resource Center, which was previously located on Ostrom Avenue, moved to Bird Library before the start of the spring 2019 semester and will eventually be located in the renovated Schine Student Center. “6. Syracuse University must cluster hire more faculty of marginalized identities, specifically but not only disabled people, people of color, women, people with vary-
ing religious beliefs, LGBT+/ queer people, and immigrants. Students have continually shared the rare instances in which they have engaged professors and faculty who identify similarly has resulted in the most meaningful and uplifting experiences. Also, students have shared how detrimental it has been to exist in learning environments where faculty is predominantly white, and often time lacking consideration for their livelihood and perspectives. This has manifested in innumerable instances where professors have been the enactors of racially oppressive violence upon student bodies. In addition to better training current Syracuse University professors, it is necessary to hold professors accountable for the ways they have been discriminating against students throughout the years. This
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will undoubtedly create a more comfortable campus environment; diverse faculty will attract a diverse student body.� SU announced in fall 2018 that it would hire 53 faculty as part of its Cluster Hires Initiative. It is unclear if race is the main factor in the university’s cluster hiring. But Syverud’s Academic Strategic Plan included creating a more diverse student body as one of the key elements to improving the student experience. The Academic Strategic Plan was first submitted to SU’s Board of Trustees as a draft in May 2015. In January 2019, Syverud announced that the university would hire 200 people through its Signature and Cluster Hires Initiatives. jmulle01@syr.edu