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Journalist Maria Ressa accepted the Tully Award for Free Speech at a ceremony Wednesday after being arrested for her reporting on the Filipino government. Page 3
Syracuse men’s lacrosse head coach John Desko has installed a new offensive approach in his team’s most recent four-game winning streak. Page 12
SYRACUSE 2019 SEE PAGE 6
student association
Several professors of color question SU’s diversity, inclusion initiatives and urge for a
Structural push A
t the start of the fall 2018 semester, Syracuse University held a welcome reception for faculty of color on campus “as a way to show our attention and respect for affinity groups,” said Keith Alford, interim chief diversity officer. The goal was to affirm the multiple identities that exist on campus, he said. Tula Goenka, a professor of television, radio and film, remembers the reception. It involved a display of faculty profiles taken from their web pages, accompanied by a slideshow. Goenka was one of the 10 to 15 faculty members there, she said — the rest were administrators. “It was pathetic,” Goenka said. “I know colleagues, dear friends of mine who refused to go.” Faculty of color are expected to be present at any event or service related to diversity and inclusion, and it can get exhausting, she said. Still, Goenka went to the reception to show the university that while she didn’t feel their efforts, in this case, were adequate, she
Story by Colleen Ferguson and Cydney Lee the daily orange
Illustration by Audra Linsner asst. illustration editor
acknowledges that administrators did make an attempt to celebrate SU’s faculty of color. In more than a dozen interviews with The Daily Orange, professors from racially and ethnically underrepresented backgrounds had mixed feelings about the university’s approach to diversity and inclusion roughly one year after Theta Tau’s expulsion rocked SU’s campus. While some commended the administration’s efforts, others said the university could be more tenacious moving forward with its programming, initiatives and faculty hiring processes. In April 2018, videos surfaced showing students in Theta Tau’s house engaging in behavior Chancellor Kent Syverud called “extremely racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, sexist, and hostile to people with disabilities.” Since then, Alford said SU has become more conscious of diversity, inclusion and accessibility on campus. About two weeks remained in the spring 2018 semester when the Theta Tau videos surfaced. One year later, Alford said he believes “we have moved the pendulum forward.” Almost every school and college across campus has formed its own diversity and inclusion workgroup in the last year, Alford said. Those
workgroups are tasked with addressing issues related to the treatment of community members from underrepresented backgrounds. These committees meet on a monthly basis as part of the Inclusive Leadership Assembly. The assembly, chaired by Alford, is composed of faculty and staff from each committee. At their monthly meetings, they discuss best practices and exchange ideas, he said. Jill Hurst-Wahl, a professor in the School of Information Studies, said she understood why the university acted so quickly to try and mitigate the tensions on campus, but this wasn’t entirely a good thing. “In some ways, since April, I think the university has moved too fast,” she said. “There wasn’t an opportunity for the conversation and the actions to happen naturally and to ensure that all voices were heard.” It takes time to develop trust so people can be open in spaces like first-year forums or diversity trainings, Hurst-Wahl said. With the university acting so quickly, the campus community didn’t have much time to reflect, she said. Seyeon Lee, a professor at the School of Design in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, also questioned the swiftness of SU’s response. Lee has been teaching at SU for three years and has only recently noticed “extreme emphasis” on diversity and inclusion programs, she said. “Since that happened, everybody is talking about (diversity and inclusion),” she said of Theta Tau’s expulsion. “It definitely has been a highlighted conversation, so that makes see initiatives page 8
city
Syracuse wins $3M grant for tech industry By Gillian Follett staff writer
Syracuse will use a $3 million grant to boost its technology industry and provide job training for city residents. JPMorgan Chase awarded the grant as part of the Advancing Cities’ initiative that provides financial resources to cities struggling to achieve economic growth. The granted money will be used for the Syracuse Surge plan Mayor Ben Walsh announced in January, said Dominic Robinson, the vice president of economic inclusion at CenterState Cor-
porate for Economic Opportunity. The Surge includes a series of projects to revitalize the city’s economy and expand its tech industry. Several organizations worked together on the granted application, including the city of Syracuse, Onondaga County, Syracuse University, Le Moyne College and the Allyn Family Foundation. Meg O’Connell, the executive director of the Allyn Family Foundation, said that Syracuse currently has thousands of unfilled jobs, many of which are in the technology field. A key portion of the granted money
will be used to create educational opportunities for city residents so they can be hired for these jobs, she said.
We can have a lot of growth in Syracuse in the drone industry and the tech industry. Meg O’Connell the allyn family foundation executive director
That growth and that economic opportunity is only going to be truly transformational for the city of Syracuse if it’s an opportunity for all, O’Connell added. Syracuse will also use the money to attract and grow technology business, as well as to increase diversity in the city’s technological fields, according to the JPMorgan Chase website. As part of the grant, Le Moyne College will receive funding for its Erie 21 initiative, William Brower, vice president of communications and advancement at Le Moyne, said.
see grant page 8
Campaign violated SA bylaws By Gabe Stern
asst. news editor
Student Association’s Board of Elections and Membership Committee found junior Eduardo Gomez’s campaign for comptroller in violation of bylaws after an individual associated with the campaign spread falsified information to influence the election, according to an SA report.
99
Number of votes by which Stacy Omosa won
Gomez’s campaign was suspended at 11:35 p.m. on April 11, the last night of SA elections, according to an email sent by Sophia Faram, BEM chair. Faram announced Gomez’s suspension only 19 minutes before polls closed. An individual connected to his campaign “slandered an opponent in order to gain an unfair advantage,” she said. The suspension was the outcome of a full BEM investigation into Gomez’s campaign. BEM’s investigation finished April 11, and the report was released on Tuesday. The report does not name the opponent that was slandered. Junior Stacy Omosa was the only comptroller candidate besides Gomez. The investigation’s report said that an individual connected to Gomez’s campaign spread falsified information to members of SU’s Greek life community over campus media platforms and message forums to give Omosa a negative reputation in SU’s Greek life community, according to the report. The individual spreading the message was not a direct member of Gomez’s campaign staff, but had a close enough connection to the campaign for his actions to be in violation of SA’s bylaws, according to the report. The report said that the falsified information was sent to “unfairly alter the outcome of the Comptroller election.” The campaign was found guilty of breaking three SA bylaws: in SA elections cannot threaten, intimidate, bribe or coerce on behalf of any campaign. a campaign to unfairly alter the election will disqualify candidates from office. and organizations are responsible for the actions of their staff during the campaign. gkstern@syr.edu