January 25, 2024

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thursday, jan. 25, 2024

celebrating 120 years

N • Honoring a mentor

free

C • ‘Friends we choose’

After overcoming obstacles at a young age, Murjan Abdi said he had to persevere and learn to accept who he is. Now, he is helping local students connect with opportunities.

After Elizabeth Watt’s death, her best friend decided to display her photography in the same building they met in - more than 30 years ago.

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S • Her time Three SU alumni are playing in the first season of the PWHL, a groundbreaking new women’s hockey league that provides players with a stable professional option. Page 16

courtesy of the julianne strauss By Kendall Luther news editor

L liam zoghby, a sophomore in the InclusiveU program, was born and raised a devout Syracuse Orange fan, living just 10 minutes from campus. courtesy of the zoghby family

‘Bold, brave and kind’ Family, friends remember Liam Zoghby, a student manager for SU men’s basketball, as warm, passionate and considerate

iam Zoghby’s family celebrated with the rest of the JMA Wireless Dome as Quadir Copeland shot a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to beat University of Miami on Saturday. After the game, some people close to Liam told his family that Copeland wasn’t the only one responsible for the game-winning shot. “One of the assistant coaches walked up to my dad and was like, ‘that was Liam doing that,’ like that wasn’t all Copeland,” said Miriam Zoghby, Liam’s sister. Liam, a sophomore in the School of Education’s InclusiveU program and devoted student manager of SU’s men’s basketball team, died on Jan. 12 at age 22 as a result of complications from an aneurysm. Liam was born and raised a dedicated Syracuse Orange fan by his parents, Eileen and Jalal Zoghby, just 10 minutes from SU’s campus, said Miriam, a sophomore studying health sciences at The Ohio State University. “Those special things kind of have an underlying meaning to them. Even if it was just nothing and it was a buzzer beater, to our family, it was just so special because it just felt like he was there and everything was kind of going to be okay,” Miriam said. Liam and Miriam, along with their siblings Sophia and Nolan Zoghby, attended many basketball games with their parents, who Miriam said are season ticket holders. Miriam said Liam developed an affinity for watching sports games as his medical conditions excluded him from participation in sports. Liam developed DiGeorge Syndrome after being born without a small part of a chromosome, which can cause heart abnormalities and developmental delays. Liam’s medical resilience, which included open heart surgeries and infections, was a testament to his strength and bravery, Miriam said. “I think that when he couldn’t play those sports, he got really, really attached to watching them,” she said. “He was a huge basketball fan, and a huge football fan, a huge baseball fan, so I think that he automatically loved Syracuse basketball.” After graduating from Jamesville-DeWitt High School, Liam found his “perfect fit” in the InclusiveU program at SU, Miriam said. She remembers the excitement he had knowing he was a college student who was able to attend classes on SU’s campus, which he always loved. “I think that was something really special that kind of made him feel like he was … just like any other kid,” she said. see zoghby page 4

on campus

Syverud announces new name of 119 Euclid at USen meeting By Griffin Uribe Brown asst. digital editor

119 Euclid, a community and learning space for Black Syracuse University students, will be renamed “The Barner-McDuffie House” after a $1 million donation from alumna Sharon Barner, Chancellor Kent Syverud announced during Wednesday’s University Senate meeting. The building will be named after Barner, a university trustee and 1979 alumna of SU, and her husband, Haywood McDuffie. Barner, the vice president and chief administrative officer at Cummins Inc., was formerly the deputy director of the U.S. Patent and

Trademark Office in President Barack Obama’s administration. Her donation is part of the Forever Orange Campaign. “This large naming gift will support robust student-centered programming, foster a sense of belonging, promote student leadership, (and) recognize the legacy of the Black community contributions on this campus,” Syverud said. At the meeting, Syverud also announced he appointed Provost Gretchen Ritter and Senior Vice President and Chief Student Experience Officer Allen Groves to “come up with” a statement on free expression and academic freedom. Syverud first mentioned the statement at the end of the fall semester.

1M

119 Euclid will be renamed the Barner-McDuffie House following a donation from alumnus Sharon Barner for the Forever Orange Campaign.

“(Ritter and Groves) are charged with developing a proposed statement that reflects our values, reaffirms our commitment to these values, (and) is informed by recent experiences and what we’ve learned from them,”

Syverud said. Ritter said that she and her colleagues received a petition from faculty members “regarding the teaching climate on campus” and concerns about SU’s commitment to a “free exchange of ideas.” “I’m committed to further dialogue on these matters and have invited some of these faculty to meet with us so we can work together to create constructive and respectful spaces for all perspectives, and the opportunity to learn about difficult and controversial topics,” Ritter said. She said that the university will continue to “create more opportunities” to discuss challenging topics,

ensuring classrooms are welcoming environments and that people are able to communicate through differences. Ritter also provided an update on the ongoing contract negotiations with Syracuse Graduate Employees United. After SU graduate student workers unionized in April 2023, SGEU’s bargaining committee has been negotiating with the university since September. The university and SGEU came to “tentative agreements” on sick and parental leave, academic freedom, intellectual property rights as well as protections from discrimination and see usen page 5


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