SUNY-ESF held a forum Tuesday for students, faculty and administrators to voice their concerns in response to hate crimes and bias incidents occurring at or near Syracuse University.

Around 150 students, faculty and administrators gathered in Marshall Auditorium to attend the forum, hosted by SUNY-ESF’s Undergraduate Student Association and other organizations. At least 12 hate crimes and bias-related incidents have been reported to SU’s Department of Public Safety since Nov. 7.

Students at the forum discussed unintentionally offensive comments made toward them while on campus. Some students choked back tears, saying they felt unsafe. Others said faculty and administration have not done enough to address the hate crimes and bias-related incidents, while students are overworking themselves.

 “I’m not angry at ESF or SU, but I’m angry at the people in power who are not doing anything,” one student said. 

SUNY-ESF Junior Donnella Monk and another SUNY-ESF junior shared a list of demands created by students with administration present at the forum. Interim president David Amberg was among the administrators there. 

The demands included an expanded space for the college’s Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Equity and a curriculum that accommodates students with a language barrier. Students and staff should be required to attend mandatory diversity and inclusivity forums every semester on the SUNY-ESF or SU campuses, according to the demands presented. 

#NotAgainSU, a movement led by black students, has protested in SU’s Barnes Center at The Arch since Nov. 13 at 10:30 a.m. The sit-in began in response to racial slurs found on the fourth and sixth floors of Day Hall. SUNY-ESF students have also participated in the sit-in.

The university should provide vehicles and escorts between 6 p.m. and 8 a.m. for SUNY-ESF students participating in the protests, the junior who presented the demands said. Students are in just as much danger as SU students because perpetrators target minorities no matter what school they are from, she said. 

“They don’t know we’re ESF students when we walk across the campus while going home,” she said. 

Mandatory diversity training is necessary because students and staff tend to accidentally offend a member of a different community without knowing it, a SUNY-ESF sophomore said. People who get offended usually feel uncomfortable in calling people out who say something wrong, he said. 

Kiara, a SUNY-ESF student, said people at the college have made hurtful and culturally insensitive jokes to her. She’s had to explain many times why those jokes are inappropriate and is tired of repeating herself. She encouraged the audience to call out their friends when they say something offensive. 

Amberg advised students that the best course of action is to rally around the targeted individuals.

“I trust that SUNY-ESF is a loving community, and now it’s time to let that shine,” he said.

No SUNY-ESF student has been directly targeted to Amberg’s knowledge, he said. Monk raised her hand in disagreement. “A white supremacist followed me on social media this morning,” she said. 

Malika Carter, SUNY-ESF’s chief diversity officer, introduced an anti-bias professional development training series to students and staff starting prior to fall 2020. The series would have three levels: diversity, inclusion and ethnic. “Take the time to refresh yourself on what the community is experiencing on a daily basis, not just the nearest crisis,” she said.  

Lemir Teron, an assistant professor of environmental studies, said the issue is about institutional inequality. He always asks people at this university, “Who the last black woman at this institution to get a full, associate and assistant professorship?”

For the past few years, no one has been able to articulately answer that question, he said. Teron’s statement was followed by applause. 

Erin Tochelli, academic advisor for the environmental studies department, said while these incidents are taking place on SU’s campus, they still deeply impact SUNY-ESF students who walk there every day. 

“We cannot separate what is happening across the street from us,” she said. “We need to stop thinking that this is not an ESF problem.”

Published on November 19, 2019 at 11:38 pm

Contact Abby: akweiss@syr.edu | @abbyweiss_21