Editor’s note: This article contains details about the usage of racial slurs. 

Chancellor Kent Syverud provided several updates on the string of racist and anti-Semitic incidents on or near Syracuse University’s campus in a brief speech to the University Senate on Wednesday.

Here are three takeaways from Syverud’s remarks. 

Reports of white supremacist manifesto spread via AirDrop “probably a hoax”

The chancellor said it appears that reports of a white supremacist manifesto being sent to students late Monday night via AirDrop were “probably a hoax.”

The Department of Public Safety said Tuesday morning that the manifesto, a 74-page screed written by the suspected Christchurch mosque shooter, was allegedly AirDropped to students at Bird Library. A link to the manifesto was also posted on a discussion board on Greekrank.com. 

Syverud repeatedly apologized for SU’s response to the “alleged Internet attack,” saying the university “did not have a team in place that could deal with it effectively.”

“To date, law enforcement has not been able to locate a single individual who directly received an AirDrop,” Syverud said. “Not one.”

“It was apparent that this rumor was probably a hoax, but that reality was not communicated clearly and rapidly enough to get ahead of escalating anxiety.”

In his speech, Syverud did not mention the Greekrank.com post.

Tayla Myree, a member of the #NotAgainSU movement who attended the meeting, later criticized Syverud’s use of the word “hoax” to describe the incident, pointing to the PDF shared on Greekrank.com. 

“I have personally reported what we saw on that forum,” Myree told senators. “It’s not false information. I have screenshots of that post. … It’s not a hoax.”

Students suspended over College Place incident

Four SU students have been placed on interim suspension for involvement in a racial verbal attack near College Place that was reported to DPS late Saturday.

Those students are not on campus and are not in classes, Syverud announced. A total of 14 people leaving an Alpha Chi Rho, “Crow,” fraternity party were involved in the incident, he said. 

Syverud said several students from other schools outside of central New York were in the group. He said the “most aggressive” of those students is affiliated with Rutgers University. 

The chancellor said the non-SU students have been “referred for appropriate discipline,” including at the colleges they attend.

“The entire case has been referred to the Onondaga County District Attorney. The New York State Police’s Hate Crimes Task Force has been partnering with us and we’re working with the New York State Division of Human Rights on this matter,” Syverud said. 

In a campus-wide email Saturday, DPS initially said that a “large group of individuals,” including members and guests of a fraternity, reportedly yelled the N-word at a black woman student near College Place. 

The incident led Syverud to suspend all fraternity social activities until the end of the fall semester. Crow was also suspended.

‘One and five members’ perpetuating hate speech 

Syverud said there have been 12 cases of racist or anti-Semitic vandalism reported at or near SU over the last two weeks.

“Based off of conversations with Chief Bobby Maldonado earlier today, indications are there are between one and five members of our community perpetuating this hate speech,” the chancellor announced. He did not elaborate on what led to that assessment.

Racial slurs have been written in buildings across campus, including Day Hall, Haven Hall and the Physics Building. A swastika was found in a stairwell in Haven. 

A swastika was also found stamped into snow across the street from the 505 on Walnut, an off-campus student apartment building. 

The Daily Orange had previously counted at least 11 hate crimes or bias-related incidents on or near campus since Nov. 7.

Published on November 20, 2019 at 8:18 pm

Contact Sam: sfogozal@syr.edu | @SamOgozalek