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A year after #NotAgainSU began protesting Syracuse University’s handling of hate incidents on campus, students of color at Syracuse University have mixed feelings about whether the campus climate has changed. 

While some students of color said the university has made progress in creating a safer and more inclusive environment for students from marginalized backgrounds, others said SU still hasn’t adequately addressed racism and systemic bias within the institution.

Gaelyn Smith, a graduate student studying television, radio and film, said much of SU’s response to demands from #NotAgainSU and other student groups seems performative. SU seems more concerned with projecting an image of understanding than creating tangible change, she said.

“I think SU does a really great job of ‘we see you, we hear you, we’re listening,’” Smith said.

#NotAgainSU twice occupied university buildings during the 2019-20 academic year as more than 30 racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic incidents were reported at or near the university. The movement, led by Black students, presented a series of demands to administrators that spanned a variety of issues facing students from marginalized groups. The university has begun to implement some.

The movement succeeded in increasing students’ awareness about systemic racism at SU, even if the university hasn’t implemented substantive changes, Smith said.

“I don’t think now people can walk around on campus and say, ‘I didn’t know those things happened here,’ because it was so clear that they do,” Smith said. “It raised a level of awareness, but I think on a structural level, and students facing positions and systems, a lot hasn’t changed.”

#NotAgainSU said that the university has “done little” to change the campus climate. Hannah Ly | Staff Photographer

Sean Dorcellus, a senior broadcast and digital journalism major, feels SU officials have been working to improve conditions for students from marginalized backgrounds on campus.

Dorcellus is a student member of SU’s Council on Diversity and Inclusion, a group that provides feedback about the campus climate. The council was one of the first recommendations of the Chancellor’s Workgroup on Diversity and Inclusion, which was tasked in fall 2015 with developing solutions for creating a more diverse and inclusive campus culture at SU. Syverud announced the 2020-21 members of the council on Nov. 3.

“I feel as though the university is making the efforts required to make our campus safer and more inclusive for students from marginalized communities,” Dorcellus said. “There is more work to be done, of course, but I think that the leadership team has SU headed in the proper direction.”

#NotAgainSU said in a statement to The Daily Orange that the university has “done little” to change the campus climate.

“While they continuously send out updates about how they’re improving the campus and making sure they update the ‘Campus Commitments’ website, students of color, specifically Black students, feel no more safe now than they did last year,” the group stated.

Students and faculty have continued to speak out about racism at SU this academic year.

In August, students and faculty condemned the actions of chemistry professor Jon Zubieta, who used derogatory language against Chinese, international and Asian American students on a course syllabus when referring to the coronavirus. The professor is now on administrative leave. SU Drama students are also still in discussions with university officials after 684 students signed a call to action alleging “pervasive institutional racism” within the department. 

During the summer, a series of Instagram accounts launched that allowed SU students of color, LGBTQ students and other students of marginalized backgrounds to anonymously share their experiences with racism, homophobia and discrimination at SU.

SU officials need to do more to build trust with current students, said Tayla Myree, a member of #NotAgainSU who graduated from SU in spring 2020. The university’s poor record of handling protests has interfered with that, she said.

“I think that’s the problem is that there’s no trust, and they’re not doing anything to really help build trust,” Myree said. “There needs to come a time when they get it, and hire people that get it and listen and collaborate with students and also create a trusting relationship between students and the administration.”

Published on November 15, 2020 at 9:54 pm

Contact Michael: msessa@syr.edu | @MichaelSessa3