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David Bruen, president of Syracuse University’s Student Association, would be the first person to tell you that his campaign platform is ambitious. It’s supposed to be, he said. 

But even so, Bruen, along with SA Vice President Darnelle Stinfort, is having more trouble than expected getting SU administrators to take their ideas into consideration.

“In talking to administrators, with our ambitious goals, they are quick to say no,” Stinfort said. “It’s a give and take because we don’t have unlimited resources.”

Upon launching their presidential campaign last spring, Bruen and Stinfort proposed a 26-point platform which outlines a number of promises including advocating for freezing tuition. While they have been able to make progress on smaller parts of the platform over the summer break, they are less hopeful about their marquee issues, which Bruen said will be harder to accomplish.

Bruen and Stinfort have had productive discussions with administrators on issues such as the Department of Public Safety reform, especially with Chief Bobby Maldonado, the SA leaders said. But Bruen feels like the university is not taking climate issues seriously. 

Their “Green New Deal for Syracuse University” plan encourages the university to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions by 2026 instead of the already promised date of 2040. It also calls on the university to expand community service requirements for graduation, make changes to food services to make foods more sustainable and promote transparency of sustainability policies and actions.

“The university doesn’t want to recognize that they have the biggest responsibility here (for sustainability),” Bruen said. “Giving us reusable bags is not enough to save the environment. The climate crisis is not an issue of personal responsibility. Large institutions and organizations, like universities across America, have to be putting in the work to address the crisis, not just individuals.”

The platform also proposes a fixed tuition program, locking in tuition for students when they enroll so it will not increase over time. Bruen and Stinfort intended for the proposal to be a built-in compromise, but they have also seen little-to-no consideration from administrators and the Board of Trustees, Bruen said.

Bruen has not been able to discuss policy with the Board of Trustees since he became SA president, he said. As the most visible student leader, he wants a say in board meetings to ensure that students’ opinions are heard.

“They don’t want a real student voice on the Board of Trustees,” Bruen said. “It’s very delineated what your role is (as a student) on the Board of Trustees. … They don’t even want a half of a vote of a student to be involved, and it’s really disappointing.”

The university denied Bruen and Stinfort’s allegations of uncooperation. SA leadership is scheduled to meet with both representatives of the Board of Trustees and newly hired student experience administrators this upcoming week, said Sarah Scalese, senior associate vice president for university communications, in an email statement.

While discouraged, Bruen and Stinfort still hope that future meetings with administrators can be more productive. Proposing a large and ambitious platform is the best strategy to start discussions and create compromise on a wide range of issues, Bruen said.

“Compromise is our main goal because at the end of the day, we’re only here for four years,” Bruen said. “Ultimately, we have to be outcome-oriented, so the whole year is working to start as many conversations as we can and hopefully get as many accomplishments as possible.”

Published on September 5, 2021 at 10:33 pm

Contact Nick: nickrobertson@dailyorange.com | @NickRobertsonSU