In an email to the campus community on Wednesday night, the Syracuse University administration released its final written response to the demands and grievances of THE General Body.

In the document, the university addresses both the issues raised by the demands document, as well as responses previously submitted by both the administration and THE General Body. THE General Body is a coalition of student organizations, which has maintained a presence in the lobby of Crouse-Hinds Hall since Nov. 3 following the Diversity and Transparency Rally. In its response on Wednesday, the administration addressed several key issues, including changes to the university’s mission and vision statements, divestment, the closing of the Advocacy Center and changes to the Posse program.

The administration stated in the document that “it further commits that participation in the occupation of Crouse-Hinds Hall will not result in sanctions through the Code of Student Conduct, the Code of Ethical Conduct, or other disciplinary policies.”

THE General Body also called for more transparency with changes in student services and university policy. In its original response, SU said it would do better in terms of communication and said it is putting a policy communication strategy in place. THE General Body said it wanted to see the proposed strategy and have a say in it. In the administrative response on Wednesday night, the administration said one of the Operational Excellence workgroups is currently developing new policies around communication processes.

One of the most pressing topics over the course of the sit-in has been the proposed changes to the mission and vision statements. The Board of Trustees met last week and voted to approve the draft version of the statements. In its response Wednesday night, SU said Syverud has committed to opening a one month period for additional feedback for the mission and vision statements.

For the last several weeks and during the sit-in, members of THE General Body have asked Syverud to apologize for the closing of the Advocacy Center. In the document, the administration said the SU Clery Report, which will be reported at the end of the academic year, “suggests that many survivors of assault and abuse have been using the new collaborative unit of resources on campus.” The response says that by bringing together services, the administration has increased the services offered to SU students. The administration also said the Sexual Violence, Prevention, Education and Advocacy Workgroup is looking at the services and will submit its findings early in the spring semester. The findings will be communicated through the Student Association and Graduate Student Organization, according to the document.

In the email sent Wednesday night, Syverud said: “Finally, on behalf of Syracuse University, I apologize to those who have experienced stress and anguish owing to the process and communications regarding decisions made on issues important to members of our community. In particular, I apologize that decisions about the Advocacy Center, as well as the Posse Program, have caused this to occur.” Syverud said that he “sincerely tried to engage and seek opportunities for students, faculty, staff and alumni to provide their thoughts and opinions on these important issue,” but said that he recognizes that “some in our community have felt left out, and I regret that.”

In addition to Syverud’s remarks about the Posse program, Deborah Bial, founder and president of the Posse Foundation sent a message Wednesday night to current SU Posse scholars. In the message, she said that she has spoken with Syverud, and that the chancellor is committed to Posse. She added that Posse is working closely with SU on the matter, and that “the best suggestion I have is for you to get back to classes.”

In the document, the administration said Ben Ware, dean of the Graduate School, Lou Marcoccia, executive vice president and chief financial officer and Eric Spina, vice chancellor and provost, support and will advocate for an increase of the minimum graduate assistant stipend by 7 percent for the 2016 fiscal year. The increase would raise the stipend to $13,910.

There were also several issues in the document that the university and THE General Body reached an agreement on. Areas where the two sides were in agreement included:

– Development of intersectional trainings

– Reinstatement of the “This is My Story” first-year student event

– Enforcement of disability accessibility and performing an expedited search for an ADA coordinator

– Setting up a meeting between Divest SU and the Socially Responsible Investment Matters Committee and relevant parties to begin fossil fuel divestment

– Committing to maintain funding and support for Inclusive U over the next 10 years

Published on November 12, 2014 at 11:52 pm

Contact Justin: jmatting@syr.edu | @jmattingly306