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The Daily Orange talked to two Syracuse University professors about the recent Ebola outbreak and how it could affect the United States. Page 3
Syracuse soccer allowed a goal for the first time in three and a half weeks, but escaped with a 2-1 home win over Albany on Tuesday night. Page 20
The Syracuse University Marching Band is raising $35,000 to travel to Pittsburgh to perform during the football game. Page 11
All access As colleges, cities add more genderneutral bathrooms, SU lags behind
university senate
Senators to vote on resolution By Sara Swann staff writer
By Maggie Cregan
The University Senate will vote on a resolution on Wednesday reaffirming the need for academic freedom at universities following the firing of a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Steven Salaita had his appointment at U of I revoked after he tweeted his critical opinion of Israel’s conduct in Gaza. As a result of this violation to Salaita’s academic freedom, political science professors and university senators Mark Rupert and Margaret Susan Thompson will introduce a resolution calling on U of I to honor Salaita’s contract as well as reaffirming SU’s commitment to academic freedom. The resolution also “calls upon Chancellor Wise and the Board of
staff writer
I
t seems like a simple enough system: there’s the men’s restroom, and the women’s restroom. For some, it’s not clear why there’s a need for gender-neutral restrooms on campus. But a lack of these restrooms can force many members of the Syracuse University community to endure anxiety-inducing social situations, go out of their way to find a proper restroom or avoid using the restroom altogether. Like SU, universities and cities across the country are actively installing gender-neutral bathrooms to be more inclusive. In December 2012, SU alumna and then-student Erin Carhart conducted a study of SU’s gender-neutral restrooms. Of 137 restrooms in 17 of the campus’s most-trafficked buildings, she found that only eight restrooms were single-occupancy and available to all genders. That’s less than six percent. Rachel Fox von Swearingen, co-chair of the University Senate’s Committee on LGBT Concerns, said that she was shocked about the few available gender-neutral restrooms on campus, given SU’s five-outof-five-star ranking from the LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index. “I wasn’t aware that we did not have very many gender-inclusive bathrooms on campus,” she said. “It says something like, ‘Well, we have this great rating, but we’re not actually invested in watching out for those people.’”
what is the aaup? The American Association of University Professors is an organization of about 47,000 professors across the United States with the purpose of advancing academic freedom and shared governance.
The need The list of people who would benefit from having more single-occupancy, gender-neutral bathrooms on campus is “surprisingly long,” said Bryan McKinney, the LGBT Resource Center’s graduate assistant. That list includes not only transgender people but also anyone who identifies as gender-nonconforming or is perceived as gender-nonconforming. Other people who would benefit are parents with young children and people with certain physical disabilities, since single-occupancy bathrooms are more spacious and allow caretakers of another gender to accompany them. Many of SU’s dorms, including Lawrinson and Dell Plain halls, have single-occupancy bathrooms available to either gender. But for students spending long days on campus, the lack of gender-neutral bathrooms continues to pose a problem. For many people who need or prefer gender-neutral restrooms, McKinney said the lack thereof can be “anxiety-inducing,” in addition to the obvious physical discomfort and potential health consequences of “holding
illustration by tony chao art director
it,” like urinary tract infections. The lack of gender-neutral restrooms makes trans members of the SU community, and others who don’t identify within the strict gender binary, “feel like they’re
see bathrooms page 4
Trustees to honor the contract of Professor Salaita or to demonstrate, via (American Association for University Professors) recognized procedures of academic due process, that termination is warranted.” “People need to be free to express themselves in controversial or unpopular topics,” Thompson said. “Where do you draw the line? The line is always moving. I don’t think it should be drawn at all.” According to the AAUP, academic freedom entitles teachers see usen page 10