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THURSDAY
feb. 18, 2021 high 27°, low 21°
t h e i n de p e n de n t s t u de n t n e w s pa p e r of s y r a c u s e , n e w yor k |
dailyorange.com
Stranded stateside
VIOLET WEN (LEFT) AND IRIS YANG are two of many international students at SU who had to choose between staying in Syracuse or face difficulties returning home. emily steinberger photo editor
Chinese international students had to choose to pay the cost of returning home during a pandemic or stay at SU
By Francis Tang staff writer
I
ris Yang has not been home since fall 2019. Yang, a sophomore in the School of Information Studies who is originally from twhe Guiyang, Guizhou Province in China, booked her roundtrip flights for summer break in January 2020, shortly before the coronavirus pandemic hit the United States. But as the Chinese government began reducing international travel to prevent the spread of the virus, her flights were canceled before the semester ended. When she tried to book another flight, the average price had already gone far beyond what she could afford. Many Chinese international students at Syracuse University have tried to head back home since the university canceled in-person instruction in March, see international page 4
national
COVID-19 disrupts plans for new Washington building By Chris Hippensteel
asst. digital editor
W hen Sy racuse Universit y announced that it was going to sell the Greenberg House — its long-standing headquarters in Washington, D.C. — officials hoped to announce the acquisition of a new building in the district at the same time. Instead, the university’s plans to replace its aging center of operations in the capital fell victim to the COVID-19 pandemic, said Steven Bennett, SU’s senior vice
president for academic operations. “The timing was distorted by COVID,” Bennett said. “We wanted to announce the sale and announce the opening of this new center at the same time. But it just didn’t make sense anymore to do that.” Before the pandemic, the university settled on replacing the Greenberg House by leasing a new space in downtown Washington, closer to a think tank that hosts some of its largest programs. But COVID-19 and its impact on the district’s real estate market has
halted those plans, university officials told The Daily Orange. SU purchased and renovated the Greenberg House for $2.5 million in 1988, according to university archives. Property records in Washington indicate that the building was assessed to value about $5.4 million in 2021, an increase of over $100,000 from last year’s assessment. Over the years, the building has helped host and support Washing ton-based programs for the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, the
Newhouse School of Public Communications and the College of Law, among others. SU had myriad reasons for selling the house. The building was too large and cost too much to maintain, despite hosting only one or two employees at a given time, Bennett said. The Greenberg House also didn’t provide adequate space or parking capacity for alumni events and other gatherings. Perhaps the most significant reason for closing the Greenberg House was its lack of accessibility, Bennett said. The building, a
four-story walkup with no elevator, didn’t comply with Americans with Disabilities Act standards, and the cost of renovation would have nearly exceeded the value of the house itself, he said. Although the house used to host classes on-site, as SU’s programs grew in the Washington area, programs began to meet virtually or in other spaces. “The Greenberg House served a terrific purpose for 30 years, but at this point, it was almost a victim of its own success,” Ben see washington page 6