April 2, 2018

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free

MONDAY

april 2, 2018 high 47°, low 33°

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 |

N • Spiritual focus

Hendricks Chapel leaders say Syracuse University is adapting as students redefine modern spirituality and explore nontraditional religious identities. Page 3

dailyorange.com

P • Increasing awareness

O • Time’s up

Syracuse University students on the autism spectrum are working to combat misconceptions of autism in honor of Monday’s World Autism Awareness Day. Page 7

Gender and Sexuality columnist C.C. Hendricks recognizes the influence of the #MeToo movement on Sexual Assault Awareness Month this April. Page 5

S • A new team

Fifteen years after playing on Syracuse’s only men’s basketball championship team, Craig Forth has rebranded himself as “Mr. Forth” for his teaching career. Page 12

on campus

student association

Suspended SU student claims bias in lawsuit

Candidates prep for 1st presidential debate

By Jordan Muller

news editor

By Sam Ogozalek

asst. news editor

A Syracuse University student placed on indefinite suspension for sexual misconduct filed a lawsuit against the university last Monday, claiming the investigation into the complaint was biased against him. The plaintiff, referred to only as “John Doe” in court documents, claims he was wrongfully suspended for a September 2016 act of consensual sex that was considered sexual assault by SU. Doe claims his accuser, referred to as “Jane Roe,” changed and fabricated parts of her account of the sexual encounter during the university investigation that ultimately found Doe guilty of misconduct. Doe also claims “inadequate procedures” employed by SU, its Board of Trustees, Chancellor Kent Syverud and other university staff members led to an erroneous guilty verdict. Doe’s lawsuit — the third reported against SU during the 2017-18 academic year with a plaintiff accusing the university of a bias against men when handling a sexual misconduct investigation — comes as colleges nationwide grapple with how to internally investigate and adjudicate sexual misconduct complaints. Some people, including Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, say Obama-era policies guiding colleges’ handling of sexual assault complaints unfairly treat men accused of misconduct. Sarah Scalese, associate vice president for university communications, said in a statement on Saturday the university takes every alleged incident of sexual violence “extremely seriously.” “The University’s process to adjudicate sexual assault allegations is fully guided by federal and state law,” she said in the statement. “Per University policy, we do not comment on the specifics of any pending litigation.” Only Doe’s account of the sexual encounter that led to his suspension is in the March lawsuit. According to court documents, Roe performed consensual oral sex on Doe — then a second-year student — in the common area of Roe’s dorm suite after they left a party together in September 2016. Roe suggested they continue the sexual encounter in her bedroom and asked her roommates to leave, per the complaint. A student witness to the encounter said it was “pretty clear what they were going to do and [Roe] seemed okay with it,” according to the lawsuit. Roe and Doe then engaged in see lawsuit page 4

Candidates campaigning for Student Association president plan to better detail what they would do if elected during the spring’s first SA debate on Monday at 7:30 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium. At present, three students have declared their candidacies for president: Kaitlyn Ellsweig, a junior political science and economics dual major; John Jankovic, a sophomore political science and psychology dual major; and Ghufran Salih, a sophomore information management and technology.

Kaitlyn Ellsweig

Easter Sunday FATHER GERRY WATERMAN helps a Hendricks Chapel congregation renew baptismal vows by sprinkling holy water during the afternoon mass Easter Sunday. Dozens of people attended the Easter masses held at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. paul schlesinger staff photographer

on campus

SU alum returns to LGBT center By Caroline Colvin senior staff writer

khristian kemp-delisser is coming full-circle. Following the departure of Tiffany Gray in October, kempdelisser has been appointed director of Syracuse University’s LGBT Resource CenKEMP-DELISSER ter. Their first day is on Monday. And just like Rob Pusch, the center’s interim director over the past few months, kempdelisser was a part of the 2001 committee that transformed the LGBT Resource Center from a proposal to a reality. “Emotionally, it’s like going home,” said kemp-delisser, who graduated from SU in 2001. “But at the same time, it’s extremely different. It’s been 17 years. I wouldn’t expect anything to be the same after all of that time.”

The bluish-grey LGBT Resource Center house on Ostrom Avenue is a hub for SU’s queer community. Regularly, students who walk up to the center can find a pride flag fluttering from its front porch. Inside is an office space, a kitchen and a living room. Comfy couch seating, shelves lined with queer films and TV shows on DVD, and an all-encompassing rainbow mural. Twenty years ago, this center of programming and opportunities for LGBT-identified students wasn’t nearly the case, kemp-delisser recalled. They said SU’s LGBT climate was good but “burgeoning” in the late 1990s. kemp-delisser had to figure out their identity as best they could with limited resources. “I tend to be an experiential learner who likes to immerse myself into projects that I take on,” kemp-delisser said. “So, it was a personal project of really trying to find myself as a freshman.” Beyond coming out, kempdelisser had a tough time finding a core group of friends, they said.

“I didn’t fit that. I wasn’t a skinny, white boy from an affluent background who liked to party,” kemp-delisser said. “Nevertheless, I did find that there were nerds who were gay. And there were pop fans who were gay. There were really academic but also fun-loving, party-school people who were all a part of our community.” kemp-delisser joined Pride Union and learned more about what it meant to belong to an LGBT social group, they said. It marked the beginning of kempdelisser’s career in improving LGBT campus life. In their junior and senior years, though, kemp-delisser became frustrated with the lack of racial diversity in SU’s visible LGBT community. By then, they had been elected Pride Union president. “I had to be at those meetings because I was an officer,” kempdelisser said. “But at the same time, I would be like, ‘Oh my God, it would be easier if there were see kemp-delisser page 4

Ellsweig said she and Ryan Houck, her vice presidential running mate, want to discuss international student support on Monday night. “We keep hearing that international students want more resources,” Ellsweig said. A recent University Senate budget report noted concerns about the Slutzker Center for International Services’ budget remaining stagnant while international student enrollment has increased by more than 130 percent in the past 11 years.

John Jankovic

Jankovic said he and Serena Fazal, his running mate, want to address gender neutral bathrooms during the debate. The presidential candidate said that, if elected, he would hope to implement an initiative that pushes the university to create more gender neutral bathrooms. SU is currently installing allgender signs at more than 700 singleoccupancy bathrooms on campus. Jankovic also said he wants to improve physical accessibility in some spots of campus, such as the section of stairs between Schine Student Center and Bird Library.

Ghufran Salih

Salih said she and her running mate, Kyle Rosenblum, want to discuss some effects of SU’s $100 million Invest Syracuse fundraising initiative on Monday. The plan includes a $3,300 tuition premium for new first-year and transfer students starting school this fall. The university’s total cost of attendance is projected to be north of $70,000 next year. Salih said she and Rosenblum would push SU to release a specific, detailed cost report of how Invest Syracuse funds are being spent. “Right now it’s a lot of broad buzzwords being used,” Salih said. “It’s really important for students to know what they’re paying for.” sfogozal@syr.edu


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