April 25, 2018

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WEDNESDAY

april 25, 2018 high 54°, low 41°

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 • iSchool forum

School of Information Studies officials discussed what constitutes “offensive” actions during a forum on Tuesday morning in the wake of the Theta Tau expulsion. Page 3

S • Fit to play

Who is Syracuse? Syracuse see pages 6-7 Chris Forster

dailyorange.com

Ryan Patel

SU tennis player Gabriela Knutson came to Syracuse with potential, but it took her a few tough losses to realize that fitness was holding her back from being a star. Page 12

Greek leaders discuss proposed fraternity, sorority audit and whether it would reveal

on campus

‘What truly goes on’

Protester forcibly removed By Casey Darnell design editor

Several fraternities and sororities are located near Walnut Park, which is just north of Syracuse University’s Main Campus. SU has started a review of Greek life and policies on campus following the expulsion of Theta Tau. hieu nguyen asst. photo editor

By Catherine Leffert, Sam Ogozalek and Daniel Strauss

L

the daily orange

eaders of Greek organizations at Syracuse University have differing views over how effective a proposed audit of fraternity and sorority chapters will be following the permanent expulsion of Theta Tau. In the wake of campus-wide outrage after The Daily Orange published videos showing Theta Tau fraternity members using racial slurs and miming the sexual assault of a person with disabilities, the university has announced a “top to bottom” review of Greek life and policy. Student Association President James Franco has also called for an “audit” of Greek culture at SU. “It definitely was something that had been discussed before the Theta Tau incident. And it was supposed to hap-

pen from what we heard, and we’re not sure about this, but it was supposed to happen going into the fall,” said SA Vice President Angie Pati on Tuesday night. “I think Greek like can improve in a lot of ways.” In a statement on Tuesday, a university spokesperson said SU’s review has already started and will focus on “diversity and inclusion,” leadership development and hazing prevention, among other things. There are more than 50 officially recognized fraternities and sororities at SU. “We definitely know from all the forums that the video wasn’t a one-time thing. It just happened to have occured on video,” Franco said. “We know there are things that happen every day that may not be egregious as that, but definitely are harmful to a lot of students’ experience at Syracuse.” Experts said audits of Greek culture are not unusual in the United States and can identify issues of hazing and see audit page 4

theta tau

Whitman hosts forum after Theta Tau expulsion By Andrew Graham sports editor

Whitman Dean Eugene Anderson and students discussed diversity issues in Syracuse University’s business school and proposed the creation of an “assistant dean of institutional culture” during a forum in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management on Tuesday afternoon. Starting at 1:30 p.m., the forum was attended by roughly 50 people, about half of whom were faculty. It was the second forum Whitman

has hosted since the permanent expulsion of the Theta Tau professional engineering fraternity. Videos published by The Daily Orange last week showed Theta Tau fraternity members using racial slurs and miming the sexual assault of a person with disabilities. After the forum concluded about 45 minutes earlier than originally scheduled, Anderson outlined the job description of a possible assistant dean of institutional culture in an interview with The D.O. The new dean is “a person who is supposed to be really driving the

fostering of a culture of belonging in this school,” Anderson said. He said the new dean would be responsible for fixing faculty diversity issues; addressing diversity training for orientation leaders and incoming students; and examining how diversity topics are included in Whitman’s curriculum. “Those are some of the tactical, specific things we’re going to try and do to increase representation (of) faculty of color,” Anderson said. The proposal for that position was included in a strategic plan for Whitman presented to SU in

December, Anderson said, and also appropriated for in Whitman’s budget. The budget was submitted to the university last month, Anderson said. He also said that he plans to personally oversee the process of hiring each future Whitman faculty member to ensure that candidates from underrepresented groups are given a chance to hold a position. Anderson said the goal is to not only hire faculty that will represent the cwurrent students in Whitman, but faculty who can see forum page 4

An anti-Israel protest of about 20 people ended Tuesday afternoon with a protester being forcibly removed from Eggers Hall by a Syracuse University Department of Public Safety official. John Sardino, associate chief of the department’s law enforcement and community policing division, forcibly removed protester Ariel Gold from the building after she and others chanted in the main Eggers stairwell for several minutes. The group had initially gathered outside the building to protest a talk by Dani Dayan, Israel’s consul general in New York City. “I gave them an opportunity to clearly communicate their message, and after that I asked them to leave, they were cooperative and left the building without an incident,” Sardino said while walking away from Eggers. “I escorted one woman from the building, yeah, she

see protest page 4

theta tau

Diversity concerns addressed By India Miraglia staff writer

Hundreds of Syracuse University students attended a forum hosted by the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications on Tuesday to discuss how the school can better improve its diversity requirements, in the wake of the Theta Tau fraternity videos published by The Daily Orange last week. The forum, held in the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium, was led by Newhouse Dean Lorraine Branham. A total of about 300 campus community members attended the event. At the forum, Branham said “the fraternity incident has a silver lining. It has really forced all of us to look at ourselves.” She added that the Theta Tau videos have pushed people to talk about what they can do to change the campus’ environment. On Friday, Branham sent a listserv email condemning the actions see diversity page 4


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April 25, 2018 by The Daily Orange - Issuu