thursday, dec. 7, 2023
celebrating 120 years
N • Dorm details
free
C • Freshly baked
A week after SU’s Board of Trustees approved converting the Sheraton into a dorm, a spokesperson said it will primarily house second-year students.
As you prepare your Thanksgiving meal, consider making this delicious Rosemary garlic pullapart bread, for the whole family to enjoy.
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Seeking Clarity
In Syverud and Ritter’s message cancelling a teach-in on Palestine, there was no exact mention of what the event was or who was hosting it. Organizers were frustrated with SU’s response.
For the event, the Africa Initiative invited Rabab Abdulhadi, an associate professor of ethnic studies at San Francisco State University. The teach-in was set to take place in Sims Hall. meghan hendricks senior staff photographer
By Kyle Chouinard
I
managing editor
n an Oct. 31 campus-wide email, Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud and Provost Gretchen Ritter wrote that, due to “security concerns,” a teach-in with a “Middle Eastern studies scholar” would not go on that day as planned. Student organizers with the Africa Initiative — who planned the teach-in on Palestine — and African American studies professor Horace Campbell said they took issue with the way the university handled the event, believing its response to safety concerns highlighted SU’s difficulties with academic freedom. Campbell wrote in a memo obtained by The Daily Orange to Amy Kallander and Thomas Keck, the co-chairs of the Committee on Academic Freedom, Tenure and
Professional Ethics in the University Senate, that for over a year, students had been asking that the Africa Initiative hold a session on Palestine. After Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, students came to Campbell’s office with questions about the war and its context, he wrote. One organizer involved with the initiative, an SU graduate student who wished to remain anonymous for their safety, said students believed there was a lack of education contextualizing the Israel-Hamas war. “We were receiving a lot of messages from students, some in person, saying that they need to understand what was going on in the Israel-Palestine conflict in terms of the history, the politics of it, the international relations aspect of it,” the graduate student said. “That’s how we came to organize the event itself.” The group, along with the Black Graduate Student Association and the African Gradu-
ate Student Network as co-sponsors, invited Rabab Abdulhadi, an associate professor of ethnic studies at San Francisco State University. The teach-in was originally scheduled for 4 p.m. on Oct. 31 at 319 Sims Hall. After a flyer for the event was sent on the Middle Eastern studies Listserv, Campbell wrote that “immediately, there were hostile responses, one in a clear threatening tone from a ‘student’ organization on campus.” Three organizers connected to the event confirmed people received threatening messages after the flyer started to circulate. “They were basically telling us that we should focus on other things (in) Africa,” the graduate student said. “The Pan-African movement has always had a connection with the struggle in Palestine. So, teaching on Palestine is not outside the Pan-African context.” On Nov. 1, after the initial event was set to take place, Campbell said the FBI.
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on campus
Students express confusion on content of faculty panel By Roxanne Boychuk asst. news editor
Students condemned organizers and panelists at Syracuse University’s third “Faculty Panel on Navigating Polarizing Discourses” Wednesday afternoon, saying the event’s description did not align with its actual content. Students referenced the event’s description, which states that the
“conflict in the Middle East continues to impact (SU’s) campus,” and that the panels are intended to explore “topics related to academic freedom and to pedagogy.” Prior to the attendees’ questioning, the panelists did not mention the Israel-Hamas war. The Office of Academic Affairs held the panel — which featured three faculty members alongside
mediator Jamie Winders, the associate provost for faculty affairs — in room 228 of the Schine Student Center. The panelists discussed how to manage difficult and relevant conversations in the classroom. Winders structured the panel by discussing how the professors identify polarizing topics, implement them into curricula, guide the conversations and acknowl-
edge emotions and discomfort that arise in the classroom. “There’s strong emotional investments and many different aspects with these debates,” Winders said. “So, when you sit down to map out a course or to think about a course discussion, a potentially polarizing topic, where do you start?” The organizers and panelists said they were expecting the attendees to
be mostly faculty, but the turnout was mostly students. Adia Santos, a graduate student studying public diplomacy and global communications, said students need to “continuously engage” with faculty about topics of concern such as the IsraelHamas war. She said students require more faculty awareness of see panel page 4