February 20, 2020

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THURSDAY

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dailyorange.com

on campus

on campus

SU lifts protesters’ suspensions, Syverud says Hradsky: SU wrongly identified students By Sam Ogozalek

special projects editor

Chancellor Kent Syverud has lifted the interim suspensions filed against #NotAgainSU protesters staging a sit-in at Crouse-Hinds Hall. Syverud announced his decision at an emotional University Senate meeting on Wednesday, as faculty and students demanded that he and other high-ranking administrators better handle the demonstration.

“These students are afraid they will be arrested,” Syverud said. “Enough. I am not going to let students be arrested and forced out.” He said that members of #NotAgainSU, a Black student-led movement, can stay in the building and that he has directed the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities to drop its pending conduct cases against them. OSRR had accused #NotAgainSU organizers of violating Syracuse University’s Campus

Disruption Policy late Monday night. SU is “on the edge,” Syverud said, and community members need to take a step back for the university to continue addressing issues of diversity and inclusion raised last November. “Some of the students in Crouse-Hinds Hall are seniors,” the chancellor said. “We should all want them to be able to go to class and graduate. I want that. I want us all to remember that as a

starting point.” Syverud, though, did add a caveat. His “discretion” can only go so far, he said, and “at some point” he believes that violations of the Campus Disruption Policy should be adjudicated through the Code of Student Conduct system. But that time is not now, Syverud said. “I believe we should give more time to this process,” he said. It’s see suspensions page 4

Outside help Faculty delivered food, supplies to #NotAgainSU organizers in Crouse-Hinds Hall the daily orange

I

su sophomore

DPS had sealed off Crouse-Hinds Hall as of Tuesday morning, preventing the delivery of food and supplies from outside. emily steinberger design editor

the face of what appears to be insurmountable circumstances.” Gray was one of several faculty members who arrived at the protest Wednesday to deliver supplies and resources to students occupying the hall. Other faculty held classes outside the building. Amy Kallander, an associate professor of

history, brought a group of students from her class to the protest. The students called one of their classmates, a #NotAgainSU organizer inside the building, to come to the entrance of Crouse-Hinds. Kallander spoke to her student through a crack in the door, asking if see supplies page 6

Biko Gray professor of religion

The Graduate Student Organization discussed how to further pressure university administration hours after some graduate students began a strike. Page 3

A Syracuse University official on Wednesday confirmed that SU had mistakenly filed conduct charges against students who were not inside Crouse-Hinds Hall during #NotAgainSU’s protest late Monday night. Rob Hradsky, senior associate vice president for the student experience, said SU has corrected those errors. At the University Senate meeting on Wednesday, Hradsky said that after learning of the problem, the Office for Student Rights and Responsibilities “immediately” rescinded interim suspension letters sent to misidentified students.

Zoe Selesi

These students are being incredibly courageous, they’re enacting a significant amount of strategic brilliance and ethical rightness

N • Students strike

the daily orange

I’m just angry and frusturated that I’m being racially profiled

By Maggie Hicks and Marnie Muñoz

f there’s one thing Professor Biko Gray could tell his students occupying Crouse-Hinds Hall, it’s that he’s proud of them, and they’re braver than he’s ever been. Gray, an assistant professor of religion at Syracuse University, stood near the entrance of Crouse-Hinds early Wednesday afternoon. Several of his students have been occupying the building since Monday, he said. #NotAgainSU, a movement led by Black students, began occupying CrouseHinds on Monday at noon to continue its ongoing protests of hate crimes and bias incidents at SU. SU placed more than 30 organizers under interim suspension early Tuesday morning for remaining in Crouse-Hinds past closing. The Department of Public Safety later sealed off the building, preventing food and resources from entering. The university lifted the students’ suspensions late Wednesday afternoon. Crouse-Hinds will reopen Thursday. “I wish I could be in there,” Gray said early Wednesday afternoon. “These students are being incredibly courageous. They’re enacting a significant amount of strategic brilliance and ethical rightness in

By Casey Darnell and Sam Ogozalek

0 • Dating woes

Gender and Sexuality columnist Mallory Stokker argues that terms like ‘ghosting’ can coverup damaging or manipulative relationship behaviors. Page 5

Four people mistakenly received the OSRR letters, said Sarah Scalese, senior associate vice president for university communications, in a statement. “We regret the error,” Scalese said after the Senate meeting. Zoe Selesi, a sophomore magazine journalism major, was one of the students wrongfully suspended. She was in her dorm when Crouse-Hinds closed at 9 p.m. on Monday. Selesi participated in #NotAgainSU’s November sit-in at the Barnes Center at The Arch. But she never entered Crouse-Hinds on Monday, she said. “I’m just angry and frustrated that I’m being racially profiled,” said Selesi, who is Black. Selesi met with Dean of Students Marianne Thomson on Wednesday morning. After the meeting, she received a letter from SU that notified her that the suspension was reversed. “Due to new information learned since your interim suspension was imposed, your interim suspension is hereby rescinded, effective immediately,” reads the letter, which Selesi provided to The Daily Orange. As of about 10:20 p.m. Wednesday, The D.O. could not confirm exactly why SU sent the letters to misidentified students. When asked, Scalese did not elaborate on how OSRR made the mistakes. cdarnell@syr.edu sfogozal@syr.edu

P • Compiled memories

SU honors the late Kermit Lee Jr., the first Black graduate of the School of Architecture, through an exhibit displaying his works and photographs. Page 7

S • In remembrance

Carrie Urton McCaw, a former SU volleyball star, was a beloved mother and loyal friend. She died last Friday in a car crash, along with her daughter and two others. Page 12


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