A panel of faculty and administrators moderated a student discussion on racial and diversity issues in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs on Friday in response to the Theta Tau fraternity’s suspension.

SU suspended Theta Tau after videos containing what Chancellor Kent Syverud called “extremely racist” behavior were confirmed to have been created by the organization. SU refused to release the videos, but The Daily Orange obtained recordings of the videos and published one Wednesday night.

At the forum, which was moderated by Maxwell Dean David Van Slyke, students expressed their concerns about the video and what they said is a lack of resources available for academic help.

Students said administrators aren’t giving students enough opportunities to speak about issues facing the campus community. They said they believed the forum was called in response to an incident, and a forum wouldn’t have happened otherwise.

“(It’s) absolutely unfortunate that we’re having this discussion in response to an incident as opposed to proactively in the absence of an incident,” Van Slyke said. “We know there is a larger systemic form of issues that are not changing.”

Multiple students raised concern about Maxwell professors they said are difficult to speak with. Chizobam Nwagwu, a senior policy studies major who is a student representative on SU’s Board of Trustees, said some minority students had interactions with Maxwell professors who they said were “deterring” them from wanting to advance in Maxwell programs.

“There were people of color in my class who were very outspoken about wanting to be a part of potentially advancing,” Nwagwu said. “I felt as if many of those students were discouraged to voice their perspectives.”

Nathan Shearn, a junior anthropology and Russian double major, expressed similar displeasure with the school’s outreach to LGBTQ communities. He said he hoped to find support at SU but overheard discriminatory language in his first semester at the university.

“I heard a group of men using the ‘f’ slur,” Shearn said. “It immediately made me feel scared (and) upset.”

Dan Lyon | Staff Photographer

He and others said they were discouraged by accessibility to resource centers on campus, adding that the LGBT Resource Center was “almost off campus.”

Before the forum, a panelist set up a box for suggestions from community members. Attendees asked what would be done with the comments in the box. Van Slyke said the suggestions will be reviewed.

“Our goal is not to read them, talk about them, put them back in the box and not communicate them,” Van Slyke said. “It’s really important to have the feelings that have been expressed here: A lack of trust in the broader institutional leadership to bring about lasting change.”

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MORE COVERAGE:

• Students take over Schine atrium for sit-in protesting SU’s handling of Theta Tau suspension
• Syverud: SU will start ‘top to bottom’ review of all Greek life policies, activities and culture
• SU chapter of Theta Tau says video depicts a ‘satirical sketch’
• Students protest Theta Tau videos outside Chancellor Kent Syverud’s house

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Published on April 21, 2018 at 12:33 am

Contact Michael: mmcclear@syr.edu | @MikeJMcCleary