Syracuse students call for chancellor to quit over racist incidents on campus
Protests broke out on the campus of Syracuse University in upstate New York on Wednesday night after reports that a white supremacist manifesto was sent to students’ cellphones earlier in the week.
Syracuse’s chancellor, Kent Syverud, has been under fire from students who say the university’s response to the reports and a string of other recent racist and antisemitic incidents on campus was inadequate. Amid escalating protests, Syverud signed a memorandum written by student protesters that included recommendations on how the school should respond to the alleged hate crimes and do better on diversity. However, he refused to sign up to three of the students’ 19 recommendations as written.
Syverud said the manifesto sent to students’ phones was probably a hoax. But he acknowledged the school fell short in responding to a string of racist incidents.
News of the screed – which authorities had described as an apparent copy of the one written by a man accused of killing 51 people at two mosques in New Zealand in March – had been the latest episode to shake the central New York campus this month after a series of racist graffiti and verbal slurs.
But authorities have not been able to find anyone who directly received the manifesto, Syverud told the university senate on Wednesday.
“It was apparent that this rumor was probably a hoax,” he said, “but that reality was not communicated clearly and rapidly enough to get ahead of escalating anxiety.”
A day earlier, authorities said they received reports that the document was posted in an online forum and that attempts were made to send it to students’ cellphones at the main campus library at about 11.30pm on Monday via AirDrop.
Syverud said that because of the late hour, the university was not well positioned to address the matter and the wave of alarm that quickly spread on social media. By Tuesday, city, campus and state police and the FBI were discussing the matter at a news conference.
At a campus forum later on Wednesday, student protesters who have been seeking changes to address hate and diversity called for Syverud’s resignation, and walked out when he would not promise to accept all their demands as written, according to news accounts. They marched to his house, chanting: “Sign or resign!”
There have been a dozen instances of racist and antisemitic graffiti appearing on or near campus in recent weeks, according to Syverud, who said police believe that one to five people connected to the university are responsible for the vandalism.
Authorities have also fielded reports of shouted slurs targeting Jewish, Asian and black students at the private university of nearly 23,000 students. About 8% of students are Hispanic or Latino, 7% are black and 6% are Asian, according to the university website.
Syverud on Sunday suspended a fraternity after a black student filed a complaint saying she was verbally harassed by people leaving a party at the frat the night before. All fraternities’ social events were also suspended.
Four of the 14 people involved were Syracuse students and have been suspended, Syverud said on Wednesday. He said the rest attend other schools that have been informed of the incident.
On Thursday, an 18-year-old woman was arrested after new graffiti was discovered which, “based on statements made” appears to be “intended to be in support of the campus protests”, according to a police news release, NBC News reported.
Students have staged a sit-in at the Syracuse student wellness center since November 13 with a list of demands that includes the expulsion of students for hate crimes and stronger diversity training for students and staff.
The university’s international students have also listed concerns, and about 100 law and medical students marched on Wednesday to show support for the wellness center protesters, according to Syracuse.com.
Syverud pledged on Tuesday to take steps including clarifying the student code of conduct, enhancing security, and investing at least $1m in curriculum changes to address diversity.
Facing criticism of his leadership from Andrew Cuomo, Syverud said on Wednesday that “there are things that have not been handled well enough during this series of recent events,” including the manifesto reports and communication about the early graffiti incidents.
He said the university was making improvements, among them ensuring it is prepared to handle problems at any time of day.