Members of Syracuse University’s Board of Trustees will attend a forum on Wednesday night along with other administrators, including Chancellor Kent Syverud, in response to the expulsion of Theta Tau.

The forum will start at 7 p.m. Dara Royer, the university’s senior vice president and chief communications officer, did not name which trustees would attend the forum. She also did not detail where the forum will be held.

The university has been briefing the Board of Trustees on Theta Tau in the past five days, Royer said at a press event on Monday at Manley Field House on SU’s South Campus.

Royer said the university is working with students who called for a meeting to set an agenda for Wednesday’s forum. Recognize Us, a social movement organized last week, demanded that SU host a town hall with the Board of Trustees, Syverud, deans and administrators by Wednesday at 11:59 p.m.

Recognize Us held a sit-in at Schine Student Center on Friday morning to protest the university’s handling of the initial suspension of Theta Tau, the professional engineering fraternity. The group presented Syverud a list of demands, including the town hall.

There’s a possibility more students could be charged with Student Code of Conduct violations as interviews continue during SU’s Theta Tau investigation, Department of Public Safety Chief Bobby Maldonado also said during the briefing.

DPS still has “a number of interviews” to complete, Maldonado said.

“It’s difficult for me to say, unless I speak to the investigative team, and see what progress they’ve made over the last few hours,” Maldonado said.

DPS had interviewed 39 individuals as of Monday afternoon and recommended charges for 18 students to the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities as part of the investigation. That office delivered letters to those 18 students, specifically detailing the violations they were accused of.

Josh Shub-Seltzer | Staff Photographer

Students involved in the Theta Tau videos will face an “expedited and fair” process, which will take about two weeks, said Dolan Evanovich, senior vice president for enrollment and the student experience. Meetings with the students charged with conduct violations started on Monday and are expected to conclude Wednesday, Evanovich said at Manley.

“Everything is on the table, from suspension through expulsion,” Evanovich said.

SU will also “bring in” external experts to help conduct the “top to bottom” review of Greek life at the university, he said. Syverud called for the review last week, and Student Association leaders requested that the university audit Greek life policies on Wednesday, following Theta Tau’s initial suspension.

Evanovich on Monday did not answer a question about whether seniors, who may have been involved in the videos, would be eligible to graduate.

He said it would be up to the University Conduct Board to make and the review board to consider decisions regarding the students. All students charged with conduct violations have an Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities hold on their academic records, he said.

The press briefing ended after about 30 minutes.

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MORE COVERAGE:

• Second Theta Tau video shows mimed sexual assault of person with disabilities
• SU will not publicly release names of students in Theta Tau investigation
• Complaints filed against 18 people present at Theta Tau event
• Multicultural Greek organizations find inspiration for activism in Theta Tau videos

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Published on April 23, 2018 at 9:47 pm

Contact Kennedy: krose100@syr.edu | @KennedyRose001