UPDATED: Nov. 14, 2019 at 3:56 p.m.

More than 50 student protesters occupy the Barnes Center at The Arch more than 24 hours after the sit-in started. 

Students started protesting at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, and they pledged to remain until 1 a.m. Several members of the group, organized under #NotAgainSU, said they want Syracuse University administrators to explain in writing how they are responding to student demands.

Hundreds of students attended the sit-in Wednesday as a protest of SU’s delayed communication about racist graffiti toward black and Asian people in Day Hall. The graffiti was reported to the Department of Public Safety on Nov. 7. SU did not release statement out until Monday, after Renegade Magazine and The Daily Orange published reports of the graffiti. Students on the fourth and six floors were told to not record the floor meetings that followed it.

Some student demands include expelling any student involved in the writing of graffiti, revising the SEM 100 course and requiring mandatory diversity training for faculty and staff. Hiring more mental health counselors of color and developing a building for multicultural centers and offices are among their long-term demands.

The group has a list of demands to SU administration, including to expel any student involved in the vandalism and racist graffiti at Day Hall. They also demand a forum to address their concerns to the Board of Trustees. pic.twitter.com/CVDXiMVxJZ

— Casey Darnell (@caseydarnell_) November 13, 2019

“Realistically, the (solutions) that the university came up with are not long-term oriented solutions,” said Kai Wright, a sophomore. “They were created in two hours. And they’re trying to undo things that have instilled themselves within this university for 150 years.” 

Protesters occupied the Barnes Center to call on administrators to be more deliberate when handling racist incidents. Students said there has been a pattern of inaction from administration after racist incidents occur on campus, as well as a lack of funding to support students of color, particularly black students.

Organizers said they are still here because SU officials haven’t provided any formal change in writing yet. Marianne Thomson, dean of students, said SU will expel any student involved in writing the graffiti. Chancellor Kent Syverud has promised to review the university’s hate speech policy and to revise the protocol for communicating bias incidents. His email to the campus didn’t outline how either changes would happen.

“We continuously receive verbal confirmation from the administration that they’re working on stuff all the time,” said senior Tayla Myree. “We have forums upon forums upon forums where verbal confirmation is made that they’re working on things.”

The protests’ organizers said administrators did not respond sufficiently to several demands. Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Keith Alford told organizers Wednesday they won’t be able to meet in-person with the Board of Trustees until May.

Protesters will continue until demands are met, Wright said in a statement to media around 1:50 p.m. on Thursday. Protesters will not recognize the demands as met until they receive in writing the solutions that were presented.

The written statement must include a timeline detailing the implementation of solutions and a detailed execution plan, Wright said. Protesters expect the statement to be public and distributed to the SU community, including students and the Board of Trustees.

Students have largely organized in a group chat of about 580 students of color on campus. The group talked to administrators for hours and handed them a list of demands. If the demands are not met by Nov. 20 — next Wednesday — then they’ll call for the resignation of Chancellor Kent Syverud and Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Keith Alford.

“If those demands aren’t met, you best believe that list is growing,” a student said Wednesday to administrators.

The last long-term sit-in was five years ago, in 2014, when THE General Body organizers protested against cutting POSSE scholarships, limited mental health counseling and a lack of financial transparency. They occupied the lobby of Course-Hinds Hall, where administrative offices are located, and stayed for 18 days. THE General Body was a student coalition on campus. It was Syverud’s first year as chancellor.

At exactly 10:30 a.m. — 24 hours after the first protesters arrived — Wright stood up from the middle of the blankets. She outlined several committees that would help sustain them here, and would help fulfill their demands — Public Relations, alumni and faculty outreach, food and resources and demand for policy. Minutes earlier, she announced they had raised $3,000 through their GoFundMe to stay in The Barnes Center.

“There is no definite endpoint to this,” Wright told them.

This post was updated with additional reporting. 

Published on November 14, 2019 at 12:04 pm

Contact Gabe: gkstern@syr.edu | @gabestern326