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Syracuse University Senators held an open forum Wednesday to discuss the impact of President Donald Trump’s various executive orders and attempted federal funding freezes on the campus community at SU.

Senate open forum meetings occur annually to provide senators and the public with opportunities to question and comment on external factors affecting SU’s campus. This year, conversations centered around new national policies regarding higher education across the United States, including legislation targeting the LGBTQ+ community and diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility programs and allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement to conduct raids at schools.

With uncertainty over a potential freeze of academic funding from the federal government, many faculty members expressed concern about the university and government continuing to support their research. While Trump’s freezes have thus far been blocked in court, funding from sources such as the National Science Foundation paused for almost a week following the president’s announcement.

”How will we be preparing to be able to support the activities which maintain Syracuse as an R1 institution?” Marina Artuso, a professor in SU’s Physics Department, asked.

On Tuesday, SU Chancellor Kent Syverud sent out a campus-wide email addressing the recent executive orders. In it, he said the university is actively working to assess potential impacts on students, faculty and their work, including with its government relations team and Office of Research.

Interim Vice Chancellor and Provost Lois Agnew reassured speakers that administrators and the Office of Research are making efforts to ensure that any changes in federal funding or policy do not derail research projects.

Other attendees raised concerns about potential ICE raids on campus and throughout the broader Syracuse community. People highlighted questions about protections for SU students when doing research, volunteering and working in spaces not affiliated with the university.

Tere Paniagua, executive director of cultural engagement for the Hispanic community at SU, asked about the implications of removed protections from ICE raids in certain locations — specifically at La Casita, SU’s Hispanic Cultural Center in downtown Syracuse.

“We have a population there in addition to our students that includes minors as young as five, six years old and up, and the idea of having an agent show up there is a little disturbing for some of our communities that we’re working with down there,” Paniagua said.

Many speakers focused on the threat that some Trump policies pose to program support and inclusivity for LGBTQ+ communities on campus. The White House’s recent efforts include banning transgender women from women’s sports, refusing to recognize any gender other than male and female and repealing “gender ideology” in federally funded programs and organizations.

Syverud responded, asserting the university’s commitment to transgender people and the LGBTQ+ community on campus.

“We are considering carefully how to respond, not off the cuff or to be provoked, but rather to be thoughtful about our university’s values and our peers’ values …” Syverud said. “I think people understand it, but people need to say it — transgender people are people.”

Many faculty members were disappointed by the lack of aggression in administrative response and communication during the forum, Crystal Bartolovich, a professor in SU’s English Department, said. Another topic that speakers brought up was the reorganization of the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics and frustration with the way the changes to the college were enacted.

“I appreciate the wagon circling of the administration and the caution, but I also think having public sites for shared discussion on these matters of concern are really important,” Bartolovich said. “I think that’s one of the reasons why people feel fearful, because there’s not a place where you feel like you actually have agency and get to participate.”

As a result, several people called for an additional opportunity to voice concerns through another open forum or another meeting of the campus-wide community.

Published on February 6, 2025 at 10:47 am

Contact Anna: aclevitt@syr.edu