More than 100 students, faculty and Syracuse community members gathered in Hendricks Chapel at 7 p.m. Tuesday for an open forum about a bias-related incident that happened near Syracuse University.

The meeting’s discussion included details about the incident and the education of students about people who are different from them.

‘The number of students, staff and people from the Syracuse community that came tonight was impressive,’ said Adrea Jaehnig, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center.

‘The hardest part was getting the word out, [since] hotnews didn’t get sent out until 20 of four,’ Jaehnig said.

The meeting served to both inform the community about the event and offer a place where students could talk constructively about the situation, Jaehnig said.

The attack involved two groups of students walking on the 200 block of Comstock Avenue between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. Sunday morning.

A man from a group of four allegedly began calling the other group, which consisted of two SU students and their friend, ‘fags.’ When the friend of the two SU students tried to stop the man’s harassment, the harasser ‘snapped,’ threw the man to the ground and began beating him.

Both parties had dispersed by the time Public Safety arrived, and a police report on the incident was filed Monday morning.

The suspect remains at large, and Jaehnig said that Comstock residents who witnessed the event from their houses aren’t telling everything they know. Nonetheless, LGBT members distributed more than 75 fliers this afternoon to these residents, asking for information about the event.

If caught, the man could face a number of punishments from Public Safety and the Syracuse Police Department.

‘Depending on what the victim wants, the university takes these kinds of incidents very seriously,’ said Marlene Hall, director of Public Safety. ‘This assault isn’t just an assault because hate is the motivator.’

Coincidentally, Jaehnig was supposed to give an in-service lecture tonight to all SU residential advisers about bias-related incidents. That event was canceled, and Pam Peter, assistant director of the Office of Residence Life, told RAs and others involved in residence life to attend Tuesday’s forum instead.

‘This is an opportunity to educate our residents and make them aware of what students are coming to,’ said Staci Gunner, a senior communication and rhetorical studies major and residential adviser.

‘What we experienced Saturday isn’t typical, fortunately,’ said Juanita Perez Williams, a member of Team Against Bias, the organization that sponsored the event. ‘But this sort of thing is more typical in residence halls, [with things being] written on students’ whiteboards.’

Perez acknowledges that education through RAs might be an effective way to combat bias-related incidents.

‘Many of these students are first-year students who are just getting used to diversity,’ Perez said.

Students are already taking action by setting up educational programs that may start as early as Sunday in dorms.

‘We’re starting a program where we’ll go around to different dorms and talk with students about diversity and educate more students on the LGTB community,’ said Jennifer Spinner, a sophomore policy and women’s studies major and advocacy coordinator for Pride Union. Spinner wants to start up the program with another Pride Union member, Justin Welch, a junior public relations major.

‘This shouldn’t happen on a campus where diversity is a core value,’ Spinner said.

‘I didn’t want to come out last year because of some of the things written on people’s whiteboards,’ Spinner said. ‘We’re just trying to make people more comfortable.’

Published on September 16, 2003 at 12:00 pm