The University Senate held its first open forum meeting of the year on Wednesday afternoon, and the topic of discussion was brought, once again, to the former student-run television station HillTV.

Rich Levy, the former general manger of HillTV, read a statement to a full Maxwell Auditorium that detailed the chronology of events on Oct. 20, the day Chancellor Nancy Cantor disbanded the station, and expressed concerns for the process by which Cantor took action.

Cantor ‘summoned’ HillTV’s executive staff to her office, where she gave them a ‘pre-drafted’ and ‘pre-signed’ letter stating the station was being disbanded, Levy said.

As the meeting was going on with Cantor, university officials were simultaneously forcing HillTV members to vacate its facilities in Robert B. Menschel Media Center and subsequently locked members out, Levy said.

‘The actions taken by the university should be a surprise to any student or student organization facing allegations that they violated the Code of Student Conduct,’ Levy said, referring to HillTV’s disbandment being equal to expulsion for a student organization under the University Judicial System Handbook.

‘The university’s actions do not appear to be consistent with basic principles of fairness and due process, and they certainly do not comply with the safeguards for students and student organizations provided by the University Judicial System,’ he said.

Levy also mentioned the former station has appealed to the administration for reconsideration of Cantor’s decision.

‘The appeal process is underway,’ Cantor said.

She also said she has confidence in the two task forces being created, one on institutional culture and the other on the formation of a new student-run television station.

‘I stand firmly behind the decision I made,’ Cantor said.

Cantor also addressed issues of self-segregation on campus.

‘There is not a campus in the country who isn’t thinking deeply and seriously about issues of diversity,’ she said. ‘We have to think about what it means to create a diverse community. Syracuse is taking it seriously.’

The complex issues surrounding diversity are things Cantor said the university is committed to tackling.

Other issues raised at the open forum included questions regarding details of next year’s tuition increase, sustainability on campus and enrollment targets for the freshman class of 2010.

Jeanette Jeneault, a senior part-time professor in the writing program, addressed issues for part-time faculty on campus, including the lack of health benefits and consistent salaries for all adjunct faculty members.

Vice Chancellor and Provost Deborah Freund has been working to rectify some of these concerns, Cantor said.

‘We’re working on it, and I believe we will do more,’ Freund said.

Cathy Newton, dean of The College of Arts and Sciences, also said the administration is working to address the concerns of the part-time faculty.

‘I think we’re going to see progress shortly,’ she said.

Published on November 3, 2005 at 12:00 pm