There was nothing out of place about the students sitting on the circular bench in the center of the Schine Student Center. Talking and laughing, they sat nearly shoulder to shoulder all the way around, completely at ease.

Ronald Taylor, however, was not relaxed. Dressed in a suit and ivory tie, he paced around the atrium with his hands in his pockets as he gazed intently at the students milling around.

The sophomore policy studies and political science major was the organizer of the sit-in protest scheduled to begin minutes later, in which the students on the bench were participants. The instructions were to wear white and gather in the atrium in silence at 12:50 p.m. on Wednesday.

“The goal today is to bring issues regarding tolerance and ethnicity to the forefront,” Taylor said, addressing the crowd from a podium. “I feel as though students of color are marginalized into being quiet.”

The sit-in was a follow-up to the “Healing the Scars” forum held in February, which enabled students to air concerns about diversity issues, including self-segregation, professors tokenizing minority students and general feelings of discomfort among students regarding race and other diversity-related issues at Syracuse University.

The goal of the sit-in was to bring back concerns about the visibility of minority students on campus and to educate administration and other students on how to approach conversations about race and ethnicity, he said.

There are other issues, as well, Taylor said. One example, he said, was Latino-themed parties that emphasize immigrant stereotypes.

Department of Public Safety emails at the beginning of last semester frequently identified crime suspects as black males in hoodies, he said.

Professors have also asked certain African American, Latino American and other students of color to speak on behalf of their racial and ethnic groups, Taylor said.

“I know you want to be educated, but that’s not the way to go about it,” he said.

The sit-in was promoted primarily through word of mouth, Twitter and Student Association announcements, Taylor said.

He and an informal board of students are meeting with Chancellor Nancy Cantor on April 29 to evaluate the university’s current resources for students of color.

Taylor delayed the sit-in by a few minutes to allow more students to show up. He estimated that 40-50 students participated, falling short of his goal. The attendance wasn’t as diverse as he hoped for.

“But at the end of the day, the ones who are affected will react the strongest,” Taylor said.

He reminded those present that the sit-in would be peaceful. Taylor encouraged them to continue tweeting and texting to spread the word about the sit-in.

As the protesters settled into silence, the daily traffic in Schine continued to buzz around them. Tables for various organizations continued to recruit, though in whispers. Students passing by glanced at the protesters before continuing on to the bookstore or dining hall.

Alexander Trinh, a freshman English education major, said he participated in the sit-in because he still sees conflicts involving diversity, “especially on this campus.”

“I wanted to be here, be proud of my brown skin and to let people know that I’m here,” he said.

Doug Wonders, a photo lab director at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, was one of the few faculty members at the sit-in. His daughter is a Mayan Indian, he said, and his son is Ethiopian.

His children have had normal experiences at school so far, but Wonders said he is concerned about what they might face in the future.

“When my kids are going to college and into the adult world, I have to prepare myself for the problems they might face,” he said.

Taylor himself did not sit. He continued to pace, periodically checking his iPhone. At 1:15 p.m., he called the protesters to form rows in front of him.

“I’m not doing this for myself,” he told the protesters. “I was perfectly fine being the kid who just went to class and student orgs, but I want the class of 2017, 2018 to come to a campus where their blackness won’t be an issue.

“Don’t let this die,” he told them before giving instructions about the end of the protest in two-minute intervals.

He asked protesters to extend their right arm forward. As they held the pose, he added that they could switch arms if they got tired, smiling for the first time during the sit-in.

“How do you define yourself?” he asked the crowd. They yelled their names, chasing them with phrases like “African American” to describe themselves.

They stood in silence for two minutes before his final instruction: Repeat “If not me, then who? If not now, then when?” three times.

Students hugged each other at the end of the sit-in before dispersing. Taylor stood off to the side, shaking hands and talking to some students who stayed behind.

Recently elected as president of the campus chapter of the NAACP, Taylor said he plans to reach out to other organizations and turn the “Healing the Scars” forum into an annual event.

Though the forum and sit-in have recently brought attention to the university’s issues with student diversity, Wonders, the photo lab director, said the problems are not new.

“Things are very compartmentalized in social situations,” he said.

The campus has multiple student organizations, and social boundaries tend to fall in line with those organizations, Wonders said.

Yet, he said, there are signs of a resolution.

“I feel that people are aware of their differences and standing for themselves and wanting to be seen,” Wonders said. “I think that’s fine as long as in the final analysis, we realize we’re human.”

Published on April 25, 2013 at 1:00 am

Contact Natsumi: najisaka@syr.edu