About 40 members of the Syracuse University community gathered on the Quad Monday to encourage the recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ Day in place of Columbus Day. The members — some indigenous and some not — said recognizing Indigenous Peoples’ Day will “create a sustainably inclusive atmosphere on campus” and possibly increase enrollment of indigenous peoples at the university.

There is an undergraduate enrollment of 350 Native American students at the university, according to the SU admissions website. Currently, SU, along with most of its peer institutions, does not formally recognize Columbus Day.