The Syracuse University administration has taken comprehensive measures to implement resolutions in response to the 45-page list of grievances presented by THE General Body one year ago, and The Daily Orange Editorial Board commends it for doing so.

SU administrators took genuine interest in listening to the opinions of students, valued student feedback in the process of assessing the state of campus and put reforms in place that fairly met the requests of students. Credit should rightfully be given to the administration for its efforts to improve the institutional practices of SU in the past year, and THE General Body needs to recognize that.

“Since TGB began pointing to the issues, we have seen the administration continue in the same manner as regards numerous concerns on campus,” wrote the group in a Nov. 4 Letter to the Editor to The Daily Orange.

For THE General Body to continue to cite the administration as unreceptive to its demands is naïve.

The SU administration has attended to, or has plans in place to attend to, each of the nine overarching points in the “Needs and Solutions” section of the group’s document over the course of the past 12 months. These resolutions were put in place in addition to a number of campus-wide changes, including the appointment of an ADA coordinator, divestment from fossil fuels and the increased availability of gender-neutral bathrooms in academic buildings.

SU has since opened up new lines of communication for the community, as seen with Fast Forward Syracuse and the Academic Strategic Plan, initiatives that would make significant structural changes to the university. Moving forward, students should use these forums, surveys and other outlets to accomplish goals.

These protests and the exceptional response from the administration highlight the fact that students and faulty should consider the university an environment in which they can openly voice their concerns and have them taken into consideration by the administration.

But while the sit-in culminated in tangible change, it should not serve as a model for student activism on campus when official channels, like forums and surveys, allow expression.

Though THE General Body’s protest ultimately led to changes across campus and in the university’s decision making methods, credit must be given to the invested nature of an administration that was extremely accommodating to student concerns during and after the sit-in.

Published on November 5, 2015 at 12:36 am

Contact: opinion@dailyorange.com