Here is some Syracuse University-related news you may have missed over Thanksgiving break:

Co-chairs of council announced

Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud has appointed two co-chairs of SU’s recently-established Council on Diversity and Inclusion: Barry Wells, special assistant to the chancellor, and Diane Wiener, director of the Disability Cultural Center.

In September, Syverud announced the members of the 22-member council, which will function as the main advisory committee to the chancellor on matters related to diversity and inclusion.

Wells joined Syverud’s leadership team as a special assistant in January 2015. He served as the senior vice president and dean of student affairs from 1995 to 2008. During that time, he led the creation of the Office of Learning Communities, the LGBT Resource Center and the Office of Multicultural Affairs. After stepping down from that position, he served as a consultant to the university. Wiener came to SU’s Division of Student Affairs to serve as the director of the Disability Cultural Center in 2011.

“I am grateful to Diane and Barry for their outstanding leadership and commitment to advancing diversity, inclusion and equity at Syracuse University,” Syverud said in an SU News release. “This council is critically important to creating a more inclusive and supportive campus climate. I look forward to working with Diane, Barry and all the members of the council.”

Implicit bias training

Central New York law enforcement personnel met on Nov. 22 at Syracuse University for a training seminar meant to help officers avoid having unconscious bias, according to an SU News release.

Officers from SU’s Department of Public Safety took part in the training, as did officers from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry; the New York State Police; the city of Syracuse; the Village of North Syracuse; the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office; and SUNY Onondaga Community College, among others.

Bryant Marks, an associate professor of psychology at Morehouse College and director of the Program for Research on Black Male Achievement, led the training session, per the release. Marks serves on United States President Barack Obama’s board of advisors for the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans.

“In confronting your biases, you need to question your assumptions and look at the evidence around you,” Marks said in the release. “I hope when people leave they better understand unconscious bias and are willing to consider their own biases.”

Shatz to deliver lecture

Carla Schatz, a professor of biology and neurobiology at Stanford University, will give a lecture at SU on Dec. 8, SU announced Wednesday.

Her lecture, which will serve as this year’s Kameshwar C. Wali Lecture, will be on the subject of Alzheimer’s disease. The lecture will be held on Dec. 8 at 4 p.m. in 132 Lyman Hall.

The lecture is part of the Syracuse Symposium, which is organized and presented by the Humanities Center.

Vivian May, director of the Humanities Center, in an SU News release said Schatz’s research “enhances our understanding of human nature.”

“She illustrates how our brains are like plastic, inviting us to think of the brain as a ‘place’ of its own and as something that interacts with wider contexts and experiences,” May said. “Her study of brain-environment interaction provides an important glimpse into how our bodies ward off neurodegenerative disease.”

Published on November 28, 2016 at 1:55 am

Contact Michael: mdburk01@syr.edu