Before their classes wrapped up, The Daily Orange News staff looked back on some of their best-reported and best-written stories of the spring 2018 semester. They covered the release of controversial fraternity videos in a story that reached national audiences. They travelled to Washington, D.C., to document a Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School graduate’s journey to reconnect with her community after a mass shooting. And they took a deep-dive look into the chairman of Syracuse University’s Board of Trustees and into corporate influences on university decision-making.

Here’s a list of the top 10 best news stories you should read when you have some free time this summer. Click on the headline to view the story: 

1. SU suspends Theta Tau fraternity after video of ‘extremely racist’ video surfaces

Alexandra Moreo | Senior Staff Photographer

SU suspended its chapter of the Theta Tau engineering fraternity in April after the university confirmed the chapter’s involvement in the creation of videos Chancellor Kent Syverud called “extremely racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, sexist, and hostile to people with disabilities.” Four News staff reporters contributed to the initial story on the Theta Tau suspension and the on-campus protests that followed.

2. UPROOTED: How SU freshman Ruth Bang has reconnected with her hometown of Parkland in the wake of tragedy

Kai Nguyen | Staff Photographer

Ruth Bang, an SU freshman, graduated from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School only months before it became the site of one of the largest school shootings in United States history. As thousands of people gathered in Washington, D.C., to protest gun violence in the March for Our Lives, The D.O. travelled with Bang to the capital as she reconnected with a community shaken by tragedy.

3. Quiet leader: How a Syracuse University trustee from Bain Capital has influenced campus-wide change

Alexandra Moreo | Senior Staff Photographer

Steven Barnes, SU’s Board of Trustees chairman, rarely makes public appearances on campus. But his close ties to Bain Capital, an investment firm that has generated controversy for what critics call “vulture capitalism,” has raised concern among some people in the SU community. The D.O. took a look at Barnes, Bain Capital and the firm’s influence on major SU administrative decisions.

4. Unsurprised: Faculty react to report showing women professors earn less on average than men at Syracuse University

Kateri Gemperlein-Schirm | Senior Design Editor

Women faculty at SU are paid less on average than men, a December SU report found. But the pay gap had been public knowledge for decades. In interviews with dozens of faculty at every school and college on campus, The D.O. broke down the history of the SU gender pay gap and the university community’s reaction to the December report.

5. GROWING FRUSTRATION: Public housing residents upset, bewildered by Interstate 81 project delay

Wasim Ahmad | Staff Photographer

As politicians continue to debate the future of the Interstate 81 viaduct near SU, public housing tenants whose homes could be destroyed by the project expressed frustration and anxiety about the project’s delay. The I-81 project, which could include replacing or demolishing the highway, has been in the works for roughly a decade.

6. Concerns about faculty misconduct accusations remain in SU architecture community

Kai Nguyen | Staff Photographer

In March, School of Architecture undergraduate students received an anonymous email with a link to a Google spreadsheet detailing anonymous misconduct allegations against 180 men architects nationwide. Five current and two former SU architecture professors were included on the list. The D.O. talked to architecture students and faculty about the list, including one who contributed to the spreadsheet.

7. Theta Tau videos are latest example of SU’s discriminatory culture, students say

Jessica Sheldon | Staff Photographer

The students who protested after the Theta Tau fraternity’s suspension weren’t the first to speak out against what they called a discriminatory campus culture at SU. Students protested similar grievances as part of THE General Body movement in 2014. In the eyes of some students, the Theta Tau videos represent widespread cultural issues at SU that haven’t improved since THE General Body protests about four years ago.

8. Competing interests: Corporate strategies at SU often conflict with academic traditions, following higher ed trends

Sarah Allam | Head Illustrator

There’s a growing divide between the goals and priorities of SU’s trustees, administrators and faculty, Chancellor Kent Syverud acknowledged at a panel discussion in March. And that conflict has become more prevalent in recent years as SU has often used corporate decision-making models and sometimes altered policies and issues central to academic freedom. The D.O. took a look at the history of corporate decision-making in higher education and the conflicts that history has caused at SU.

9. Some SU athletes said they were forced into majors “they did not want,” following national trend

Daily Orange File Photo

In anonymous, NCAA-mandated exit interviews, some SU athletes said they were forced into majors “they did not want.” Experts said it’s no secret that some collegiate athletes nationwide are pushed into certain majors by coaches and other officials. The D.O. broke down some SU athletic teams by major to find out where student-athletes tended to study.

10. SUNY-ESF removes 3 department chairs as part of abrupt policy change

Daily Orange File Photo

Tensions flared at SUNY-ESF in January after the college abruptly removed three department chairs just days before the start of the spring semester. SUNY-ESF President Quentin Wheeler said the removals were part of a policy change, but one of the ousted faculty members said he thought he was removed in retribution for disagreeing with Wheeler’s plans. The removals were part of years-long tensions between faculty and administrators that eventually led to Wheeler’s resignation.

Published on May 16, 2018 at 8:00 am