More than 300 Syracuse University students, faculty and staff packed into Huntington Beard Crouse Hall on Monday to discuss concerns about the assault of three students along Ackerman Avenue on Feb. 9.

The forum was hosted by Student Association and the Student African-American Society. People at the forum criticized the Department of Public Safety and the university for what they considered a lack of transparency and adequate communication about the incident.

Students also said the assault is a representative of a larger issue with students of color not feeling welcome or safe on campus. DPS Chief Bobby Maldonado, Dean of Students Rob Hradsky and Interim Chief Diversity Officer Keith Alford spoke on a panel in the Gifford Auditorium.

Chancellor Kent Syverud sat off to the side in the front row of the auditorium. He did not address the audience during the two and a half-hour forum. When one staff member asked where the chancellor was, Syverud waved his hand.

SA President Ghufran Salih said that there has been a lack of transparency and communication about the assault. She said her concern is focused on four areas: the motive of the attack, the jurisdiction of DPS and the Syracuse Police Department, the status of the investigation and the fact that students were assaulted with a gun close to campus.

“For years there have been conversations about race relations and the unfair treatment of students of color, and now it’s our time to speak,” Salih said at the beginning of the forum.

Caleb Obiagwu and Jair Walker, two victims of the assault, recounted how they were attacked at the forum. Walker said he heard a commotion on the front porch of the house and went to investigate. A man who was trying to walk up the stairs called Walker a “n*gger” and started a fight, he said.

Obiagwu said people were shouting that Walker, his friend, was in a fight with someone who had a gun.

“It was flight or fight, and I didn’t want to leave my friend outside,” Obiagwu said.

Tyler Smith, a student who lives in the house where the assault occurred, previously said in an interview that her neighbor found the gun the day after the assault. Smith said the gun looked like a real pistol, but it was a BB gun.

Alford said SU needs to continue to make sure that every student is safe on campus. He addressed Obiagwu and Walker directly.

“As a man of color, I understand exactly what you experienced, and it pains me that any student is subjected to violence,” he said.

The forum was conducted as a Q&A, where SU officials answered questions submitted online to SA or asked in person.

The first question of the forum came online from senior David Fox, who asked why DPS did not say that the assault was racially motivated.

Maldonado said that he cannot comment on the crime because it is currently being investigated by SPD. Later during the forum, he said that he does not have enough information to classify the assault because he is not investigating it.

Throughout the evening, students had questions regarding the exact extent of DPS’ jurisdiction and ability to investigate. Maldonado said DPS has jurisdiction within the buildings owned, operated and managed by the university, while SPD has jurisdiction over the surrounding city. He also said that DPS will respond to off-campus incidents anyways.

In response to a question by College of Arts and Sciences student Trevon Burrows, who asked for further clarification on what DPS can and cannot do, Maldonado said DPS does not have the ability to investigate a particular issue or crime.

Maldonado said DPS patrols the areas surrounding the university. If an incident occurs, DPS will contact SPD and “hold down” the scene until SPD arrives. In response to a question asking him to clarify what holding a scene down means, Maldonado said it could include holding a suspect, sending for an ambulance or providing medical aid.

In response to concerns voiced about DPS shutting down parties hosted by black people more frequently, Maldonado said that DPS does not shut down parties that are off campus.

He also said that more white people are referred for noise complaints than people of color.

Several students asked why DPS did not mention in initial campus alerts that a racial slur was yelled. They also asked why SU hasn’t publicly called the assault a hate crime.

Maldonado said there is no doubt that racial language was used in the assault. The information sent out in DPS’ emails on Feb. 9 was the most accurate information at the time, he said. He added that the DPS officers who interviewed students at the house did not say that the attack involved a racial slur.

Victoria Payne, a junior social work major, said she was at the house when students spoke with DPS officers. She said students who witnessed the assault told the officers that a slur was used.

In response, Maldonado said he would review whether the officers were informed of the racial slur.

“I can only respect the words of the Syracuse Police Department,” Maldonado said. “The Department of Public Safety cannot comment about specifically whether this was a hate crime or not because it is not our investigation.”

SPD has said that the assault wasn’t racially motivated. Students at the forum said SU should call the assault a hate crime, even if SPD won’t.

Department of Public Safety Chief Bobby Maldonado spoke about DPS’ jurisdiction at a Monday forum in Huntington Beard Crouse Hall. Wasim Ahmad | Staff Photographer

Hradsky addressed students’ concerns about communication following the assault.

“I recognize that you wanted and expected more from the administration,” he said. “We are here tonight to really hear from you some concrete suggestions of things that we can do in order to address the concerns.”

Students also presented demands and actions they would like to see the university and DPS take. At the beginning of the forum, Junior Parris Kelly gave demands on the behalf of the Student African-American Society.

The demands included a required interface dialogue seminar and sensitivity training, more effective cameras off campus, more options for students to travel around campus late at night and community policing initiatives, including a DPS-student liaison program.

Senior Abigail Covington asked if DPS would send out monthly emails to update students on actions they are taking in response to the assault, similarly to how Alford sent out emails after Theta Tau. Another audience member asked if DPS would be willing to undergo a review.

Maldonado said he would have no objection to DPS being reviewed and that having a review done would promote accountability and transparency in the department.

Alford said there should be an extended student advisory committee of only people of color to offer input on issues that affect the Syracuse campus and community.

Isaiah Sheffield-Thergood, a staff member in the Office of Residence Life, said students of color have told him that they do not feel safe on campus. He said incidents such as the Ackerman Avenue assault are indicative of an overall culture on campus.

Several students and faculty said they have seen little change on campus after last spring, when SU expelled the Theta Tau engineering fraternity from campus. Videos published online showed people in the fraternity’s house engaging in behavior Syverud called “extremely racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, sexist, and hostile to people with disabilities.”

Kelly said she hasn’t seen any change in the treatment of students of color during her time on campus.

“Every year we have a forum on race. We have discussions, we have conversations,” Kelly said. “Yet here we are again in the same situation speaking about the same narrative that comes down to we are just not safe, and we don’t feel safe.”

Biko Gray, an assistant professor of religion, said SU needs more professors teaching race, religion, diversity and justice on campus. He said this is his second year on campus, and he sees discussions like the Monday forum as a repeat of conversations after Theta Tau.

“I’m starting to get really, really exhausted because it’s falling on me to train a hundred students every semester, which is not a dent on this campus,” he said.

Tayla Myree, a junior political science major, said that DPS, SPD and SU have a history of racism and that only students can hold them accountable. Myree was an organizer of Recognize Us, a student group that called on SU to make lasting change after the expulsion of Theta Tau.

“I just don’t understand why we continuously have these forums,” she said. “Y’all know what we want. We have laid it out to you.”

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Published on February 19, 2019 at 1:07 am

Contact India: irmiragl@syr.edu