UPDATED: Nov. 2, 2021 at 12:47

Members of Stand With Survivors SU said the organization was unsatisfied with the contact from Syracuse University following the release of SWSSU’s list of demands.

On Nov. 1, SU provided The Daily Orange with evidence of university staff attempting to contact members of SWSSU. A university staff member reached out to a member of SWSSU to plan a meeting to discuss the group’s list of demands on Oct. 28, but the university staff member did not mention in the email whether they were a member of the university’s Student Activism Engagement Team.

The SWSSU member told The D.O. that they first saw the email on Nov. 1 and therefore did not initially respond. The same SU employee reached out to an additional member of SWSSU on Nov. 1, and following this email, both contacted members of SWSSU responded.

Following the release of SWSSU’s demands on Oct. 26, SU said in a statement that the university’s SAET “connected” with SWSSU.

“Members of the Student Activism Engagement Team have previously communicated with SWSSU, and we invite ongoing discussion with them,” the SU statement said. “We also commit to continued productive and transparent dialogue with our university community on these issues.”

SWSSU member Nancy Linehan said that this is not true.

“We have not spoken to or heard from any of the SAET members since the manifesto’s release,” Linehan said in a statement to The D.O. “It reflects very strongly on Chancellor Kent Syverud’s character that we have not heard from him, and this leads us to question if he truly cares about the safety and well being of the student body.”

SWSSU has previously met with SA President David Bruen and Vice President Darnelle Stinfort. Bruen denied he was speaking on behalf of SAET, and instead said he was speaking in his capacity as SA president.

The university spokesperson said that at least three administrators have reached out to SWSSU starting in September and as recently as Thursday, Oct. 28, and the university has not yet received a response.

The university spokesperson said that SAET “looks forward to sitting down with Stand With Survivors SU to discuss their experiences, concerns and recommendations.”

Teams from the Office of Student Experience, Department of Public Safety, Title IX office and the Barnes Center at The Arch have reviewed the organization’s demands and are prepared to speak to SWSSU at any time, according to the spokesperson.

“Our manifesto has been circulating for nearly a week now. The university has no excuse for their lack of (acknowledgement),” Linehan said.

The university created SAET in Aug. 2020, following the #NotAgainSU protests. The group was created with the goal of “supporting and facilitating student activism, including protests and demonstration and engaging with students to empower the free expression of ideas,” according to an SU news release.

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MORE COVERAGE:

• Stand With Survivors SU demands include preventative action, administrative reform
• SWSSU releases manifesto demanding more sexual assault prevention from SU
• SU’s Student Activism Engagement Team discusses goals for semester
• SU activist engagement team hopes to support, understand student protesters

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“We remain committed to continued productive and transparent dialogue with our university community on these issues,” the university spokesperson said.

Former SA President Justine Hastings, who worked with SAET after the #NotAgainSU protests, said at the time that the group refused to work with SAET, citing SU’s “complete unwillingness to care for and listen to Black students.” 

Hastings — who graduated in 2021 — was SAET’s only student member according to their website, and the group hadn’t updated their website with a current member list as of Oct. 31. As of Nov. 1, Hastings was taken off the site. Cerri Banks, the vice president of student experience, was added.

Asst. news editor Kyle Chouinard contributed reporting to this story.

Published on November 1, 2021 at 12:40 am

Contact Katie: ksmcclel@syr.edu | @katie_mcclellan