From local politics to university news, a lot happened in the Syracuse area over summer. Here’s news you may have missed when you were off campus:

Dome to get new roof, other updates

• Syracuse University announced in May that a new roof in the Carrier Dome will be installed by fall 2020, along with air conditioning, a vertically hung scoreboard, additional WiFi capabilities and a new sound and lighting system.

Theta Tau developments

• SU suspended 14 students involved in the creation of the controversial Theta Tau videos for up to two years in June. A federal judge denied a request for university transcripts without disciplinary notion for five students involved in the videos.
• The total number of Theta Tau students suing SU rose to nine, after four students joined the lawsuit in July.
• Tyler Vartabedian, Theta Tau’s former vice regent, successfully appealed his suspension and could return to the university this year.

 

Theta Tau was permanently expelled from SU in April after videos surfaced of people in the Greek organization’s house using racial and ethnic slurs.  Kai Nguyen | Staff Photographer

Local politics

• Stephanie Miner, former mayor of Syracuse, announced her bid to challenge two-time incumbent Andrew Cuomo for New York state governor in June.
• Dana Balter won the Democratic primary nomination for New York’s 24th Congressional District, which includes Syracuse. Balter defeated former Syracuse mayoral candidate Juanita Perez Williams in the primary and will challenge two-time incumbent Rep. John Katko (R-Camillus) for the seat.

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University administration

• SU’s Board of Trustees unanimously extended Chancellor Kent Syverud’s contract through 2024.

Trevor Noah to speak at SU

• Trevor Noah, whose memoir “Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood” is part of a new first-year reading experience at SU, will speak at the university in January 2019. The event will be part of the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration in collaboration with the University Lecture Series, according to an SU News release.

Trevor Noah, a stand-up comedian, hosts Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.” Courtesy of Comedy Central

Princeton rankings

• SU held onto its No. 4 spot on the Princeton Review’s annual party school ranking. SU was ranked the No. 1 party school in 2014.

Luxury student housing

• The Marshall, a new, eight-story student luxury apartment complex just off campus, is opening late due to construction delays, displacing all 287 future tenants.

Published on August 26, 2018 at 8:24 pm

Contact Mary: mdcatalf@syr.edu | @mrycatalfamo