This letter was addressed to Syracuse University Board of Trustees Chair Kathleen Walters and Chancellor Kent Syverud.

On Saturday night, a protester was killed in Louisville, Kentucky, when a man opened fire. Sen. Tom Cotton’s (R-Ark.) New York Times piece, “Send in the Troops,” and the rhetoric of the Trump administration has undeniably contributed to this terrifying reality. Peaceful protesters have been marching in Syracuse for four weeks. Yesterday there was a small rally in support of the police on Erie Boulevard. Tensions are high. Our democracy is at stake. Our city is at stake. Lives are at stake.

I wrote the following letter earlier this week. Now it seems almost quaint because nothing is theoretical anymore. I am still going to send it, however, because the murder of a protester doesn’t alter my message. Change will only happen when it originates from a change of one’s heart. I hope this new reality might speed that process up for you.

Maya Angelou said, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” The next part of this quote feels even more prescient: “People know themselves much better than you do. That’s why it’s important to stop expecting them to be someone other than who they are.”

As the leaders of the board and central administration at SU, you have shown me and the community exactly who you are and, by extension, what the university stands for: the status quo. I will try to stop expecting (or hoping) that you might be anything different. Still, I feel the need to conclude the conversation I began with my letter to this group on June 11.

The Division of Marketing and Communications at SU showed us who they were when they published the SU News piece “What is Op-Ed Appropriate?” on June 8. The piece offers “differing viewpoints on what is appropriate when it comes to op-eds,” specifically relative to Sen. Tom Cotton’s (R-Ark.) New York Times “Send in the Troops” op-ed. When I read the SU News story, I was compelled to express my support for the viewpoint articulated by Hub Brown, an associate dean at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, in which he responded to a colleague’s viewpoint on the “marketplace of ideas” function of an op-ed. Brown refuted this viewpoint by very clearly stating the fact that Cotton’s piece literally put Black lives and journalists’ lives at risk, a viewpoint shared by the Times publisher and many others.

Ultimately, as you know, the opinion editor at the Times lost his job over the Cotton piece. This action affirmed that the Times had taken a stand based on their belief that Black lives matter. They publicly admitted that they got it wrong, and they acted to correct their mistake after a robust debate chronicled in the paper and other media outlets. We witnessed, in real time, a shift in consciousness at that legacy institution. The actions of the Times leadership showed us who they were.

Contrast that to your actions as leaders at SU. It has now been two and a half weeks since I sent my letter to you. The university’s response was to schedule a call with Mark Lodato, incoming dean of the Newhouse School “on behalf of the university.” Dean Lodato and I spoke one week ago, and I tried to further elucidate my position and draw parallels to the object lesson the Times displayed for all of us. I described my experience marching for the last two weeks with the peaceful protestors of Last Chance for Change throughout Syracuse. And I shared my belief that the SU News piece should be taken down or amended, given the gravity of what is at stake — literally in your own backyard. Dean Lodato listened, which I sincerely appreciated. He is in a difficult position, as he is not even at the university yet, and SU News is not under his purview.

As of today, nothing has changed. By publishing the SU News piece in the first place and then choosing to leave it unamended, the university’s leadership has shown the community exactly who they are. Those who experienced the trauma that led to the #NotAgainSU movement last fall likely are not surprised. You had already shown them. Your actions say loudly that Black lives do not matter to you.

To be clear, in his book “How to Be an Antiracist,” Ibram X. Kendi explains there is no such thing as “not racist” or neutral. One is either racist or one is “antiracist.” An “antiracist” actively fights against racism in all its forms, starting with a very personal journey to identify one’s own racist thoughts and beliefs. In the case of the SU News story, it is a blatantly racist decision to let the story stand, especially when the issue has been brought to your attention multiple times.

If we take a step back, the important consideration is not the SU News piece. Your decision reflects your values and therefore leads to three unacceptable conclusions: i) the leadership does not fully support the faculty’s diversity, equity and inclusion work in their classrooms, ii) the leadership is not committed to creating a safe learning environment for Black students and all students of color and iii) the leadership is not committed to wielding its significant power to empower the marginalized people, many of whom are Black and brown, who live in Syracuse.

In the five weeks since George Floyd was murdered, no one can deny that our country has undergone a reckoning. Black people in America have been fighting daily against systemic racism and the subjugation and murder of Black bodies for 400 years. Much has been written about why so many white people are finally “waking up” to the extent and root causes of the problem. This “awakening” is clearly unique for each white person who experiences it, although not particularly interesting or relevant for most Black people. Since I believe you are both white, however, I will share briefly my husband’s process and my own, as we are also white. (Evidently my hope is sneaking back in, against my better judgment and Angelou’s wisdom, that it might resonate for you and cause you to reflect honestly on your position.)

My husband, Gregory Heisler, distinguished professor of photography at the Newhouse School, describes what happened for him when he read Brown’s opinion: “Three weeks ago, I would absolutely have concurred with Joel Kaplan’s ‘marketplace of ideas’ view of the function of an Op-Ed page. It’s what has been taught for decades. It goes hand-in-hand with freedom of the press, freedom of speech; a clear-cut first amendment example. But then I read Hub Brown’s response. His point was a stab in the heart. I experienced an immediate, powerful and irreversible shift in perspective. I physically felt it happen. How could I, as a professional who has worked in the field for 40 years be so naïve, so utterly ignorant of the very real, grave danger posed by publishing an ‘opinion piece’ that is literally a call to arms against innocent citizens exercising their first amendment right. Clearly, such words read differently when you’re in the crosshairs, and have been, every single day of your life, by virtue of the color of your skin.”

My own journey began 25 years ago when I was a graduate student in education and first learned about our country’s inherently racist and unjust school funding policies. I did not stay actively involved in the fight, however, because I did not have to witness it up close every single day. Over the last month, though, I watched the video footage of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Rayshard Brooks and so many others being killed at the hands of police. Of course my heart broke for Trayvon Martin, but until now I had been able to get back to my life. I believe that until we open ourselves up to “the stab in the heart” my husband describes, white people can decide to look away once the fury dies down. But when white people look away, more Black people die. My heart will not allow me to look away any longer, and I finally believe that I have – that each of us has – the capacity to make a difference.

My conviction is a direct result of prayer and meditation, both of which lead to an open heart and a commitment to justice for all. I can no longer stay silent, and I have made it a point to listen hard to the voices of Black women and men — in books, on the screen and also as I march the streets of Syracuse with them. I will use whatever power I have as a white woman to help accomplish the goals they have set forth. I am a supporting player, and I believe all white people must actively embrace that role. Of course that means we must be willing to give up the privilege afforded to us because we are white. I have faith in Martin Luther King’s prophecy that “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” As a nation, we are clearly at a critical bend in that long arc. The question is, what might inspire you two, as leaders, to make your own personal shift towards justice? 

Perhaps you will find courage when future college students and their parents decide they will not spend their money at an institution whose actions do not reflect an unequivocal belief that Black lives matter. The university’s website states “The Board of Trustees is the governing body of Syracuse University, responsible for the institution’s educational mission and fiscal policies. Members of the board guide the University toward its goals and vision and serve the public trust.” My observation is that the board has failed to serve the public trust, and I predict that this failure will result in a slow but steady decline in revenue over the next several decades.

However, unless any change in future action is rooted in an authentic change in values, it will ring hollow. Until you open your hearts and affirm the value of Black lives, you won’t fool anybody. My prayer is that you both will look to Black leaders in your community to guide you toward becoming antiracists. 

Then, together you could create an authentic plan to engage with the rest of the board and central administration.

For now, my attempt to communicate honestly with you is not making a difference, so I will stop. Your students, your faculty, your staff and the entire Syracuse community would benefit from your change of heart, but only you can make that happen.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Masters

Syracuse resident

Published on June 28, 2020 at 10:18 pm