The head of a non-profit leadership and diversity firm says it appears that Syracuse University doesn’t have a solid plan in place to handle the racist incidents that have consumed campus over the past two weeks.
Christopher Irving is Executive Director and CEO of the Ceceilyn Miller Institute for Leadership and Diversity based in New Jersey. He says there is a difference between institutions that have made diversity and equity part of their fabric, and those that haven’t.
"When things pop up everyone goes, 'all right, let's come together' because we have all these different mechanisms in place. When there is no apparatus, no infrastructure in place, people react, overreact, underreact, or are apathetic hoping it will just blow over."
Irving says that’s what we’re seeing at SU. He says zero-tolerance policies don’t work because they don’t allow for regular conversation about diversity and inclusion so people can learn. Irving, who is African American, says he was a popular student at his mostly white college, serving as student body president. But he says his high profile didn’t shield him from isolation, indirect racism, or bias. Irving says the student outrage at SU is a symptom of a larger institutional problem.
"They recognize the power that they have. They recognize the power of their voice and their money. Instititions of higher education have to hear those students, and legitimately hear them. Take note of their concerns, and actively work to try to help and support those students who feel marginalized."
Otherwise, he says, we’ll see more of this in the future.
At SU, campus is quiet. Students have ended their sit-in with Thanksgiving break coming next week. But some members of the self-appointed #NotAgainSU group have rejected the list of demands signed by the chancellor, as they previously requested. They wanted wholesale agreement to all 19 items; the chancellor agreed to 16, with minor changes to the remaining three.
