At Monday’s Syracuse University Student Association meeting, the assembly passed a bill that would create an SA historian. The position will go through all SA archives to document and update the history of the 73-year-old organization.

Assemblymember John Jankovic presented the bill, which outlined the responsibilities of the historian. These responsibilities include the oversight of the documentation of events and initiatives of SA to preserve the history of the group.

In two years, there will be celebration of the 75th year of SA, called the Diamond Jubilee, at which the whole history of SA must be compiled into one book or document. It will be presented at the jubilee but will continue to be added upon each year.

The SA website, which has a timeline outlining a few large events in the history, will be updated. Currently the timeline documents no events between 1972 and 2014.

There is no mention on the timeline of the 1988 death of then-Vice President Frederick “Sandy” Phillips, who died in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing. Phillips is recognized this week as part of Remembrance Week, a time when SU honors the 35 student victims of terrorist attack.

Vice President Angie Pati, who is representing Phillips as a Remembrance Scholar this year, could not attend the most recent SA meeting because she was at a Remembrance Week event.

In Phillips’ honor, President James Franco read a letter from the president of SA in 1988, who spoke following the bombing that year.

“Time has stopped for a while on our campus … For almost a month now we’ve been mourning the loss of your death,” the letter read. “Sandy, I’m glad I got to know you for the short time you were with us at Syracuse … We may have lost you, but we didn’t lose your spirit.”

As Franco read the letter, members of SA laughed and cried.

“I just think that letter, it’s pretty powerful,” Franco said. “He truly did care, and he thought SA could make a difference, and he absolutely showed SA could.”

Franco also said he met with Chancellor Kent Syverud and Vice Chancellor and Provost Michele Wheatly to discuss the addition of stop signs around campus. At least six intersections were pinpointed, including on Comstock Avenue at Walnut Avenue, where the hill is especially steep.

Students should also expect a pilot program for the Euclid shuttle project, Franco said. This shuttle would safely transport students from campus to their homes, whether they were intoxicated or not.

Department of Public Safety officials John Sardino and CJ McCurty attended the meeting and gave a short presentation, followed by a Q&A. Students were primarily concerned with where DPS holds power and what criteria make DPS respond to a party or event.

The officers said they cannot give rides to intoxicated students, for liability reasons, but will always try to give help. They said DPS officers will walk students home or get them medical attention, depending on their situation.

Published on October 24, 2017 at 12:19 am

Contact Catherine: ccleffer@syr.edu | @ccleffert