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On Monday, Syracuse University’s Student Association dedicated a large portion of its meeting to discussing the recent assault near Marshall Street.

SA members talked about both immediate and long-term action items SA can take to help students of color on campus feel safer.

SA President David Bruen brought up the discussion of the assault to assembly members early in the meeting. He wanted to give members an opportunity to discuss the events and brainstorm what SA can do in response.

“We just wanted to take some time to talk about that, because we know when those things happen it can instill a lot of fear in people and make people feel uncomfortable,” Bruen said. 

Assembly member and member of the diversity, equity, and inclusion committee Adia Santos suggested SA hold a town hall to further discuss student grievances with the Syracuse Police Department and SU’s Department of Public Safety. She hopes a town hall can help bridge the gap between students who are less affected by police violence and racially motivated incidents and those who are greatly affected. 

Bruen and SA Vice President Darnelle Stinfort agreed with Santos and are planning to hold the town hall later this week. 

“Especially being a Black woman on this campus too, I’ve had my fair share of feeling unsafe, and that this is a repeating cycle is not OK,” Stinfort said. “We definitely need to do a town hall.”

Other members questioned why DPS did not notify students about the recent assault near Marshall Street via a campus-wide email after it was reported. DPS instead tends to send end of the month summaries on incidents occurring on campus, an assembly member said. Bruen agreed this is something that must be addressed.

“From my understanding this is a change that has happened since the Loretta Lynch report to do monthly updates,” Bruen said. “But from my understanding from the Loretta Lynch report was for more transparency, not less. That is something we need to address for sure.” 

SA also passed two bills. One was a revised version of the Haitian Refugee Bill and the other was a bill relating to Remembrance Week.

The previous Haitian Refugee Bill condemned the Biden administration rather than providing tangible solutions to help refugees, Stinfort said. The bill now focuses on educating community members and providing direct relief to Haitain refugees. 

The bill includes ideas of collaborating with different multicultural organizations on campus, such as the Haitian American Student Association and Caribbean Student Association, Stinfort said. It also includes launching a donation relief and working with other university governments to start a nationwide petition.

Bruen also took time near the end of the meeting to recognize Remembrance Week. He brought a bill to a vote that would re-commemorate the SA office in Schine after former SA Vice President Frederick “Sandy” Phillips, who was killed in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing. 

“(The bill also commemorates) all the lives that were lost, and remembering their lives and memories and acting forward,” Bruen said.

Published on October 19, 2021 at 1:12 am

Contact Shantel: sguzma01@syr.edu | @shantelguzman2