The Student Advocate: Sit-Down After the #NotAgainSU Sit-In

Source: Corey Henry, The Daily Orange

It’s no secret that the events of the Fall 2019 semester have shaken the Syracuse University campus. After many racist and antisemitic incidents were reported on campus, students quickly rallied to organize a sit-in in protest of the systemic discrimination that has plagued Syracuse University. But just like THE General Body protests of 2014, the #NotAgainSU sit-in was broken up when students went home for Thanksgiving break.

Regardless of your level of involvement with the #NotAgainSU movement, you may be wondering what you can do to continue the sit-in’s momentum on campus. Even though students are no longer gathering en masse to peacefully protest in the Barnes Center, there are many ways that you can engage in dialogue about systemic discrimination in Syracuse.

Educate Yourself:

Were you not very involved with #NotAgainSU? Did you attend the sit-in but you’re still unclear on what the demands are? Were you abroad in the fall and have had a hard time understanding the campus climate? It’s okay not to have all the answers. The first step to empathy and understanding is to educate yourself. Recognize that you are not an expert and do your research. The Daily Orange has published many articles about the #NotAgainSU movement and is a good place to start. Additionally, @notagain.su on Instagram details the student leaders’ demands and action that the organization has taken in the past few months.

If you’re looking for more background information about the social climate on college campuses and systemic racism in America, here are some easy-to-understand resources to get you started:

• Race Forward, "What is Systemic Racism?" (Videos)

• Ben & Jerry's, "How Systemic Racism Infiltrates Education"

• "The Great White Hoax: Donald Trump and the Politics of Race and Class in America" (this documentary is available to all Syracuse students through the SU Libraries’ Kanopy database)

TJ Shaw, The Daily Orange

Listen to the Conversations on Campus:

Lots of organizations and departments on campus have already organized events and speakers to continue talking about systemic racism and discrimination on college campuses.

Here is a list of some speakers/events coming up on campus:

• Kiran Singh Sirah, "What is the Greatest Story Ever Told?"

• Office of Multicultural Affairs’ programs and events

• Conversations About Race and Ethnicity (CARE)

• Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs Campbell Debate Series

You can also apply on Handshake to become a SEM 100 peer facilitator to initiate your own dialogue with first-year students in the fall.

What have you seen organizations on campus doing in response to #NotAgainSU?

Lean Into Discomfort:

I know that systemic racism and hate crimes are not fun topics of conversation to talk about with your friends in the dining hall. However, they are important ones. If you are not a member of the Black, Latinx, Asian, Jewish or LGBT communities, then these conversations are especially important for you to have. It is crucial for white people to address racism and implicit bias within their own communities and to hold their peers accountable for their biases.

Additionally, these bias-related incidents are hate crimes and should be taken very seriously. Antisemitic graffiti and racial slurs on campus make students feel like they don’t belong at Syracuse University. If you or someone you know has information on any of the bias-related incidents, you should do the right thing and report them.