Student Association representative to meet with SU administration in wake of bias incident at Watson Hall

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Editor’s note: this article contains mentions of anti-LGBTQ language.

After the Syracuse University Department of Public Safety on Feb. 24 received a report of anti-LGBTQ graffiti in Watson Hall, DPS didn’t add it to its Bias Incident Reports web page until nearly a week later. Students gathered at the Schine Student Center on Sunday afternoon to discuss the university’s response and establish a list of requests to improve transparency.

Under standard DPS protocol, bias-related incidents are posted to DPS’s Bias Incidents Reports website within 48 hours of the report, unless the post jeopardizes an active investigation. DPS refrained from posting public updates about the Watson Hall bias incident reports to avoid jeopardizing its active investigation, according to a Thursday email from Senior Vice President and Chief Student Experience Officer Allen Groves, Dean of Students Sheriah Dixon and Chief of Campus Safety and Emergency Management Services Craig Stone.

DPS was “aggressively” following a lead that resulted in a person of interest being interviewed, according to the email. Since Thursday, there has been no investigative update on DPS’s Bias Incident Investigation Tracker about the reported incidents in Watson Hall.

Student Association Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion Jordan Beasley is planning to meet with Dixon on Wednesday to relay requests set by the group, which include better communication between DPS and the student body and increased accountability for students and tenured professors who commit bias-related offenses.

Beasley will also meet with Dixon, Groves and other university leaders on March 16.

“We all think that the university needs to be able to communicate what happens when it happens, or at least within 24 hours, because having to find out on Instagram or through word of mouth shouldn’t have to happen,” Beasley said. “I’m hoping that they will be able to communicate with students more when these incidents happen.”

Beasley said that the university doesn’t hold students accountable when bias incidents and hate crimes happen at SU, even though the incidents could lead to physical violence.

“I think that hate crimes are an active threat to marginalized communities’ lives on campus, and (SU administration) should communicate when they happen, even if there isn’t an active investigation going on,” Beasley said.

Students also voiced concerns on Wednesday night in a meeting with members of the university’s Bias Response Team, as well as the Office of Student Living and residential staff, over the delayed notice on the bias-related incidents and the implications of the incident itself.

Brian Cohen, a sophomore studying in the Newhouse School of Public Communications, said he’s frustrated with SU’s transparency.

“I don’t think any of us felt like we left (Wednesday’s meeting) more informed on how the process of the investigation is going,” Cohen said. “(Bias incidents) are a frequent occurrence, and there’s not any standard set to show people that this kind of behavior isn’t tolerated … I don’t think it’s going to come anywhere else but from the students.”

Abigail Traska, an SU sophomore who also attended both Wednesday and Sunday’s events, agreed that communication between students and DPS felt disorganized, and was concerned that nobody from DPS was present at the Wednesday meeting to provide clarity on the current investigation.

“The leaders kept directing us to DPS to get answers for specific questions, specific policies (and) processes that would be making progress on issues like this, and they weren’t able to give us any straight answers, and the people who said they would be able to were not there,” Traska said.

The group of students plan to reconvene weekly after spring break. In the meantime, Beasley hopes the university can improve its response to bias-related incidents to take the burden off of students.

“I want to avoid students having to protest, because it’s taxing on both the body and the mind. I want students to focus on being students while they’re here, and not to have to be activists,” Beasley said.