At Monday’s Student Association meeting, the assembly gave feedback to Keith Alford, Syracuse University’s interim chief diversity officer, on how the administration can best serve minority students on campus in and out of the classroom.

Alford became the interim chief diversity officer in July and is also a part of the university’s Council on Diversity and Inclusion. He attended Monday’s meeting to gauge student opinions on minority student organizations, off-campus nightlife and the effectiveness of the SEM 100 first-year forum.

Assembly representative Justice Abud said the SEM 100 curriculum did not adequately address issues of diversity and inclusion, and that the class didn’t go past surface-level explanations of important issues. Starting the class earlier in the semester would help encourage students to speak in class more frequently during the five-week course, she added.

Assembly members also said the university does not effectively communicate with the student body about resources for students from underrepresented backgrounds.

SA President Ghufran Salih and Alford are currently working on a minority student resource guide to improve communication. This will include information on all of the cultural centers on campus, Salih said.

Assembly members also discussed racial inequity in off-campus nightlife.

“I know for black students on campus, the party life here is kind of declining just because of the way (the Department of Public Safety) responds to parties,” said Torre Payton-Jackson, SA’s public relations co-chair.

There isn’t a designated space on campus for minority students to throw parties, said Student Life Chair Jalen Nash.

“There’s no frat houses, there’s no org houses, there’s no place on main campus for me and my friends to party,” he said. “I think it’s a shame.”

Other business:

• The Public Relations committee is shifting its efforts from publicizing and marketing SA events to working on SA’s branding. The assembly spent approximately 25 minutes discussing changes in SA’s logo and how to increase awareness of SA programming.
• SA is organizing movie nights for students staying in Syracuse during Thanksgiving break because many international students will be unable to return home for the week, said assembly representative Ladin Bacakoglu.
• Salih said that she will be meeting with Syracuse officials to assess the effectiveness of the cameras installed on Euclid Avenue in 2017.

Published on November 13, 2018 at 12:22 am

Contact Natalie: nrrubiol@syr.edu