If there’s one thing Professor Biko Gray could tell his students occupying Crouse-Hinds Hall, it’s that he’s proud of them, and they’re braver than he’s ever been.

Gray, an assistant professor of religion at Syracuse University, stood near the entrance of Crouse-Hinds early Wednesday afternoon. Several of his students have been occupying the building since Monday, he said.

#NotAgainSU, a movement led by Black students, began occupying Crouse-Hinds on Monday at noon to continue its ongoing protests of hate crimes and bias incidents at SU.

SU placed more than 30 organizers under interim suspension early Tuesday morning for remaining in Crouse-Hinds past closing. The Department of Public Safety later sealed off the building, preventing food and resources from entering.

The university lifted the students’ suspensions late Wednesday afternoon. Crouse-Hinds will reopen Thursday.

“I wish I could be in there,” Gray said early Wednesday afternoon. “These students are being incredibly courageous. They’re enacting a significant amount of strategic brilliance and ethical rightness in the face of what appears to be insurmountable circumstances.”

Gray was one of several faculty members who arrived at the protest Wednesday to deliver supplies and resources to students occupying the hall. Other faculty held classes outside the building.

Several of the faculty outside the building expressed their concern for the physical and mental health of students inside. Emily Steinberger | Design Editor

Amy Kallander, an associate professor of history, brought a group of students from her class to the protest.

The students called one of their classmates, a #NotAgainSU organizer inside the building, to come to the entrance of Crouse-Hinds. Kallander spoke to her student through a crack in the door, asking if they were OK.

“We are here, and we support you,” she said to the student.

Several of the faculty outside the building expressed their concern for the physical and mental health of students inside.

“I’m out here to support the students,” Gray said. “This is utterly unethical at this point.”

Students inside Crouse-Hinds are free to leave the building anytime, John Liu, interim vice chancellor and provost, said in an SU News release Tuesday. Any claim that students are being held against their will is false, Liu said.

Several faculty and students attempted to bring food into the building throughout Tuesday but were unsuccessful. SU administrators gave sandwiches to the students just before 1 p.m. on Tuesday and provided dinner later that evening, a university spokesperson said.

“I’ve been here nonstop because my friends are starving inside,” a student protester said Wednesday.

Some protesters outside Crouse-Hinds sent personalized bags to students they knew inside the building. Emily Steinberger | Design Editor

DPS officers in the building allowed faculty members to bring food and supplies to students at Crouse-Hinds on Wednesday afternoon. #NotAgainSU organizers inside posted lists of supplies they were in need of on the building’s windows and on the movement’s Instagram page.

“They aren’t giving our students real food,” said Barbara Applebaum, chair of Cultural Foundations of Education in SU’s School of Education. “They aren’t eating and it’s dangerous.”

Throughout the day, students, faculty, staff and community members brought bags of food, old clothes, medicine and hygienic products to the protest. They piled the supplies at one of the building’s entrances, organizing them into care bags for organizers inside.

Some protesters outside Crouse-Hinds sent personalized bags to students they knew inside the building. The bags were numbered — instead of including the protesters’ names — in an effort to keep the students anonymous.

As of 2:30 p.m., faculty members began gathering the bags and bringing the supplies to 111 Waverly Ave. University administration requested that they do this to prevent any potential altercations that could occur outside the building, a faculty member said.

Once the food was gathered, faculty members brought it into Crouse-Hinds in large bins. They also ordered food from local restaurants to ensure that #NotAgainSU organizers inside had warm food, a faculty member said.

DPS allowed the supplies to enter the building shortly before 3 p.m.

“I think we’re OK now. They’re finally feeding us,” a protester inside the Crouse-Hinds told two supporters standing outside on the other side of the doors.

Several faculty members said they would stay outside Crouse-Hinds for as long as they could. Around 7 p.m. on Wednesday, about 35 students remained outside in support. Some leaned against the windowpanes, speaking on the phone with #NotAgainSU organizers on the other side.

Cathy Engstrom, an associate professor in the School of Education, emphasized a need for trust between SU’s administration and the student body.

“Our students need to feel safe and like they belong,” Engstrom said. “This institution reflects who they are and things need to change.”

Published on February 19, 2020 at 10:32 pm

Contact Marnie: ammunozc@syr.edu