Obama wins, campus rejoices11/5/08When news of Barack Obama’s victory over John McCain hit campus, students rushed out to celebrate. At 11 p.m. election night, the Quad was mostly quiet. But about half an hour later, students mobbed the Quad chanting, yelling, cheering and dancing. Some carried homemade signs while others brought manufactured ones. On South Campus, the scene was similar. Students carried out DJ equipment, and both upperclassmen and freshmen from the Sky Halls flooded apartment lawns.

Devendorf suspended for remainder of academic year12/10/08Eric Devendorf, a starting guard on the men’s basketball team, missed two games after a female SU student accused him of punching her in the face Nov. 1. Judicial Affairs suspended him for the remainder of the academic year, but an appeals committee reduced the sanction to 40 hours of community service.

Recession’s effects felt at SUSyracuse University felt the economic hardships the last year like the rest of the United States. A design program was cut in the College of Visual and Performing Arts. SU laid off 48 employees in January, including 23 employed at Bird Library. Chancellor Nancy Cantor announced a plan that included a salary freeze on faculty making more than $50,000. Cantor’s budget also cut $8 million from this year’s operating budget and a proposed $12 million from next year’s. The plan also called for a 4.5 percent increase in tuition and room and board, the lowest raise in 43 years. The university started a fundraising effort that raised $1,028,160 over a two-month span that benefited 426 students. The drive – called Syracuse Responds – fell about a million dollars short of its initial goal, however.

‘The Express’ world premiere draws SU football legends, Hollywood celebrities9/15/08The world premiere of ‘The Express: The Ernie Davis Story’ recounts the life of Syracuse University football player Ernie Davis, the first black player to win the prestigious Heisman Trophy. The premiere, held at the Landmark Theatre in downtown Syracuse, gathered the stars of the movies, including Floyd Little and Dennis Quaid, prestigious football players like Jim Brown, former SU athlete and Cleveland Browns running back, and SU students and faculty.

Biden calls for optimism, change in address to alma mater5/10/09Surrounded by Secret Service, Vice President Joe Biden delivered the 2009 commencement address for Syracuse University and the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry in the Carrier Dome. Biden was the first sitting vice president to deliver a commencement address at SU since 1965, when Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey spoke. In his 27-minute speech, he reminded the graduates that they were facing difficulty in finding jobs, two U.S. wars, a global recession, and ‘a world in flux.’ Biden, an SU alum, drew 19,239 people to the ceremony – less than when New York City Mayor Rudy Guilliani spoke at commencement in 2003 and when former president Bill Clinton delivered the 2004 commencement address.