When the Syracuse University chapter of Theta Tau was expelled last spring for the creation of videos that were “extremely racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, sexist, and hostile to people with disabilities,” the slurs used did not target Muslims specifically. But for Dina Eldawy, a senior dual international relations and citizenship and civic engagement major at SU, the moment was a crucial one to stand in solidarity alongside her fellow students.

“When people are using these slurs, it does include Muslims and Muslims need to be equally as horrified and as angry,” Eldawy said. “Because even if they don’t specifically target Muslims — the people who use those slurs and have those opinions about general groups of people and students of color, they’re probably gonna do the same thing to us.”

On Saturday, Eldawy will be one of several guest student speakers at the Residence Hall Association’s “Breaking Down Barriers!” The advocacy event involves the creation and “symbolic smashing of the wall of slurs and insults and a share-out opportunity to discuss the impact of hateful language on marginalized students on our campus,” per the event flyer.

The event invites students to come paint bricks with insults or slurs that have been used against them on April 3 and 4, weather permitting, as a way of reclaiming their identities and experiences. The wall will be constructed on the field between the Dellplain and Ernie Davis residence halls.

Bee Poshek, the national communications coordinator for RHA, said they found inspiration for “Breaking Down Barriers!” through the University of Florida’s similar event, “Writing on the Wall.” Unlike University of Florida, Poshek said SU’s wall will only remain intact for a day-and-a-half.

“The focus is on that day-of event and that speak-out opportunity. We felt if we left the wall up for too long, there would be a risk of retraumatization,” they said. “We wanted to focus more on that therapeutic aspect and feelings of solidarity.”

“Breaking Down Barriers!” is RHA’s first event as part of their National Residence Hall Month initiative, in partnership with the National Residence Hall Honorary. Each week of the month will be centered around advocacy, leadership, service and recognition.

While the event is educational in its nature, Poshek said the main focus is not to provide a learning experience for students who have not experienced racism, transphobia or similar marginalization on campus. “Breaking Down Barriers!” they said, is a space for students who have faced oppression and prejudice to feel less alone.

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“We want to engage in a conversation with members of the campus community,” Poshek said. “I thought this could be a really awesome site and opportunity to do that to spark conversation, particularly about language but also just identity in general and what it’s like to be a marginalized student on this campus.”

Poshek said having student-led advocacy is an essential component to campus dialogues, because it’s coming from the very people experiencing said marginalization and oppression.  

Poshek cited THE General Body’s 2014 Crouse-Hinds Hall sit-in, last spring’s Theta Tau protests and students’ response to this semester’s Ackerman Avenue assault as examples of grassroots initiatives within the past five years that have helped create proactive dialogues within the campus community.

“Even though I haven’t personally experienced outright racism, on a daily basis, I experience microaggressions,” Eldawy said. “This is an opportunity to encourage intersectionality and solidarity between struggles. We need to do better at realizing these connections and being more effective advocates for everybody, not just one group of people.”

Nathan Shearn, a senior anthropology major at SU, will participate as a guest student speaker during the share-out portion of Saturday’s event. Shearn, who has been doing research in New York City with LGBTQ+ activists this year, will include some of his research discussing his personal experiences with marginalization and prejudice.

“A big thing that came out of my research was about voice, to reclaim and find their voice individually and as part of a collective,” Shearn said. “In terms of activism today and in terms of forming communities, a big part of it is how do you collectively annunciate your grievances and how do you find some sort of solidarity with other struggles and other groups?”

Shearn added that changing the campus climate, both socially and politically, requires both the effort of administrative leadership as well as student-led initiatives. He said that while the administration has taken positive steps forward, it’s important for students to keep demanding that changes are made.

“We want to keep as many doors open and still have a seat at the negotiations table, ultimately,” he said. “So it’s about working with the system, working with the institution, but also pushing back when it’s not living up to its promises.”

When Shearn first heard the title “Breaking Down Barriers!” he said he was not only reminded of the physical borders built around the world — such as President Donald Trump’s proposed Mexican border wall — but the internal barriers individuals create to protect themselves and elements of their identities.

The beauty of this event, he said, is that it not only addresses the reality of how these walls are constructed, but also the collective power of being able to tear them down and begin anew.

The inclusion of insults and slurs painted on the bricks is both political and intentional, Shearn said. By nature, seeing these words and the weight that they bear is designed to be a jarring and unsettling sight.

But they also mark a reclaiming of one’s identity, he said, along with a resilience that can help begin the process of healing one’s relationship with themselves.

“You can change the infrastructure, you can change policy, you can try to make things more open and diverse,” he said. “But ultimately, I think you have to change hearts and minds to change the students as well.”

 

Published on March 31, 2019 at 10:00 pm

Contact Kelsey: katho101@syr.edu | @writtenbykelsey