On Friday, a crowd of students, professors, administrators and community members gathered in Grant Auditorium for a town hall-style event, “#SpeakUpSU.” Hosted by the Syracuse National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, an array of student organizations showed up to voice their concerns, opinions and heartfelt comments concerning identity on Syracuse University’s campus.

Of the many emotional experiences students shared at #SpeakUpSU about discrimination and marginalizing on campus, two recurring topics that stuck out to me were concerns over the word choice in Chancellor Kent Syverud’s email addressing the Hanna Strong video, along with multiple responses from some students in Newhouse shared concerning their experiences in the school. Both topics are representative of two areas of SU campus life that need the most addressing.  

On Sept. 7, Chancellor Syverud sent out an email to the SU community as a reaction to the Hanna Strong story with the subject “Tolerance and Respect.” Syverud stated his plans for moving the campus community forward. “I believe this, and other less visible incidents, presents us with an opportunity to have an open, civil and frank discussion. Issues of tolerance and respect are something confronted by many people on campus and off, in ways visible and not,” he said.

After first reading the email, I couldn’t help but to feel a little uneasy with the use of the word “tolerance.” I realized I was not alone in my thoughts on Friday, when a number of students at #SpeakUpSU voiced their discontent with the use of that word. Students took to Twitter to share their thoughts on this conversation with comments such as, “I just don’t want to be tolerated,” or “Why should I be ‘tolerated’ on my own campus?”

I believe Chancellor Syverud had good intentions in his email — especially in acknowledging that instances of discrimination and hate speech occur quite often on campus, but just might not be caught on camera. But tolerance is one of the darkest issues facing SU’s campus — to be put up with rather than accepted, constantly questioned, doubted and underestimated. Especially for me, as a student of color in Newhouse, ‘tolerance’ is something that I feel on nearly a daily basis. To first be discouraged from even transferring into the school by faculty advisors and then to be spoken-over and isolated socially from classes makes the already-challenging Newhouse experience even more daunting.

During the event — which even had to be extended for one additional hour to provide more time for feedback — members of the audience took turns on the microphone to let their voices be heard. Unlike some of the forums, panels and discussions that happen on campus, #SpeakUpSU stood out as an event where the changes to come afterwards were not just empty promises or thoughts, but actual plans of action.

#SpeakUpSU was an event that should extend beyond the confines of Grant Auditorium and to the respective spaces on campus where there is a dire need for change. One thing that was made clear at #SpeakUpSU was that this was not a group of angry students who came together to whine, complain and blame the world for their life experiences. It was a valid discussion with a motive to shift the culture of SU to a space where no student — regardless of race, gender, class, sexual orientation, religion and all other forms of identity — should just feel tolerated.

Nina Rodgers is a junior sociology major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at nmrodger@syr.edu.

Published on September 16, 2014 at 12:26 am