We, the undersigned, who are faculty in the School of Education, publicly affirm our commitment to all marginalized and oppressed students on campus. The recent video is just one more indication and reminder of the interconnected ways that white supremacy is advanced at Syracuse University and in our communities through racist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, sexist and anti-Semitic practices. True freedom can only occur when all forms of violence, hatred and systems of domination are dismantled. We join with our students to call on the administration and our fellow faculty to engage in the crucial work of dismantling settler colonialism, white supremacy, heterosexist patriarchy, ableism, transphobia, homophobia, antisemitism, xenophobia and Islamophobia, in addition to other systems and expressions of domination. These expressions of hate and violence don’t start with the fraternity house, but are foundational to the structures and cultures on campus. Any expression of hatred, bias, microaggression and other types of violence means we have failed as educators.

The emphasis on diversity and inclusion and implicit bias training is an insufficient response. A comprehensive approach in every dimension of the university to increase the number of underrepresented and undocumented students on campus, scholarship and fellowship opportunities — including Posse, McNair, LSAMP, HEOP, SSS and CSTEP — graduate and undergraduate research support, access to student group funding and curricular and programing efforts is necessary. As an educational and academic institution, a prominent presence of interdisciplinary academic programs to research and teach on the areas of social justice, violence, discrimination and marginalization is also needed to align the university’s mission to the knowledge production that continues the work of dismantling structural violence. All students should expect to be supported and nurtured on campus and challenged to become agents of social change and transformation.

Sincerely,

Michael Gill, Assistant Professor, Cultural Foundations of Education, Disability Studies

Barbara Applebaum, Professor, Cultural Foundations of Education

Alan Foley, Associate Professor, Cultural Foundations of Education

Stephen Kuusisto, University Professor

Eunjung Kim, Assistant Professor, Women’s and Gender Studies, Cultural Foundations of Education, Disability Studies

David H. Knapp, Assistant Professor, Teaching and Leadership

Mara Sapon-Shevin, Professor, Teaching and Leadership

Beth A. Ferri, Professor, Inclusive Education & Disability Studies

Susan Thomas, Assistant Professor, Cultural Foundations of Education

Joanna O. Masingila, Dean and Professor, Teaching and Leadership

Melissa Luke, Dean’s Professor, Counseling and Human Services

Gretchen Lopez, Cultural Foundations of Education

Cathy Engstrom, Associate Professor, Higher Education

Julia M. White, Assistant Professor, Inclusive Education and Disability Studies

James Haywood Rolling, Jr., Dual Professor, Teaching and Leadership & Art Education

Leela George, Assistant Teaching Professor, Teaching and Leadership

Michael L. Norris, Assistant Professor, Health and Exercise Science

George Theoharis, Professor, Teaching and Leadership

Joseph B. Shedd, Associate Professor, Teaching and Leadership

Kelly Chandler-Olcott, Associate Dean for Research and Professor, Reading & Language Arts

Kathleen Hinchman, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs & Professor, Reading & Language Arts

Derek X. Seward, Associate Professor, Counseling and Human Services

Luis Columna, Associate Professor, Health and Exercise Science

Thomas H. Bull, Director of Field Relations, Teaching and Leadership

Tom Brutsaert, Professor and Chair, Exercise Science

Duane Graysay, Assistant Professor, Teaching and Leadership

Dawn R. Johnson, Associate Professor and Chair, Higher Education

Beth Myers, Research Assistant Professor, Teaching and Leadership

Zaline Roy-Campbell, Associate Professor, Reading & Language Arts

Nicole Fonger, Dual Assistant Professor, Teaching and Leadership & Mathematics

Sherrie Bruner, Visiting Assistant Professor, Counseling and Human Services

Mario Rios Perez, Assistant Professor, Cultural Foundations of Education

Elisa Macedo Dekaney, Associate Professor, Teaching and Leadership

Gail Ensher, Professor, Teaching and Leadership

Kal Alston, Professor, Cultural Foundations of Education

John Coggiola, Dual Associate Professor, Teaching and Leadership & Music Education

Dalia Rodriguez, Associate Professor, Cultural Foundations of Education

Caroline O’Hara, Assistant Professor, Counseling and Human Services

Kevin Heffernan, Dean’s Associate Professor, Exercise Science

 

Published on May 1, 2018 at 3:04 pm