Syracuse Agrees to Activist Demands After Fiery Protest
SYRACUSE, New York—Anger over a string of racist and anti-Semitic incidents at Syracuse University reached fever pitch late Wednesday night when student activists insisting the school agree to a list of demands stormed out of a forum with the chancellor, shouting “Sign or resign!”
Hours later, in what may be a turning point for the discord that has gripped the upstate New York campus, Chancellor Kent Syverud made his choice. The university announced early Thursday that it had agreed to nearly all the conditions submitted by #NotAgainSU, the black-led protest group, and international students. He will be meeting with Jewish students to discuss their demands.
The potential breakthrough comes after a dozen reports of graffiti or harassment—the latest a vile anti-Semitic threat to a faculty member—that fueled student sit-ins, got fraternities suspended, prompted Gov. Andrew Cuomo to blast administrators, and sent some students fleeing a campus they felt was no longer safe.