Editorial Board: Student of Color Advisory Board shows promise, but only if SU commits to action

Members of the newly-established Student of Color Advisory Committee, a formal collaboration between students and the Department of Public Safety meant to encourage dialogue and feedback, met before the end of the semester last spring and talked on conference calls over the summer. A date has not been set for the committee’s next meeting, but the Daily Orange Editorial Board hopes that when one is, SU administrators will be ready to listen and act.

The student committee will communicate directly with the Advisory Committee on Campus Safety, but students will have no official power to enact changes. Administrators should be commended for responding to student requests for such a committee, but they must do more than simply listen to students of color — they need to act on this committee’s proposals.

While listening sessions and forums have provided room for students to express their concerns about DPS policies and practices regarding students of color, substantive action has been harder to come by. It’s important that administrators recognize the depth of concerns raised by students of color, and we call on them to institute policies that prove they are listening with purpose.

Several committee members have said that there is a disparity in how DPS shuts down parties hosted by SU’s chapters of the National Pan-Hellenic Council — a group of nine historically black Greek organizations. Students have also claimed that similar situations occur when organizations like the African Student Union and the Caribbean Student Association host events. Students deserve a response from DPS and the university about claims like this that extend beyond repeated commitments to inclusivity and respect to concrete action.

Engaging with the ways race shapes campus life for students is about much more than talk. Effectively engaging with the issues committee members raise means investigating, studying and genuinely responding to problems. Administrators need to explain the considerations they make when assessing suggestions made by the committee, and they need to explain the factors that motivate their decision-making.

They need to respect the experiences of the students they’ve appointed.

The work of students who advocated for and helped establish this committee is admirable. The students who’ve been selected to participate have serious potential to inspire valuable — and overdue — change. We want to know more about who the students on this committee are, what their experiences at SU have shown them about issues of race on and around campus and, most importantly, how we can best help them pursue change. And we hope they will share honestly their experiences on this committee.

Open lines of communication with committee members can foster the type of candid conversations about race and campus culture that SU administrators desperately need to hear, and it can hold university officials accountable.

 SU has said that the concept for the committee originated last fall through discussions between Interim Chief Diversity Officer Keith A. Alford and DPS Commander Ryan Beauford. Students have largely cited February’s Ackerman Avenue assault on three students of color as the committee’s starting point. The assault, which SU did not call racially-motivated despite victim and witness statements that it was, sparked criticism about DPS’s communication and transparency.

The committee has already shown promise in their efforts to engage DPS and university officials effectively, and committee members told The Daily Orange that Maldonado has been receptive to their concerns.

But we need more than receptive ears. We need action, and we’re hopeful that the Student of Color Advisory Board, with proper communication and support, has the capacity to finally provoke it.

The Daily Orange Editorial Board serves as the voice of the organization and aims to contribute the perspectives of students to discussions that concern Syracuse University and the greater Syracuse community. The editorial board’s stances are determined by a majority of its members. You can read more about the editorial board here. Are you interested in pitching a topic for the editorial board to discuss? Email opinion@dailyorange.com.