University administrator confronts students over ‘intifada’ sign at Schine ‘study-in’

Support The Daily Orange this holiday season! The money raised between now and the end of the year will go directly toward aiding our students. Donate today.

Early Friday morning, Instagram account blackatcuse published three videos over two posts showing Syracuse University Vice President for the Student Experience Rob Hradsky confronting students at Schine Student Center’s atrium over a sign that had the phrase “globalize the intifada” on it.

The word “intifada,” which translates directly to “shaking off” in English but is typically used to mean uprising, was written in a series of languages, including Arabic, on the sign.

Students in the atrium were wearing similar signs throughout the day as part of a “study-in” for final exams that started on Monday. In the third video blackatcuse posted, Hradsky told a student with the sign attached to their computer that the university deemed that the term advocated for genocide. The video also shows SU Department of Public Safety officers in the atrium.

Hradsky told the student that they needed to take down the poster and that if they didn’t comply, it could result in charges related to the Student Conduct Code.

“We’re concerned about the word intifada,” Hradsky said in the video. “I’m not going to get into a debate with you.”

“This is not a debate, she’s asking what you think it means,” someone not shown in the video responded to Hradsky.

A student in the video also asked which exact policy the sign violated. In response, Hradsky gave them a piece of paper. Account blackatcuse, which has anonymously published the experiences of Black SU students since 2020, posted the piece of paper in an Instagram post late Thursday night.

“You have been asked by a University official to remove flyer with the word Intafada as the University deems these flyers as advocating for genocide which is harassment and a violation of University policy. You must remove this flyer immediately or will face charges under the Student Conduct Code,” the paper read.

In another video the account posted, a student asked Hradsky if he was saying words in Arabic promote genocide. He responded that was not what he was saying, and that he was only asking that the specific flyer be removed. People in the video said Hradsky was targeting students of color.

In the first video the account posted, a student asked Hradsky to “please point” at the offending poster, also asking him to not touch it. Hradsky then took the poster off of what it was taped to. The student then repeatedly asked Hradsky to not touch their personal property.

Later in the video, Hradsky took photos of the students around him for “when conduct charges are filed.”

In a statement to The Daily Orange, a university spokesperson wrote that SU respects students’ right to peacefully assemble and protest “up to the point when speech or conduct threatens our students’ wellbeing and violates University policies.”

“It was only when other students reported feeling threatened by displayed flyers stating ‘globalize the intifada’ that the University was required under its policies and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to engage,” the spokesperson wrote.

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 relates to discrimination from educational programs that receive federal assistance. Under the act, “no person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance,” according to the United States Department of Education.

In the statement, the spokesperson wrote that Hradsky “respectfully instructed the students who were present to remove these specific flyers (and only these) and they refused.”

Refusing, according to the spokesperson, violated section 12 of the student conduct code.

“Failure to comply with the lawful directives of University employees performing the duties and responsibilities of their position or office, including without limitation, matters related to the maintenance of safety or security,” the code reads.

The spokesperson added that at no time were students threatened with arrest and that no university official ever engaged students with “any physical contact.” In a Dec. 11 campus-wide email, Chancellor Kent Syverud wrote that calling for the genocide of Jewish people would violate SU’s Code of Conduct.

In blackatcuse’s original post Thursday night, the page wrote that university administration harassed and surveilled students based on their political positioning, denied students right to free speech and self expression, took pictures and video of students without their consent and physically intimidated and targeted students, “specifically a female student of colour.”

At the end of its original post, blackatcuse asked faculty to join the study-in with a “Grade-in.” When asked for comment, blackatcuse directed The D.O. to a letter it released Friday night on Instagram.

In the letter directed at SU’s administration and DPS, the group references Syverud’s Dec. 11 email. In the email, Syverud wrote that, with “events in the world and at universities,” some people had been fearful that administrators would “regulate a broad range of speech in the name of student safety.” The letter’s content stated that Hradsky did just that.

The letter also said that the word “intifada” was used as a “show of support for Palestinians living under occupation.” The group also accused Hradsky of being in violation of multiple items in both the Student Code of Conduct and the university’s overall Code of Conduct.

In the Student Code of Conduct, blackatcuse wrote that Hradsky violated both the “integrity, respect for one another and others’ property” and a “commitment to intellectual and personal growth,” adding that Hradsky targeted a women of color while “ignoring several white Jewish Voice for Peace activists.”

“Mr. Hradsky responded disproportionately to the alleged violation of the Code of Conduct by bringing armed DPS officers to tell students peacefully studying in, to take down a sign. This disproportionate response created an ‘intimidating, hostile’ environment,” blackatcuse wrote.

Similarly to SU’s statement, blackatcuse also brought up Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The letter included six demands for SU’s administration.

The organization wrote that the administration must provide written documentation that the “there were no violations of the Student Code of Conduct,” affirm that there will be no repercussions for those who participated in the study-in and commit to protecting students from doxxing, intimidation and harassment.

The last three demands asked the administration to uphold the right of students to engage in peaceful protest, commit to creating educational spaces where “Palestinian voices and narratives are centered” and investigate Hradsky’s “role in student harassment, intimidation of students of color specifically, and his history of institutional violence against students.”

After the investigation, blackatcuse called for Hradsky’s resignation. According to the Google Forms page, the letter will be sent at 10 a.m. Saturday.

“We call on the administration to respond in a timely manner and take action so we as students can feel safe on the Syracuse University campus. We demand commitments that the Deans of Students and administration hired to represent us as students are indeed doing so,” ended the letter.