Syracuse University’s bias incident reporting policies fail to protect marginalized students
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If you want more information on the anti-LGBTQ+ hate crime that happened on Feb. 23 in Watson Hall, there is little to find. That is why I am writing today.
It took six days for the incident to be publicly addressed. There was a meeting Wednesday night only announced to Watson residents, required for residential advisors and posted by the LGBTQ Resource Center a few hours before on their Instagram account. I heard about it from the resource center just 2 hours before the meeting.
I thought that a hate crime on campus would be bigger news. After all, the Department of Public Safety’ protocol is to report criminal bias incidents on their Bias Incident Reports webpage within 48 hours. As students, we get a lot of reports of announcements like robberies on South Campus, so if there’s something that concerns our safety, it is reasonable that we would expect DPS or related university offices to report it to us as soon as possible.
At the meeting on Wednesday, the Office of Student Living representatives and Watson staff standing in front of us were unable to answer many students’ questions, such as whether Syracuse University will take action after the investigation or if there is a specific plan to be followed after bias incidents to ensure safety.
Many times, DPS was referred to for information, yet there was no DPS representative in the room to answer these questions. The answers they gave us were circular and deflective — with generic, polished statements. The limited information we got from the meeting was disorganized: sometimes there was direct mention of the attack, other times it was unclear who or which groups were being targeted, even though there was allegedly a name tagged alongside the slur.
DPS is supposedly doing all they can by talking to every student on both floors involved, recording the evidence and checking available security camera footage, and yet there has been no update.
The leaders of the meeting were liaisons between students, and higher authorities. By their own admission, there was nothing they could really do, I understand that. But when I asked the meeting leaders who to contact for help, I was told that it would be the students who would have the power to make the change, and that the higher level officials did not plan on changing their vague routine response.
Being told that as students, our safety is our own responsibility, on top of classes, jobs, student organizations, community service, dating, friends, family and becoming the adults that SU is supposed to help us become, makes it seem that SU has no real concern for crimes against marginalized communities.
Whether a dean, president, chancellor, chief or any other person in a leadership position, the role of those in charge of the safety of our student body is to take accountability, so we can focus on our academic, professional and social growth.
The student experience does not include ignoring and condoning hate crimes or bias of any sort. Public safety includes investigating hate crimes as hate crimes and telling the wider community when there is a need for concern.
This is not how you address such an incident. DPS should have made Watson residents and the SU community aware of the incident immediately and established a timeline for the investigation.
The fact that SU has a history, as seen in #NotAgainSU, of treating various bias incidents similarly regardless of the bias itself, is sickening. Students are continuously left unaware or told information last minute and the information we’re given are the same emails telling us SU and DPS will do better next time. These promises are useless when those trusted to follow the proper procedures drop the ball again and again. We have to hold our leaders accountable for the actions they do or don’t take. If our student handbook says we have the right to not be discriminated against, what is SU doing to protect that right?
Abigail Traska is a sophomore, majoring in Psychology and Creative Writing
