Syverud to develop statement responding to concerns over free speech, maintains priority of safety

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Chancellor Kent Syverud reaffirmed his commitment to keeping the university safe from physical violence and prioritized shared governance amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war at Wednesday’s University Senate meeting.

Syverud said other members of the USen have expressed concerns that the potential for violent threats will be co-opted as an excuse to erode free speech and academic freedom on campus. In response, he said he plans to work closely with campus stakeholders to develop an official statement addressing their concerns.

“For me, the safety of Syracuse University students must remain a top priority in all this,” Syverud said. “I think sometimes we must prioritize the safety of our community above academic freedom and free speech.”

Syverud said he has received several questions about what his definition of safety entails. He clarified that when he says “safety,” he is not talking about “being saved from disparate views, or being saved from uncomfortable perspectives or from language which some may disagree with or find objectionable,” but rather threats that have the potential to result in physical violence.

In October, SU officials canceled a teach-in on Palestine due to safety concerns. Student organizers with the Africa Initiative — the group that planned the teach-in — took issue with the university’s handling of the event, which they said highlighted the university’s struggles with academic freedom.

“It is vital that all of us plan carefully and in advance to ensure free speech also occurs in a time, place and manner that takes into account the safety and security of our whole community,” Syverud and Provost Gretchen Ritter wrote in a campus-wide email on Oct. 31 when announcing the event’s cancellation.

Universities across the United States are facing criticism over their responses to the Israel-Hamas war. Former University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill resigned following her responses at a congressional hearing on campus antisemitism. Harvard President Claudine Gay received similar pressure after her testimony but has been backed by the University’s highest governing body.

“What I’d say about all those concerns (from students, faculty, staff, and from alumni and trustees) is there isn’t much that everybody agrees on except that the belief that most universities have handled things really badly,” Syverud said.

In a campus-wide email Monday, Syverud addressed the national response to the congressional hearing on campus antisemitism featuring Magill and Gay. He stated in his email that advocating for the genocide of Jews would violate SU’s codes of conduct.

At the meeting, Ritter thanked members of the university community for their work protecting SU’s academic mission and the rights of its community members to express diverse viewpoints on controversial topics.

“The time is right for continued dialogue here with all members of our community around academic freedom and free speech at Syracuse, particularly in the context of legitimate concerns over physical safety,” Ritter said.

Ritter also expressed her gratitude to the Office of Academic Affairs for its panels and engagement opportunities on academic freedom, active listening and navigating polarizing discourses in the classroom. She said these panels will continue next semester and invited members of the Senate to share their thoughts on topics and formats.

Senator Crystal Bartolovich, an associate professor in the English department in the College of Arts and Sciences, raised questions about how Syverud will determine what constitutes advocacy of genocide in this new policy.

Bartolovich said she was surprised by the differences in Syverud and Cornell University’s President Martha Pollack’s responses to recent state pressure to undermine academic freedom and freedom of speech on New York campuses.

“​​Over the past few days, a number of universities, including Cornell, have been asked by members of Congress to make clear their policies around genocide,” Pollack wrote in a statement Saturday. “Genocide is abhorrent, and Cornell condemns calls for the genocide of any people. An explicit call for genocide, to kill all members of a group of people, would be a violation of our policies.”

Bartolovich said she wished Syverud and Pollack had been stronger in their defenses of academic freedom.

Syverud also announced proposed changes to the Senate’s bylaws, which members worked on over the previous week. The new bylaws will create an internal structure that will function more efficiently and incorporate more diverse perspectives in the Senate and its committees, Syverud said.

The new bylaws are part of the Senate’s work to strengthen SU’s shared governance, which Syverud said is “vital” to the success of the university.

Syverud said the revised statement on academic freedom and free speech will be announced at the next USen meeting, which will be held in the spring semester.

“I think I’m going to let my statement stand for itself, which is that I do think we should expect that our community members should refuse to advocate for the death of a group of people based on their identity,” Syverud said.