SA holds Freedom of Speech town hall for feedback on ‘Syracuse Statement’

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The Student Association held a Freedom of Speech Town Hall Tuesday evening to collect feedback on Syracuse University’s upcoming “Syracuse Statement” on academic freedom.

The forum, which was held in Lyman Hall, was attended by two SA members and working group Co-Chair Allen Groves, who is SU’s senior vice president and chief student experience officer. SA President William Treloar — who is also a member of the working group — moderated the discussion and asked attendees six questions about academic freedom on SU’s campus.

“We’re looking to get some undergraduate feedback on a few of the topics that may provide some context and better shape what we see going into the statement,” Treloar said.

The six questions posed during the forum were developed by the working group based on free-expression statements that other schools have written, Groves said. The forums follow the same format with the same six questions — which also appeared on a campus-wide survey sent in a March 7 email. The Syracuse Statement was announced in January by Chancellor Kent Syverud.

The working group is co-chaired by Groves as well as Vice Chancellor and Provost Gretchen Ritter. At the first open forum on March 19, members of the working group announced that all its members can hold their own forums to maximize the amount of feedback the group gathers.

The six questions focused on openness to diverse points of view in classrooms, the university’s commitment to free expression and how the university’s culture and history may impact free expression on campus.

SA Chief of Staff Reed Granger said the First Year Seminar class is a “good place to start” to set a baseline example course curriculums could follow to cultivate “supportive, active and engaged listening.” The class, a requirement for first-year and transfer students, is designed to help new students transition to campus.

“It is imperative for making sure incoming students understand what they can do for the university and what the university can do for them,” Granger said.

Treloar posed a question about the degree to which individuals should take responsibility for using their right to freedom of expression.

“It’s unrealistic to assume that everyone is well informed. I think people should be able to share a perspective even if they’re not well informed because … we’re at an educational institution, we are trying to learn,” SA Vice President Yasmin Nayrouz said.

SA members also discussed the importance of students feeling like they can stand up for themselves and their communities in university spaces.

Granger said when they went to high school in Texas, they would be “harassed” if they were to publish something regarding the rights of marginalized students on that campus.

“In many aspects, this is a diverse campus and that’s why I applied to the Northeast instead of anywhere in the South or I may have felt the same I felt in high school and just seeing aspects of what I tried to avoid, still very prevalent, I’ve found and still do find concerning,” Granger said.

Treloar said Granger’s comment made him think about how the First Amendment is on the wall of Newhouse — something that some students see every day — and what its presence signifies.

“That should imply that there are spaces for students, faculty and staff to be able to voice their concerns, voice what they’re feeling on campus,” Treloar said. “(Freedom of speech) is supposedly one of the top values of Syracuse University, and so making sure that, however this statement comes out, it addresses the need to have those open dialogues that don’t feel threatening but feel as though every voice is heard.”

Toward the end of the open forum, SA members discussed the spaces where students are given to protest, how to engage in thoughtful debate and the university’s job in protecting both of these aspects.

Groves said these forums accomplish two goals — one, they allow community members to offer their thoughts, and two, they raise awareness of the importance of free expression.

“Free expression is a pretty important thing at a college campus,” Groves said. “The confidence to be able, especially where you are as students, to test new ideas, to throw out theories with your friends and debate these but to debate them in a way that is constructive.”