#NotAgainSU, a movement that began at Syracuse University in November 2019 to protest racist and bias related incidents, has now started a new sit-in at Crouse-Hinds Hall. Students should find ways to protest that don’t interfere with academic activities.

In November, #NotAgainSU formed in reaction to hate crimes occurring on and around campus. Today, the movement continues in response to a growing resentment of how the administration handled student’s previous demands and how they are moving forward with these problems in mind.

When the movement began, SU administration sent people to listen to the students and respond to their demands. Chancellor Kent Syverud himself showed up to talk to students and take their demands after an eight-day sit-in at the Barnes Center at the Arch. Although many students felt that the administration was not listening to all of their concerns or responding fast enough, the protesters were taken seriously and given reasonable responses to their demands.

However, this is not the case now. Student protesters are no longer going about their protests in a meaningful way to generate the response that they want from the administration. Protests have moved from the Barnes Center to academic buildings where their demonstrations are affecting students and faculty that have classes there.

As of Tuesday, all classes being held in Crouse-Hinds Hall have been relocated to other buildings and very few people are being admitted into the building where many protestors still reside. Since this protest is affecting academic activity, unlike the sit-in in November, it is reasonable to expect the administration to go from understanding to non-responsive.

Similarly, some protesters have been placed on interim suspension for staying in the building past 9 p.m. on Monday night, the building’s established closing time. Although there are certain circumstances in which rules must be broken to make a point, in this instance, protesters are doing more harm to themselves than good.

Students have gone from representing a respected and important cause to representing a cause that the administration feels it must deal with directly instead of dealing with the problems the students draw attention to. If students want to continue making a difference and influencing change on campus, they must find ways to protest that force the university to listen to them, instead of focusing on protest prevention.

 

Skylar Swart is a freshman political science major. Her column appears bi-weekly. She can be reached at saswart@syr.edu. She can be followed on Twitter at @SkylarSwart.

Published on February 18, 2020 at 10:00 pm