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A student worker at Syracuse University’s Day Hall discovered an anti-Black slur written on a package delivered to the building Friday, university officials said.

It is not clear whether a member of the SU community wrote the slur of if the package was delivered to campus that way, said Robert Hradsky, vice president for the student experience, and Bobby Moldonado, Department of Public Safety chief, in a campus-wide email Friday night.

DPS is reviewing video from security cameras in the building and conducting an investigation, the officials said. 

The university-wide email from Hradsky and Moldonado about the incident is the first of its kind since SU updated its protocols for reporting bias incidents following a series of racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic incidents on and near campus last year. The university opted to post bias incidents to a DPS web page rather than alert the entire campus via email, citing potential panic caused by repeated emails. 

Since the 2019-20 academic year, SU updated its Code of Student Conduct to strengthen the punishment for racist or bias-motivated violations. The code also sets penalties for bystanders and accomplices of racism and bias who do not report the behavior. 

“The slur discovered today is the act of an individual, or a few, operating in the shadows of anonymity,” Hradsky and Moldando said. “Whether this package arrived with the slur already written, or it happened by the hand of someone on our campus, the mind that embraces that kind of hate does not belong at Syracuse University.” 

Day Hall was the site of multiple racist and bias-related incidents that led to the formation of #NotAgainSU, a movement led by Black students protesting SU’s response to the incidents. The group led an eight-day occupation of the Barnes Center at The Arch in November and a 31-day occupation of Crouse-Hinds Hall in February and March, presenting a series of demands to university officials.

Published on September 4, 2020 at 11:10 pm

Contact Michael: msessa@syr.edu | @MichaelSessa3