Syracuse University has released a list of four items it will agree to if student protesters leave Crouse-Hinds Hall by Friday and end their four day long sit-in.

The list was part of a campus-wide email sent Thursday night by Bea Gonzalez, dean of University College and the liaison between Chancellor Kent Syverud and THE General Body, the student group behind the sit-in.

In the email, Gonzalez said she offered the following points to THE General Body if the group agreed to leave Crouse-Hinds by Friday:

• The Board of Trustees would delay a decision on the university’s mission and vision statements and allow for an additional campus comment period.
• A set group of student representatives of the coalition would have an opportunity to meet with a group of Board of Trustees members on Saturday.
• SU leaders would be willing to sign a non-retaliation/student judicial violations commitment that would cover any activity by students who participated in the sit-in.
• A promise to begin a search for an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) coordinator and to include input from the students during the search process.

The administration also said it would commit to “ongoing and structured dialogue” about several of the group’s other concerns, including sexual assault and relationship violence services on campus, the POSSE program and campus mental health services.

Gonzalez collected the administrators’ comments after she met with THE General Body Thursday afternoon and the coalition voted for the chancellor’s executive team to submit written comments about each point in its demands and solutions document. Gonzalez attached the document with the administration’s comments in the email. She also delivered a copy of the document to protesters prior to the campus-wide email.

Forty members of THE General Body have slept in the lobby of Crouse-Hinds since the student coalition held the Diversity and Transparency Rally on Monday. On Wednesday night, Syverud and Gonzalez met with the protesters for about an hour and 15 minutes.

Colton Jones, one of the protesters, said the expectations for the comments were to include a plan of action, a timeframe for each demand as well as the administration’s commitment to addressing a problem if it was too complex to address immediately. However, after skimming through the comments, Jones said he was not satisfied.

“They seemed very superficial to me, and that’s not what we’re looking for,” Jones said. He added that he was not speaking on behalf of THE General Body, but that was how he and a few members of the coalition felt after they initially read the administration’s comments.

Jones added that Gonzalez is urging THE General Body and the administration to reach an agreement before the weekend. Currently, THE General Body is writing a response to the administration’s comments and the coalition does not know when it will meet with administrators again, he said.

“It looks like we’re all going to be up very late tonight making sure we have what we want before we leave this space,” Jones said.

Gonzalez ended her email and said there has not been an agreement yet, but she remains hopeful.

“So far we haven’t been able to reach an agreement. This is disappointing given the proposals that involve the Board of Trustees are time sensitive and require action by tomorrow morning. Nevertheless, I continue to interface with the Chancellor and the students to reconcile this situation as soon as possible and remain hopeful progress can be made,” she said.

Published on November 6, 2014 at 10:00 pm

Contact Anna: almerod@syr.edu