A group of student leaders and university administrators will meet Wednesday to further discuss plans for the Oct. 2 forum on diversity, inclusion and respect.

The group was formed after Hanna Strong, a Syracuse University women’s soccer player, was videotaped using racial and homophobic slurs. The video quickly spread on Twitter and Strong was indefinitely suspended from the soccer team.

The group held its first in-person meeting on Sept. 17. In addition to the students at the meeting, Vice Chancellor and Provost Eric Spina and Dean of Student Affairs Rebecca Reed Kantrowitz asked several administrators to attend as well.

Student members of the group included:

– Student Association President Boris Gresely

– Graduate Student Organization President Patrick Neary

– Senior Class Marshal Ronald Taylor

– SA’s Director of Student Engagement Brittany Moore

– Members of the SU’s chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

Administrators who attended the meeting included:

– Kantrowitz

– Dean of Hendricks Chapel Tiffany Steinwert

– Director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center Chase Catalano

– Director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs James Duah-Agyeman

– Senior Vice President for Human Capital Development Kal Alston

Several people in attendance said the first meeting was productive, and that many concrete ideas came out of it.

Moore said she was happy with many of the things that were brought up at the first meeting, including the forum that will be held in Hendricks Chapel at 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 2. But she said she hopes the forum will serve as an introductory step for a larger campus discussion about the issues of diversity and respect that were raised by the Strong video.

“When this type of thing happens it’s really hurtful to certain sections of the population, and others don’t get why it’s a big deal,” Moore said. “So we want this forum to be like the first step to get everybody on the same page.”

In addition, Moore said she’d like to see a diverse group of students attend the forum. Though there have been campus dialogues about racism and homophobia in the past, she said it’s often the same people in attendance.

“We need people who would normally shy away because it’s uncomfortable to talk about these issues, we want to push to get those people to participate in this discussion,” Moore said.

Alston, the senior vice president for Human Capital Development, said they also discussed the importance of having specific requests and goals for the forum. She added that students in the group talked about their desire to build a campaign around the #ITooAmSU, which was part of a campus discussion on Sept. 12 organized by the campus NAACP chapter.

Following the forum, the group hopes to offer ways for the discussions to continue. Steinwert said everyone left the meeting with a “series of concrete next steps, roles and responsibilities.”

Neary echoed that by saying the first meeting wasn’t just about throwing around ideas, but actually getting things planned and knowing what the next steps are. In addition, there are plans to have breakout groups and other activities following the forum in order to “cement the gains we get out of that forum,” Neary said.

“I think there’s been a lot of effort to make sure this does get off the ground and gets moving,” he said.

While some people might question whether campus administrators are just saying the right things, Neary said he doesn’t believe that’s the case. Administrators, he said, legitimately care about discussing the issues that can lead to a change in campus culture.

“I think there’s a real focus on not just making nice statements but on making real change,” he said.

Published on September 24, 2014 at 12:01 am

Contact Brett: blsamuel@syr.edu | @Brett_Samuels27