One year ago, Syracuse University established a council to bolster inclusive policies and promote diversity across campus.

Since then, out of a workgroup’s 33 total recommendations, the Council on Diversity and Inclusion has completed an accessibility audit of all SU grounds, established Indigenous Peoples’ Day and successfully applied for grants to improve retention among historically underrepresented student groups.

“Equity. Plain and simple,” said Barry Wells, a special assistant to Chancellor Kent Syverud, about why the university wants high enrollment and retention rates among underrepresented populations.

The Chancellor’s Workgroup on Diversity and Inclusion provided recommendations to SU for improvements that could bolster diversity and inclusion. The group was dissolved following the submission of recommendations to Syverud.

The Council on Diversity and Inclusion, though, was formed last year as part of a recommendation from that workgroup.

Though the council now focuses on fulfilling the recommendations, members also report to the chancellor and give him advice on issues regarding diversity and inclusion, Wells said.

When President Donald Trump announced his administration planned to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, SU looked to address the issue, Wells said. In turn, he said, representatives from the council participated in the university-wide committee on DACA.

“It’s somewhat narrow in terms of its scope, but at the same time, looking at what takes place on our campus and what’s taking place nationally or globally sometimes, we feel a need to comment on issues and concerns,” Wells said.

Diasia Robinson, a Student Association representative on the council and co-chair of the SA Diversity Affairs Committee, said she pushed the university to respond to DACA threats and the “sanctuary campus” issue.

The “sanctuary campus” term generally refers to colleges that create policies to protect students who are undocumented immigrants.

Syverud was hesitant to declare SU a “sanctuary campus” last year, saying the university supports its undocumented students, but it must comply with federal law.

Wells added SU needs to understand students’ backgrounds — both culturally and academically — and be attentive to their needs. Not every student has the same background or advantages, he said.

The university has made significant progress in addressing disparity in retention rates between white students and students of color, Wells said.

Robinson said she thinks the enrollment of minority students should increase. She added that the university should prioritize diversity and promote organizations and committees like the ones she is a part of.

“I think creating a space for dialogue around serving the needs of these students is probably the best way to insure we’re meeting the needs of every student on campus,” Robinson said.

Transportation to the La Casita Cultural Center was added to the Connective Corridor Centro bus route, for example, Wells said.

La Casita has worked with SU cultural programs in the past and it was of interest to Latinx students, faculty and staff, Wells said.

The council is permanent as of now, Wells said, but members cannot predict what will happen when a new chancellor comes to SU, he added.

“The work on diversity and inclusion is a long-term commitment, and it’s more of a journey as opposed to a short-term process,” he said.

Syverud is also looking to establish the position of chief diversity officer, Wells said.

Wells said the chancellor will likely consult the council when the time comes to appoint a chief diversity officer. The council will eventually report to a chief diversity officer, who will report to the chancellor.

Recommendations were not suggested by any one person, said Suzette Meléndez, director of the children’s rights and family law clinic at the SU College of Law. The workgroup accepted feedback from SU community members and worked to represent the community, she said. Meléndez was also a member of the diversity and inclusion workgroup.

“We spoke with many voices and I don’t know if it would be fair to say any recommendation has any one person’s name on it,” she said.

The list of recommendations is not exhaustive, Meléndez said, but it is a beginning step for identifying both short- and long-term goals that the council can build upon.

Work still needs to be done, and it starts by standing behind the principles and values established by the workgroup, Meléndez said. A number of initiatives and goals could be added to the list of recommendations, but she said the university needs to start with what it already has.

The council does not dissolve once the list of recommendations is complete, Wells said.

Council members work in conjunction with other offices and departments on campus, including Campus Facilities Administration and Services and the Division of Enrollment and the Student Experience.

This partnership is not to create redundancy, said Diane Wiener, director of the Disability Cultural Center at SU.

Instead, it creates true collaboration with other entities across campus. Advancing the visions of the council means it must work with people from different offices, she said.

“Now we have further conversations happening that also relate to what can we do physically, philosophically, culturally, politically — every adverbial you can think of and beyond — to make sure that people understand that this is actually an ongoing and horizontal commitment across all campus spaces,” Wiener said of the council’s collaboration with other SU offices.

Opportunity Syracuse, an initiative to make SU more accessible to people across the socioeconomic spectrum, is also in the process of being implemented.

SU’s tuition for the 2018-19 year will cost incoming students $50,230 after a $3,300 premium and a 3.9 percent increase is added for the Invest Syracuse initiative. Opportunity Syracuse is part of that initiative.

The university, at present, has raised $6.25 million out of the proposed $40 million Opportunity Syracuse goal, said Sarah Scalese, vice president of university communications at SU.

“It isn’t until there is equity that we feel we’ve actually have been successful as an educational institution,” Wells said.

Here’s a full breakdown on what the council has completed so far:

• A university-wide Council on Diversity and Inclusion was established
• A central university fund was created to pay for accommodations deemed reasonable and necessary under the Americans with Disabilities Act
• An accessibility audit of all 9 million square feet of the university was completed
• Improvements were made to enhance accessibility
• New uniform signage for all gender-accessible/single-occupancy bathrooms was installed
• Training was held for faculty and staff who receive and respond to requests for academic adjustments and aids made by students with disabilities
• SU acknowledged that it sits on Onondaga land at major events and flies the Haudenosaunee flag beside the American flag
• An Indigenous Peoples’ Day was established
• An Advancing Diversity and Inclusion website was established
• The La Casita Cultural Center was added to the Connective Corridor bus route
• Inclusive food options, such as Halal, kosher, vegetarian and gluten-free were made available across campus
• The Division for Campus Safety and Emergency Services held Implicit Bias training for all officers and supervisors in the Department of Public Safety and 300 central New York law enforcement officers
• Opportunity Syracuse was established to ensure students across the socioeconomic spectrum could access the university
• SU was awarded a National Science Foundation grant to boost retention rates for historically underrepresented students in STEM fields
• An Internationalization Council was established by Vice Chancellor and Provost Michele Wheatly
• A $700,000 grant from the Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need group was awarded to the chemistry department so it could boost diversity in the graduate student body
• SU Libraries hired an inclusion and accessibility librarian, Kate Deibel, who will start work in October

Published on September 19, 2017 at 9:44 pm

Contact Kennedy: krose100@syr.edu | @KennedyRose001