CLEVELAND — Tensions around SU’s campus have increased due to the volume of racially charged and anti-Semitic acts over the past two weeks. For students and faculty, these acts have spread immense fear throughout the week as protests continued at the Barnes Center.
As the college application deadlines approach, two Cleveland, Ohio, high school students, Kayla and Rainah, are debating submitting an application to Syracuse amidst these incidents. They asked to have their last names omitted so that their application status is not affected.
“Upon hearing about [the incidents on campus], my first thought wasn’t like, oh, I want not to apply anymore, but it definitely kind of added to my overall perspective of community,” said Kayla.
Kayla said the incidents had changed her view of SU.
“When I went to visit, everyone seemed genuinely happy and excited and everything, it only helped to add to the reality of community,” said Kayla.
Rainah says she won’t stop speaking her voice.
“For me, incidents like this sadly are kind of normal… Identifying as a black woman, my voice has been ignored my life and my ancestors’, so that’s not anything that I guess would stop me,” said Rainah.
In the 2020 edition of Best Colleges, US News and World Report ranked Syracuse University as No. 54 for national universities.
The university says African American/Black students comprise 6.4% of undergraduates enrolled in fall classes and 7% of the student population overall.
The student-led movement #NotAgainSU called for the resignation of Chancellor Kent Syverud, Chief of the Department of Public Safety Bobby Maldonado, and more members of the administration in a statement released on its Instagram Thursday.
