Faculty march in solidarity with #NotAgainSU
Faculty march for #NotAgainSU
A Syracuse University faculty group led a protest march in support of #NotAgainSU throughout campus Thursday, making several stops along the way to read out loud their demands.
The march was organized by the Faculty Action Collective in order to demonstrate their support for the Crouse-Hinds Hall occupation which began 18 days ago. A group of close to 50 students and faculty gathered in front of Hendricks Chapel, the starting point of the march.
Around 3:15 p.m., a march organizer took the microphone to read the statement of demands that would be then read at every stopping point.
“We march here today as a collective of faculty, students and staff standing in support of #NotAgainSU,” the statement read. “We remain in solidarity with #NotAgainSU, and call upon SU administrators to negotiate in good faith.”
Outside of SU's Maxwell School, marchers hoist signs for onlookers to see.
A march organizer reads the group's official statement along Waverly Avenue outside the Newhouse School before proceeding to Crouse-Hinds Hall.
At each stop during the march they repeated this statement as well as their specific list of four “non-negotiable” demands. They demanded amnesty toward all graduate and under-graduate protestors; no repercussions for graduate strikers and guaranteed contract renewal; an oversight committee comprised of faculty and students to advise any decisions regarding campus climate or the demands of #NotAgainSU; DPS must disclose and discontinue the use of facial recognition software; and DPS must be disarmed and have their code of conducted overhauled.
The march’s first stop was Maxwell Hall, where one protestor on the stairs held a sign reading “want diversity, teach our history.” The demands were read and signed off by the group chanting “we are here in good faith, negotiate!”
After Maxwell, the march was led to Carnegie Library. As protestors moved across campus they continued to chant. One protestor led the chants with a megaphone at the front of the procession.
After the demands were read once again the participants marched to Sims Hall, which houses the offices of the Department of Public Safety and Chief Bobby Maldonado, whose resignation has been demanded by #NotAgainSU. Once outside the building protestors chanted “DPS is violent, Maldonado stays silent.”
The march subsequently stopped in front of Bird Library, Whitman School of Management and The Newhouse complex before ending up at Crouse-Hinds Hall, where a few dozen students continue to occupy the space until they say their demands are resolved.
A protestor took the megaphone and directed it toward the administrative building. He pled with administrators to negotiate in “good faith” so that students, faculty and graduate teaching assistants may return to their classrooms, “where they want to be.”
After this plea, the speaker encouraged those who participated in the march as well as those who joined along the route to support the teach-in led by the African American Studies faculty inside of Crouse-Hinds Hall. While some students and faculty dispersed, many went into Crouse-Hinds to continue their show of solidarity.
is a newspaper and online journalism and political science senior and digital producer for The NewsHouse.
