Some students in Syracuse University’s School of Architecture say they often feel like they need a safe space to express concerns regarding inappropriate faculty interactions. In March, an opportunity for that space presented itself.

At the end of March, an email was anonymously sent to the School of Architecture undergraduate student listserv with a link to a Google spreadsheet called “Sh*tty Architecture Men.” The list detailed more than 180 men architects nationwide who were anonymously accused of “alleged misconduct involving physical contact, harassment, or threats.”

After the initial shock of receiving the list and the accusations it contained, architecture students said they started to notice their peers add comments about SU professors. Five current and two former architecture professors were included on the list.

The Google spreadsheet is currently unavailable — the creators have taken it temporarily offline — but conversations about the list still buzz throughout the School of Architecture, students said.

When the list was first shared among SU architecture students, Emma Stoll, a fifth-year thesis student, said she felt the need to speak up and share frustrations with one of her professors. So she added a comment to the list.

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Stoll’s thesis project studies the intersections of sexuality, specifically bondage, dominance, sadism and masochism (BDSM) culture, and the violences of heteronormativity within the context of the suburban home. Stoll said the professor referenced in her comment has made inappropriate remarks about her thesis and her sexuality. He also called her “naturally” promiscuous.

“I was willing to do that because I think it’s important to talk about how what you’re studying or the way you present yourself is not an invitation for these actions,” Stoll said.

Though she did not attach her name to the Google spreadsheet comment, Stoll said anyone who knows her and her thesis work will be able to identify which comment is hers.

There are hundreds of anonymous comments on the list, which range from accounts of sexual violence and harassment to professional misconduct. Stoll described her interactions as professionally inappropriate and uncomfortable because of the sexual connotations of the professor’s words and tone of voice.

“People could read it as revenge, what I did, and people could read it as that I was just angry and caught up in the moment,” Stoll said. “And I was angry, but it wasn’t about revenge.”

Stoll said her situation is even more complex because the professor she named on the list is also her thesis adviser. She has to meet and interact with him often, she said. There’s also the fear of the power the professor has over her grades and advising, Stoll added.

But she was still willing to share her story because she knows others have had similar experiences with this professor, she said.

“The saddest part was that I really looked up to him for a semester because he was one of the only professors who I felt really heard by, that I felt was listening to what I was saying,” Stoll said. “But even for a semester I was still dealing with these little, constant comments about me, things that were just unprofessional and inappropriate to say, and then the second semester he really fell off in terms of being professional.”

The professor wasn’t doing what he was supposed to as a thesis adviser, Stoll said. He wouldn’t meet with her, communicate in-person or respond to emails, among other things, she said.

Jamely Ramos, a first-year graduate student in the School of Architecture, said the Google spreadsheet made the school’s atmosphere more tense. It has made people more conscious of their interactions with professors and students, she said.

Other students have questioned the credibility of the comments on the list –– they said the anonymity of the spreadsheet could mask exaggerated statements or lies.

“It just seemed like hot gossip at first,” said Brianna Serrano, a second-year architecture student. “I don’t know if it was serious enough to be associated with other people who had much worse situations going on.”

In response to negative accusations against SU faculty, some school community members added comments about their positive experiences with the professors. Serrano said that because the list was made on a Google spreadsheet, the list became more of an online conversation than an official reporting platform.

The Daily Orange could not confirm specific details of responses to anonymous accusations because the spreadsheet was closed. A message on the sheet, though, said the closure is only temporary.

Stoll said she has seen pushback to her own comment.

“There is so much risk and such little justice that ever comes of it. The most justice that can come from these cases is public shaming,” Stoll said. “… If you’re pushing back in that way, then I don’t think you really understand what this document is about because … people aren’t lying.”

Some people in the School of Architecture remain concerned about what SU administrators will do about the list, even though the initial shock of the accusations has worn off in recent weeks.

Dean Michael Speaks and other School of Architecture administrators told students at a March forum that the school could not take any legal action because everything on the list is anonymous, and there is no way to verify the claims. Many students said it would take someone coming forward and filing a claim with their name attached for anything to happen.

There has been at least one case, though, in which the school’s administration intervened after student complaints about a professor who was also on the list. In one of Ramos’ classes, a professor was removed from the curriculum, and the teaching assistant has taken over instruction for the remainder of the semester. Ramos said she and her classmates received an email the week of April 10 informing them the changes would be effective immediately.

The grading will still be done by the professor, but it will be reviewed before submission, Ramos said. Ramos added that, apart from the email her class received, there has been no formal announcement about the decision to remove him from instruction.

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At the beginning of the semester, Ramos said she was excited to take a class with this professor because of his reputation for being knowledgeable. But the lack of respect given to students from this professor was disheartening and discouraging, she said.

“I really got upset that even with all the money that we’re investing in our studies … and to have that interaction be part of our curriculum, it doesn’t make it worthwhile, and it speaks badly about Syracuse University at the same time,” Ramos said.

Ramos said her class is divided on the decision to remove their professor from instruction. While some students agree this action was needed, others think it’s unreasonable because they have a good relationship with him, Ramos said.

She added that she’s overheard a few of her peers say people in the class “need to suck it up and get over it” because the semester is almost over.

The week after the anonymous email to the undergraduate listserv, a forum originally intended for discussion on studio culture turned into a talk about the names and comments on the list. On April 6, a second forum was held in conjunction with SU’s Title IX office so students could ask questions about their rights and protections, how to report misconduct and available resources.

Lori Brown, a professor of architecture, said the first forum was well-attended by students who voiced their concerns with the list. Many students also asked what the school’s administration was going to do about the professors on the list.

“It was a very tense atmosphere, so that’s something that’s somewhat relieving now — that it’s not as tense as it used to be,” Ramos said. “But still, it’s a topic that people speak about on the down low.

“What is going to happen now?” she asked.

At the first forum, the dean proposed a climate survey to gather feedback from students and provide a platform for them to express their concerns. At the latest forum, on April 25, Speaks said he was told by the Title IX office that the survey would be distributed that week. As of Monday afternoon, a survey had not yet been sent to the School of Architecture community, Brown said.

Speaks did not respond to a request for comment on this story.

Forums at all of SU’s schools and colleges — including the most recent School of Architecture forum — were held in the days after the release of videos showing people at a Theta Tau fraternity-sponsored event using racial and ethnic slurs. At the School of Architecture forum, some attendees said they saw connections between the videos and the spreadsheets that point to a larger issue with sexual assault culture.

Both students and professors have pointed to what they say is a need for further education on issues of sexual misconduct and harassment. At the last forum, Speaks said there’s currently no sexual harassment training requirement for faculty in the School of Architecture. Graduate students, though, attend training twice a semester, he said.

Lindsey Brown, a second-year architecture student, said these issues are not just present in the School of Architecture, but in the professional world of architecture and other industries as well.

“I don’t know if there’s some all-powerful revolution that can happen that will fix it all,” Brown said. “But I think just in general we have to have more discussions about the relationships between students and professors, where that line has to be drawn and what happens when you step over that line.”

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Published on April 30, 2018 at 10:56 pm

Contact Sara: smswann@syr.edu | @saramswann