Some students have left or made plans to leave campus days before Thanksgiving break after a series of hate crimes and bias-related incidents at or near Syracuse University.

At least 12 racist, anti-Semitic and bias-related events — including racist graffiti, racial slurs and swastikas — have been reported since Nov. 7. A white supremacist manifesto written by the Christchurch mosque shooter was allegedly AirDropped to students’ cellphones in Bird Library. A naked man flashed two students at about 1 a.m. on Tuesday, according to two student reports to the Department of Public Safety.

Kayleigh Weil, a junior communications design major, didn’t leave her house Tuesday because of the manifesto and the flasher. She didn’t know if there would be more incidents and wasn’t sure that morning if she should go to class. 

“The string of incidents that have gone essentially unpunished and seemingly unrecognized by the university has just made me feel extremely unsafe,” Weil said.

Some university professors and departments cancelled classes Tuesday, a few hours after the manifesto was sent to students. Junior Ariana Reif excused herself from all of her classes and left campus Tuesday at 8 p.m., she said. She didn’t feel comfortable on campus, she said, and thought the university and DPS should’ve communicated with students earlier about the hate crimes and bias-related incidents. The university should have canceled all classes, she said.

Weil also said SU and DPS should’ve communicated with students sooner. Students should’ve been immediately notified after they became aware of the hate crimes and bias-related incidents, she said.

DPS Chief Bobby Maldonado said Nov. 13 that any student involved in the writing of racist graffiti on the fourth and sixth floor of Day Hall — the first two hate crimes and bias-related incidents committed and known of at the time — would be expelled.

Maldonado made the announcement on the first day of a sit-in held at the Barnes Center at The Arch in protest of the racist Day Hall graffiti. The demonstrators, a black-led movement organized as #NotAgainSU, have peacefully protested in the space since Nov. 13.

Protester Lauren McLean was considering leaving campus early as of Wednesday morning. She also feels unsafe at SU, a feeling that hasn’t gone away even with DPS around, she said. 

“The only reason I’m here is for this movement,” McLean said. “I wouldn’t be if it were not for me advocating for my education.”

She said there needs to be additional safety measures other than DPS on campus. 

“Just seeing a police car drive down the street, that doesn’t make me feel any safer because I’m still walking by myself,” McLean said. 

The Alpha Chi Rho fraternity was suspended last week after members and guests allegedly yelled the N-word at a female student as she walked by, but no perpetrators of other crimes have been confirmed. McLean feel unsafe knowing the people involved in the other incidents have not been found. 

Reif said she’ll return to campus after Thanksgiving break on schedule, but thinks the campus will be “eerie and weird.” 

“I’m sure once they keep updating us and stuff I’ll feel a lot more secure,” Reif said.

— Asst. Digital Editor Natalie Rubio-Licht contributed reporting to this article. 

Published on November 21, 2019 at 1:04 am

Contact Emma: esfolts@syr.edu