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What does it mean to be part of a community? What does it mean for Syracuse University to be part of the larger community of the city of Syracuse and Onondaga County? 

On March 4, in a town adjacent to Syracuse and in a school district attended by the children of many of our staff and faculty, a desperate mother called St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center’s mental health crisis team, the Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program, to help her son during one of his frequent mental health crises. When the 17-year-old Judson Albahm took his mother’s car and fled from the mobile crisis team, the team called the police to help them pick Albahm up so that he could be brought in for treatment safely. 

Shortly after, Albahm was dead. Shot by police. Police say he was carrying an air gun.

Albahm did not attend SU, but his death affects our community, and we should respond. For students, staff and faculty who have had friends and family members killed by police, Albahm’s death is deeply traumatizing. For families with members who struggle with mental health crises, Albahm’s death sends fear coursing through every cell of their bodies. SU families with children in the Jamesville-Dewitt Central School District should not feel alone as they struggle with fear and grief. If we are truly “One University,” we should all stand with them.

The tragedy of Albahm’s preventable death brings together so many issues: the crisis of policing in the U.S., the lack of support for mental health needs, the inequities of race and class, the underfunding of U.S. educational institutions, the ableism pervading our educational and policing institutions, the neoliberal underfunding of community resources. 

Like the killing of George Floyd and the ensuing wave of Black Lives Matter protests, the death of Albahm is a profoundly teachable moment — one that we should never have to relearn. It also equally needs to be a grievable moment. This is a moment to acknowledge that SU is part of a larger community and shares its needs and losses. 

We are the Social and Racial Justice Subcommittee of the SU chapter of the American Association of University Professors. We call on the entire SU community to come together in our grief over Albahm’s death and to reach out in support for his family. 

Albahm’s death should mobilize our campus community toward local actions on issues of police reform, community mental health resources and education for students with special needs. We are not an island. Our “One University” is part of the larger communities of Onondaga County. Let’s acknowledge our connections. Let’s grieve together and work together for a safer, more just community, both on and off campus.

Signed,

SU-AAUP’s Social-Racial Justice Subcommittee

Professors Gail Hamner, Matt Huber, Coran Klaver and Jackie Orr

Published on March 15, 2021 at 10:37 pm