Hundreds of Syracuse University students attended a forum hosted by the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications on Tuesday to discuss how the school can better improve its diversity requirements, in the wake of the Theta Tau fraternity videos published by The Daily Orange last week.

The forum, held in the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium, was led by Newhouse Dean Lorraine Branham. A total of about 300 campus community members attended the event.

At the forum, Branham said “the fraternity incident has a silver lining. It has really forced all of us to look at ourselves.” She added that the Theta Tau videos have pushed people to talk about what they can do to change the campus’ environment.

On Friday, Branham sent a listserv email condemning the actions and words presented in the first Theta Tau video published by The Daily Orange on Wednesday night, writing, “Words have effects. And we at Newhouse take these offensive words very seriously.”

Colin Davy | Staff Photographer

Attendees of the forum focused on developing ideas that Newhouse can use to address issues of diversity and inclusion. At the start of the forum, Branham said she wanted to focus on what comes next, instead of what happened in the videos.

Brad Gorham, communications department chair at Newhouse and chair of the Newhouse diversity committee, was one of the event’s speakers.

“We’re asking you to help us do better,” Gorham said. Several students said they want to see more diversity in the faculty makeup of Newhouse and in the courses required by the communications school.

The Daily Orange released a recording of the first Theta Tau video on Wednesday and a second video on Saturday night. The videos showed members of Theta Tau using racial slurs and miming the sexual assault of a person with disabilities.

Theta Tau was initially suspended and then permanently expelled by Syracuse University. Protests and public forums were organized in the wake of the professional engineering fraternity’s suspension.

The forum on Tuesday consisted of a series of speakers. Audience members had a chance to ask questions and present suggestions near the end of the event. In the future, Newhouse will hold longer forums and conversations to continue discussions started on Tuesday, Branham said.

Katherine Sotelo, a senior at Newhouse, suggested that students be required to take classes in a wide variety of subjects on campus, such as women’s and gender studies.

Currently, Newhouse students are required to fulfill a diversity requirement to receive their degree by taking classes in Newhouse or certain courses in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Branham said Newhouse is going to make an effort to address diversity topics with students at the start of their college careers.

“We also can’t make the assumptions of people’s knowledge of diversity coming in,” said Timi Komonibo, Newhouse’s director of requirement and diversity. Komonibo led the section of the forum that was open to audience questions.

Hollie Perry, a graduate student at Newhouse, said a diversity requirement should be introduced into the graduate student program. Several students also said discussions surrounding diversity should be incorporated into all classes at Newhouse.

Colin Davy | Staff Photographer

Charisse L’Pree, an assistant professor of communication, who teaches COM 346: “Race, Gender and the Media,” said she finds teaching that class, “a privilege and an opportunity,” because she gets to interact with people who would not otherwise choose to take that class.

L’Pree was responding to a student in the audience who said she was excited to see many people at forums held across campus. The student, though, also said she feels that students who are not people of color need to become more involved in conversations at SU.

L’Pree also discussed satire and jokes in the media. She said the material in the Theta Tau videos was labeled by some as a joke. The national fraternity organization’s grand regent, in a statement late last week, said the actions depicted in the videos were part of a “skit.” SU’s Theta Tau chapter, in a statement, said the videos depicted a “satirical sketch.”

She said that excusing the videos as a joke, “belittles the pain that those words continue to instill.”  

Throughout the event, index cards were passed out for students who preferred to not speak at the forum, but still wanted their concerns noted.

The forum ended with Hub Brown, dean for research, creativity, international initiatives and diversity, providing closing remarks. Brown said that during challenging times, he wants to hear from students. But he also wants students to approach him throughout the year, with ideas for change.

“Let’s also take the opportunity to fix the roof when the sun is shining,” he said.

---

MORE COVERAGE:

• Second Theta Tau video shows mimed sexual assault of person with disabilities
• SU will not publicly release names of students in Theta Tau investigation
• Complaints filed against 18 people present at Theta Tau event
• Multicultural Greek organizations find inspiration for activism in Theta Tau videos

---

Published on April 24, 2018 at 6:57 pm

Contact India: irmiragl@syr.edu