The Democratizing Knowledge Collective at Syracuse University includes faculty, staff and graduate students who are deeply involved in promoting just academic spaces and just institutions throughout society. The Theta Tau fraternity’s vile videotape reveals just how compromised the values of justice are at SU. As some would suggest, the racist, misogynist, homophobic and ableist videotape reflecting the hateful views of the fraternity concern issues of diversity and implicit bias. However, the focus on diversity is misplaced, and the fraternity’s actions were anything but implicit. Instead, these behaviors take place in an environment where racial and gender disparities exist at all institutional levels and groups, have been routinely devalued and excluded and continue to be so. The outrage of students who’ve protested the fraternity’s actions is based on their feelings of assault and psychic violence that also take place in many undergraduate and graduate classrooms on this campus. Such injustices embolden discriminatory action by those who are viewed as having the qualities and — dare we say — qualifications to be members of this community. The astounding failure of the SU curriculum allows students to get from their first year to senior graduation without knowing such behavior is offensive and amounts to hate speech, and is, by definition, extreme.    

We don’t discount the value of dialogue, but we must be clear that dialogue alone won’t adequately address these issues, nor redress members of communities who feel directly under attack. Beyond individual or collective sanctions against fraternity members or organizations, the university must make fundamental changes. This means structural changes to transform the university’s culture, including investment in financial aid and health insurance for larger communities of students of color, hiring more faculty of color, LGBT faculty and providing resources to interdisciplinary departments and programs that offer education that actively combat racist, heteronormative, ableist knowledges and culture of the normative curriculum at SU.  

Culture doesn’t change with dialogue, education and bias training of only some constituencies. Nor does it change with higher representation of minoritized faculty. Transformational change requires resources and investments in people and communities already doing this work. Similarly, bias training — implicit and explicit — must include the entire university community: all university administrators and officers, in addition to faculty, staff and students. Until the university makes critical changes to instill equity, inclusion and justice, SU will continue to facilitate these ongoing assaults on all of our humanity.

Sincerely,

The Democratizing Knowledge Collective