Syracuse University Experienced More Than a Dozen Hate Crimes Last Semester

Syracuse University (cover photo) experienced more than a dozen hate crimes and bias incidents last semester, which is reflective of national trends and is similar to incidents at UD. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Shayleigh Frank
News Staff Writer

In November 2019, Syracuse University faced an uptick in hate crimes on campus. Over the course of 13 days, 12 different sites of racist and anti-Semitic graffiti were found at the upstate New York institution. No one has been held accountable yet, but, at one point, the FBI, New York State Police and Syracuse police were investigating.

In response to a similar incident, the chancellor suspended a fraternity and temporarily removed four of its members from campus after they were involved in an incident in which an African American student was called the n-word near the fraternity’s house.

According to 2016 data, Syracuse had the third highest reported number of hate crimes among upstate New York colleges and universities.

Unfortunately, hate crimes on college campuses in the U.S. have increased. In a report from the National Center for Education Statistics, campus hate crimes increased by 40 percent between 2011 and 2016.

Closer to home, the University of Dayton has also faced recent bias incidents on campus. Three times this past semester a pride flag was torn from a house primarily for LGBTQ+ students in the student neighborhood and there were reports of white nationalists posters on campus last October.

Incoming public safety chief Savalas Kidd told Flyer News the department has strengthened its resources to identify these perpetrators.

Students of color who objected to calling the South Student Neighborhood the “ghetto” were also told on Instagram that they didn’t belong on campus.

President Eric Spina released a reflection on the discrimination against students, saying “we can do better and we must.”

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