Syracuse University students and faculty gave suggestions Wednesday on how to respond to the release of the Theta Tau videos and the circulation of a list that included anonymous sexual misconduct allegations against professors at the School of Architecture

Michael Speaks, the architecture school’s dean, and Lori Brown, an architecture professor, moderated the forum, which about 50 people attended. Students and faculty also addressed concerns about diversity in the school and the architecture industry.

The forum, one of several organized by SU’s schools and colleges, came days after SU permanently expelled its chapter of the Theta Tau fraternity for its involvement in the creation of videos Speaks called “disgusting.” In wake of the Theta Tau videos, Speaks said the school is planning to host monthly forums, continuing into fall 2018.

Recordings of the videos, which were obtained and released by The Daily Orange last week, show people at Theta Tau using racial and ethnic slurs and miming a sexual assault of a disabled person. The fraternity has called the content a “satirical sketch.”

The school started plans to launch an advisory group to discuss the culture of the school after students raised concerns about accusations of sexual misconduct among professors at a forum in late March, Speaks said. Multiple School of Architecture professors were accused of misconduct in a nationally-circulating spreadsheet that was anonymously sent to the school’s undergraduate student body listserv in March.

Most of the discussion focused on diversity issues in the school and the architecture industry.

Vittoria Buccina, the architecture school’s director of enrollment management, said the School of Architecture’s yield of students of color is higher than the university overall. She said there’s “never a moment in time” that geographical and cultural diversity isn’t thought about during the school’s recruiting process.

“I think if you compare us to other schools and colleges, we’re doing really well,” Buccina said.

Speaks said, though, that the school could be doing better.

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One student suggested the school invite architecture firm recruiters that represent more diverse companies. She said the firms where she has interviewed have mostly been dominated by white people.

Lindsey Dierig, a sophomore architecture student, said there are issues in the School of Architecture that students, faculty and staff have the power to address.

“I think a lot of the reason why there’s been so much outrage about the videos is because although we are in the architecture college, we still go to this university,” Dierig said.

She also asked the dean if there are any pressures the School of Architecture could apply to the university to help change the overall culture. Speaks said he thinks the central administration has done a lot to start to address the issues that surfaced after the release of the Theta Tau videos.

As for the School of Architecture’s role in helping to change the overall campus culture, Speaks said the architecture community should worry about itself first, before acting on behalf of the entire university. But he added that the School of Architecture should strive to be an example for other schools and colleges at SU to follow.

Addressing these issues is not the responsibility of a single school or college, Speaks said.

“You hear a lot about ‘One University,’” Speaks said. “So this should be a ‘One University’ issue.”

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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

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Published on April 25, 2018 at 7:00 pm

Contact Sara: smswann@syr.edu | @saramswann