Nancy Cantor had to make many tough decisions during her tenure as chancellor and the Syracuse University community should respect the sacrifice she made for the university, Chancellor Kent Syverud said during Thursday’s campus forum on diversity.

“I am terrifically respectful of Nancy Cantor because of the grace with which she handled her tenure,” he said.

Since becoming chancellor in January, Syverud said many people have wanted him to criticize his predecessors, including Cantor, his immediate predecessor. But after only nine months on the job, Syverud said he’s in no position to judge the “tough decisions” and “tough progress” made by Cantor and previous SU chancellors.

Syverud’s remarks came during a university-sponsored forum on diversity and inclusion held on Thursday afternoon in Hendricks Chapel. Speaking without prepared remarks, Syverud relied on his handwritten notes to summarize what he had learned during the forum before addressing several other campus issues. In addition to the community’s attitude toward Cantor, Syverud also talked about the tradition of democracy and decision-making at SU as well as complex identities on campus.

While acknowledging that change on campus often has to happen organically, Syverud noted that there is also pressure to act quickly on pressing issues. But sometimes this is difficult at SU, he said, which has a history of not doing anything unless everyone agrees.

“It’s hard becoming a university president,” he said. “But leadership means occasionally telling an audience what they don’t want to hear.”

The university needs to respect the democratic traditions at SU but also make sure concrete action is being taken to address pressing issues, Syverud said.

When discussing the topic of different identities on campus, Syverud asked the audience, “What does it mean to be normal at Syracuse University?” He said while some identities are considered privileged, he has not met anybody in his time at SU whose identity is not complex. Syverud added that he heard many students during the forum talk about feeling ostracized because of their identity, something that should not be part of the culture at SU, he said.

“The way to address exclusion and loneliness is not to privilege one complex identity over another,” Syverud said.

He added that it’s important to start a “feedback loop” following Thursday’s forum. Syverud said he planned to go over the responses to student requests that were shared during the event by Vice Chancellor and Provost Eric Spina and Dean of Student Affairs Rebecca Reed Kantrowitz.

“It’s important to give people confidence that I’m a man of my word,” Syverud said.

Published on October 2, 2014 at 10:24 pm

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