Updated: Nov. 13, 4:40 p.m.

In an interview Thursday afternoon, Chancellor Kent Syverud said he’s learned a lot during the ongoing sit-in being held by students, but said it’s time to move on.

“I think a lot of progress has been made in a very intense process that has consumed lots of people’s time in both THE General Body and the university,” Syverud said. “It was getting less productive to proceed in the way we were proceeding and in the space we were proceeding in.”

Members of THE General Body, a coalition of student groups, have remained in the lobby of Crouse-Hinds Hall since Nov. 3 following the Diversity and Transparency Rally. A grievances and demands document created by THE General Body includes concerns on issues of diversity, the closing of the Advocacy Center and cuts to the Posse program. On Wednesday night, Syverud sent an email to the entire campus, which included a 53-page response from the administration to the demands document. But protesters say they will remain in Crouse-Hinds.

Syverud said he hasn’t discussed removing students at all, and that the safety and health of students is important. The current situation will be addressed day by day moving forward, he said.

“We have to take this one day at a time,” Syverud said. “We’re going to need to each day evaluate the needs of all students of the university — those with classes, with exams, with admissions needs — and do our best to care about all our students, including those in THE General Body, each day.”

In the meantime, Syverud said the current situation in Crouse-Hinds “is not a stable equilibrium,” adding that there are health and safety implications of people living in the space.

Bea Gonzalez, dean of University College, was appointed by Syverud as a liaison between the chancellor and THE General Body. She said the passion of the organization has made her proud to be a part of SU, but she added that it’s time to move into the next phase of the process.

“I do think the structure of THE General Body has made it difficult for us to move much further beyond where we are right now,” she said. After passing the demands document back and forth multiple times between protesters and the administration, Gonzalez said she realized “that we were done with this part of the process and we need to find a way to move forward.”

Syverud added that it’s now time to have discussions in a different forum. It’s time to include the Student Association and the Graduate Student Organization, as well as the wider student body in a discussion of issues raised by the sit-in, he said.

In addition, Syverud said the sit-in, and it’s length, was unexpected.

“I don’t think anybody in the administration expected this, so sure I’m surprised,” Syverud said.

However, both Syverud and Gonzalez said the past 10 days have been a learning experience.

Since taking over as chancellor 10 months ago, Syverud said he’s tried to engaged with students where they live, eat, wash their clothes and study. And while he’s learned a lot from those experiences, he’s also learned that there isn’t enough communication and engagement on issues of concern, he said. He said he’s particularly learned about the hurtful experience of “the process of decision-making and the method of communication of decisions” regarding the closure of the Advocacy Center.

“I’ve been learning that for quite a while now,” Syverud said,” but this process has taught me that emphatically.”

Syverud said he has also learned about different areas of the university where students are concerned about the quality of service, quality of communication and about outcomes. For that reason, he said, the past 10 days have been helpful.

There are also certain details Syverud said he’s learned about from the demands document. He added that there’s nothing wrong with that, and that many issues relate to operational details that fall under the responsibilities of different university offices.

Many people across the university have played a role in addressing concerns raised by the document, Syverud added. He said people at SU have tried to engage with concerns raised, to respond quickly to them and to agree on immediate changes where possible.

In areas where agreement to immediate changes isn’t possible, he said it’s important to identify ways to move forward that involve faculty, students and the Board of Trustees.

“We have been trying to facilitate that and be straight-forward about where the chancellor is not a dictator who can order a particular thing to happen immediately,” Syverud said. “But rather the chancellor is someone who can encourage all the bodies that make up this university to listen to each other and to move forward.”

“I think we need to find a productive way to talk about that,” he said, “and right now at this moment, doing that in the lobby of Crouse-Hinds Hall, with a large group of people which shift over time, is probably not the most productive way to have that discussion.”

Published on November 13, 2014 at 3:17 pm

Contact Brett: blsamuel@syr.edu | @Brett_Samuels27