Two weeks into a student-led protest that spanned 18 days, Don Mitchell stood at the Remembrance Wall in front of Hall of Languages on a cold and rainy November day, proclaiming his support for the controversial protesters.

“This university is at a crossroads and we owe a deep debt of thank you to THE General Body for pointing to exactly where that crossroads is,” said Mitchell, a geography professor at Syracuse University, at the Nov. 17, 2014 rally. “They sit-in and I stand with them precisely because they are pointing to the exact pressure points in this university where we can make change — change that we need to make.”

Surrounded by posters affirming support for THE General Body, a coalition of student organizations, Mitchell was one of about 50 SU faculty members to attend the rally. THE General Body staged an 18-day sit-in in Crouse-Hinds Hall in November 2014 to protest topics listed in the group’s 45-page list of grievances and demands.

A year later, despite the lack of a publicly active presence among the group, many of the faculty members who stood by the group’s side last year are continuing to support the coalition.

 

When the group first took to Crouse-Hinds on Nov. 3, 2014, following the Diversity and Transparency Rally, there was some faculty support. Due to their interest in certain issues, such as divestment and the closing of the Advocacy Center as part of the university’s restructuring of sexual assault services, some faculty members attended protests and rallies over the course of the semester.

On Nov. 11, 2014, a letter posted on THE General Body’s website was signed by about 100 SU professors and instructors supporting the group.

“They were in many ways putting their education to action in terms of working together and organizing in order to negotiate with the institution to make it a place that was more open and more responsible,” said Jessica Posner, a part-time instructor in the School of Art and the department of transmedia.

Paula Johnson, a law professor at SU, said the denial of a meeting with legal counsel led some faculty and staff members who hadn’t come forward as supporters to come out of the shadows. She added that the denial of a meeting with legal counsel “struck people as egregious.”

Eileen Schell, an associate professor of writing and rhetoric, said at the beginning of the sit-in, there were only a handful of faculty supporters, but when the students were denied legal counsel, “that’s when the faculty got really worked up about it.”

While the majority of THE General Body’s 45-page list of grievances and demands focused on student-centric issues, others, such as problems with tenure and promotion, pulled for changes within policies relating to faculty members.

Now, a year after the original sit-in and ensuing activism, many faculty members who supported THE General Body then say they are still supportive of the group’s efforts and the issues it brought forward.

Matthew Huber, a geography professor, said there are still talks not only about THE General Body, but about the amount of change happening at the university.

“When we have those conversations, the activism comes up a lot because people are still upset about those issues and how they’re affecting faculty, and that moment of last year was a really important moment showing to the faculty that it’s not just us who are upset, but the students too,” Huber said.

Posner, the part-time instructor in the School of Art and the department of transmedia, wouldn’t say the presence of THE General Body has dwindled, adding that the group changed the conversation on campus to make more people aware of certain issues at SU.

“I think there’s definitely been a community that’s formed around faculty that came together that coalesced around the student action and I think that energy is still very present,” Posner said.

There are still small signs that read “Faculty Support THE General Body” outside offices in Eggers and Sims halls. There aren’t as many of the signs hanging across campus as there were last November, but faculty members are still backing the group that called them to action.

“I think there are definitely remnants of a community that was formed across departments on campus, across faculty that are tenured, tenure-track or adjunct, and I think that’s very significant,” Posner said.

Published on November 3, 2015 at 11:12 pm

Contact Justin: jmatting@syr.edu | @jmattingly306