Several students from schools around New York state have shown support for #NotAgainSU.

#NotAgainSU, a movement led by Black students, began occupying Crouse-Hinds Hall on Feb. 17 to continue its protest of at least 29 racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic incidents that have occurred on or near Syracuse University’s campus since early November.

Students from Divest Bing and Frances Beal Society, two advocacy organizations at SUNY Binghamton, visited Crouse-Hinds on Saturday and slept overnight. Students from SUNY Oswego, Le Moyne College, SUNY ESF and Onondaga Community College were also present at the demonstration and spoke with #NotAgainSU organizers Saturday.

“We all face the same oppression, the same prejudice, the same awful, vile, f*cked up institutions and systems that continue to oppress us and criminalize us for being students, for being Black people, for being brown people,” a SUNY Binghamton organizer said in a statement posted to Instagram Sunday morning.

SU placed more than 30 #NotAgainSU protesters on interim suspension early Tuesday morning for occupying Crouse-Hinds Hall after its 9 p.m. closing time. Chancellor Kent Syverud announced Wednesday that the suspensions would be lifted.

The Department of Public Safety sealed off Crouse-Hinds as of Tuesday morning, preventing outside food, medicine and other resources from entering until Wednesday afternoon. The building reopened Thursday morning.

During the meeting, several of the visiting students asked #NotAgainSU protesters who remained inside Crouse-Hinds how they remained strong and persistent when the building was sealed off. Organizers cited the support system they gained while planning the movement.

“These are some of the strongest students we’ve ever seen,” a SUNY Binghamton student said. “I think we can all say that.”

The visiting students arrived Saturday afternoon with donations for the organizers, including Gatorade and paper towels.

Several SU students and faculty members gathered food and supplies for the protesters inside Crouse-Hinds throughout Tuesday and Wednesday. DPS officers eventually permitted only faculty to bring the donations into the building Wednesday afternoon.

SUNY Binghamton also stands in solidarity with #NotAgainSU’s demands, a visiting student said. #NotAgainSU released a list of 24 demands Feb. 17, revising its list of 19 demands presented to Syverud in November. Syverud signed 16 of the initial demands as written and revised the remaining three.

Students at SUNY Binghamton began a #NotAgainBU movement last fall in response to the creation of a university chapter of the alt-right organization Turning Point USA. A guest lecture from conservative economist Arthur Laffer also sparked the movement.

The Cornell University Student Assembly also expressed support of #NotAgainSU and criticized the administration’s response to the movement in a statement Wednesday. The recent events on SU’s campus portray that students still face racism and bigotry today, the statement said.

“The rapid escalation of tactics employed by Syracuse University displayed how the University values policy more than the welfare of students,” it said.

The Assembly also released a statement last November when #NotAgainSU occupied the Barnes Center at The Arch for eight days.

#NotAgainSU shared a statement of solidarity from SUNY Binghamton students on its Instagram page Sunday morning. The students spoke outside Crouse-Hinds and held up signs for their organizations.

“We hope that next time we come back, it’s to organize and work together,” one of the students said.

Published on February 23, 2020 at 11:48 pm

Contact Maggie: mehicks@syr.edu | @maggie_hickss