Updated: Nov. 13, 4:45 p.m.

Student protesters said Thursday afternoon they’re prepared to stay in Crouse-Hinds Hall as long as it takes even if that means staying in the building through Thanksgiving break.

“Hopefully this is sort of worked out up to that point so we can leave for Thanksgiving break and be with our families, but a good amount of us are very grounded in the fact that we are not going to leave that space until we have a commitment from the administration that addresses all of the demands in the document,” said Colton Jones, one of the protesters.

THE General Body, the group behind the sit-in, held a press conference Thursday afternoon in front of the Hall of Languages to discuss ongoing negotiations with the Syracuse University administration. The group has maintained a presence in the lobby of Crouse-Hinds since Nov. 3 following the Diversity and Transparency Rally. The press conference was held after Chancellor Kent Syverud sent an email to the SU community Wednesday night with the “final” response to the protesters’ demands. In a document attached to the email, the administration laid out responses to the group’s list of grievances and demands.

“We’re not going to leave until these demands are met,” said Mali Golomb-Leavitt, one of the protesters.

Jones began the press conference, which lasted for about a half hour, with a statement from the coalition.

“We find the administration’s ‘final’ written response inadequate,” he said. “We are glad that the administration has made some small concessions…To end the sit-in, we want to meet with senior administrators who have decision-making power with no absolute time to get a commitment to a plan of action.”

In the email sent to the SU community Wednesday night, Syverud apologized for the process of the closing of the Advocacy Center.

Laura Cohen, one of the protesters, said that THE General Body acknowledges the apology sent out by Syverud on Wednesday night, but said more needs to be done.

“We acknowledge the chancellor’s apology in the way in which the Advocacy Center was closed,” Cohen said. “We have asked for the creation for a new, stand-alone center for sexual assault.”

Yanira Rodriguez, one of the protesters, said “the move to declare conversation as ‘final’ and in doing so diminishing our concerns will not stand.”

“They are not counting on the fact that we are students and faculty and staff of Syracuse University. We are the people, the faces, the community directly affected by these issues and we are a united community,” Rodriguez said. “We will continue to sit because that kind of power cannot stand.”

Rodriguez later said the administration “won’t be able to ignore us” if they maintain their presence in Crouse-Hinds.

“We’re going to continue to sit, they cannot ignore us being in the space, we will continue to make ourselves visible on the campus, they cannot ignore us. We will continue to make our efforts known,” Rodriguez said.

Danielle Reed, one of the protesters, read a letter that she said her mother wrote to the administration.

“You need to revisit these secretive changes. If you do not heed the population, the university will not flourish as it has in previous years,” the letter read.

Rodriguez said leaving Crouse-Hinds and having the Student Association and Graduate Student Organization be the voices of the students would not be as productive as sitting in Crouse-Hinds.

Representatives of THE General Body said they do not trust the workgroup process and said “these groups are just set up to listen to us without producing any actual concrete action.” Jonathan Schmidt, one of the protesters, said the lack of clarification on the amount of student input is one reason protesters don’t trust the workgroup process.

Representatives said the group has made some concessions in the negotiating process and cited the reinstatement of the Multicultural Spring Program as something that was agreed upon by both sides.

Jones, one of the protesters, said that by sitting in Crouse-Hinds, protesters have more of a voice than they would by meeting with the Board of Trustees.

“We have a certain degree of power by sitting in that building,” Jones said. “We’re not going to leave that space until these demands are met or at least each demand has at least a specific action plan.”

Published on November 13, 2014 at 4:32 pm

Contact Justin: jmatting@syr.edu | @jmattingly306