Activism among college students is the highest it has been in more than 50 years, according to a 2015 report – and Syracuse University is no exception.
Bea Gonzalez can recall the scene vividly: the protests, the marches, the signs, the chants – all of it.
The press conference addressed sexual violence, counseling services and underrepresentation of minorities.
THE General Body held a press conference Tuesday afternoon at 500 Hall of Languages, addressing the subjects of underrepresentation of racial minorities and inadequate counseling resources for mental health and victims of sexual violence.
Peaceful movements such as #BlackLivesMatter and THE General Body inspire conversation on how social movements gain momentum and whether they will actually lead to justice.
In The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1, one of the best-selling films of the year, heroine Katniss Everdeen and the people of her society declare the violence and injustice that the Capitol has subjected them to must end, and that the people will keeping fighting back until it does end.
THE General Body supported the Monday afternoon protest, the third in one week.
Standing outside Hendricks Chapel on Monday afternoon, a group of protesters unfurled a big black banner. In white letters, their banner read, “This stops today.” The names of black victims in highly publicized police encounters were printed below. Among these was Michael Brown, the 18-year-old shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, in August, and Eric Garner, who died in Staten Island, N.Y., in July after a police officer put him in a chokehold.
Among student coalition's unresolved demands are additional mental health resources and re-establishment of Posse program funding.
THE General Body, a coalition of student groups at Syracuse University, decided to end their sit-in at Crouse Hinds Hall on Nov. 20 after 18 days -- that's 432 hours or 25, 920 minutes spent in the lobby of the administration building, advocating for campus changes in areas ranging from disability to sexual assault.
However, ending the sit-in is not a sign of defeat for the group, members say.
After 17 days in the lobby of Crouse-Hinds Hall, THE General Body vacated the building Thursday afternoon.
THE General Body ended their sit-in on Thursday afternoon, after spending 17 days in the lobby of Crouse-Hinds Hall.
Colton Jones, a psychology senior who has been active in THE General Body, described the decision as a “strategic move.” The group had never planned to stay in Crouse-Hinds indefinitely, he said.
The rally took place in front of Hendricks Chapel at 3:30 p.m. on Monday.
Drawing together many of the individual protest movements active on campus this semester, approximately 200 people gathered on the steps of Hendricks Chapel Monday afternoon for the “Diversity and Transparency Rally.”
About 40 students will spend the night in the building's lobby.
Calling listening meetings inadequate, Syracuse University students have organized a sit-in at Crouse-Hinds Hall to demand that the administration address concerns related to diversity and transparency on campus.
About 40 participants will spend the night in the lobby of Crouse-Hinds, said Yanira Rodriguez, a PhD student in composition and culture, even though the building regularly closes at 10 p.m. Their goal is a written and verbal commitment from Chancellor Kent Syverud to address a 43-page list of grievances and demands, said geography senior Christine Edgeworth.