Monday’s panel discussion, titled ‘Under the Hill,’ began with a conversation on recent Duke University men’s lacrosse team rape accusations, but ended with a critique of the roles that race, gender and privilege play in Syracuse University policy and in the SU community.

The environment must be considered in assessing the Duke situation, said panelist Boyce D. Watkins, assistant professor of finance and regular contributor on social commentary and finance media, including ‘Hannity & Colmes’ on Fox News Channel and USA Today.

On March 13, the Duke men’s lacrosse team hired two black strippers for a party they said would be small, but was attended by 40 men, said mediator Paul Buckley, associate director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs.

One of the strippers said she was choked and kicked while in the bathroom, and she has accused two players of rape, Buckley said.

While it is unsure whether rape actually did occur, the event goes beyond the issues of rape, Watkins said. Media portrayals of the incident play up the reputations of those accused and show the victim negatively.

‘They’re going to make her look like a tramp and like she deserved it,’ Watkins said.

The ‘three strikes’ against the woman were that she was poor, black and a woman, said panelist Tae-Sun Kim, assistant director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs.

‘There’s an attitude that this can’t really happen at Duke University,’ Watkins said. ‘Universities sit to the side and turn a blind eye. Syracuse is nothing more than a Duke waiting to happen.’

Students must force the leadership to address the issue, Watkins said. ‘Syracuse is racist; it is sexist.’

The Duke men’s lacrosse alleged rape case can be related to the ‘black face’ incident that occurred at SU several years ago because neither would occur without permission, said panelist Joe Viscomi, a research analyst and assistant director of assessment in the Division of Student Affairs.

‘These folks thought they had permission to buy two human beings, to buy their bodies,’ Viscomi said. ‘Where did these young men get their permission from?’

Panelists and the audience also connected the idea of permission to the ‘Over the Hill’ incident.

‘We are creating the media – many of them are coming from Newhouse,’ said audience member and alumnus Jason Mills. ‘The mindset that creates this kind of context will continue right into the media world.’

Viscomi was the principle researcher for the Student Association’s campus climate survey last semester.

‘African-American women have the lowest opinion of the campus climate,’ he said. ‘Even the white people don’t think that it is all that great here for diversity.’

When applying for his position at SU, Watkins said he heard about the strides SU had made to promote diversity.

‘When I heard Nancy Cantor speak about diversity, I actually believed her, and I still do,’ Watkins said. ‘I believe in her heart, but it also matters what you do.’

Kim proposed a diversity competence curriculum for SU. As a minor, the program would make graduates more marketable in the professional world.

‘We are a global society,’ said panelist Crista Gray, a 1999 alumna and doctoral student in education, who worked with several organizations that support low-income, first-generation immigrant and minority students.

‘Everywhere you go you are forced to work with people that are different,’ she said.

Jacob Bartholomew, president of A Men’s Issue and junior public relations and sociology major, said he chose to write the essay about diversity on his SU application.

‘We need a diversity initiation here,’ he said. ‘You get here and you look around, you realize it’s just a mirage.’

To see change, students need to understand the amount of power they have in SU policy, Gray said. They need to confront faculty members and administrators and force them to talk about race, privilege and discrimination.

‘It has to be something that we value as a campus,’ she said. ‘We say it is; that’s pure bull.’

Published on May 6, 2006 at 12:00 pm