Here are the biggest news stories from the Syracuse University campus and around the city you may have missed in the past few days.

LGBT Resource Center director search continued

Syracuse University’s search for a new director of the LGBT Resource Center continued last week when a candidate participated in an open forum Thursday.

The center’s former director Tiffany Gray left SU after she took a job at West Chester University’s LGBTQA Services last year.

The first candidate, Khristian Kemp-Delisser, assistant dean and director of Colgate University’s LGBTQ initiatives, participated in a forum Tuesday. Kemp-Delisser graduated from SU in 2001 and has studied the experiences of queer students of color.

“I come to this as a member of your community, as someone who has been active in trying to shift campus climate around LGBTQ issues for a long time and has made a distinction in my brand and my pattern,” Kemp-Delisser said.

Samuel Neil Byrd, the second candidate, is the resident director of UNITY Theme Program, a sexual and gender diversity-focused living-learning program at the University of California, Berkeley. He presented at the Thursday forum.

Byrd said he would bring a “democratic approach to leadership,” if he got the job. He also said he would want to establish partnerships between other students, staff and resource centers on campus and promote visibility of LGBTQ students.

SUNY-ESF student association passes resolution

After the controversial and abrupt dismissal of three department chairs from SUNY-ESF, the college’s Undergraduate Student Association approved a resolution calling on administrators to improve communication between students, faculty, staff and administration.

David Newman, chair of the forest and natural resources management department; Gary Scott, chair of the paper and bioprocess engineering department; and Donald Leopold, chair of the environmental and forest biology department, were asked to step down in a meeting with SUNY-ESF President Quentin Wheeler and Executive Vice President Nosa Egiebor in January.

It was part of a new plan to limit department chairships to two three-year terms, Wheeler said.

The resolution said the chair removals were “communicated to the student body four days after the decision was made, three days after faculty and staff were alerted, and two days prior to the start of the spring 2018 semester.”

The USA resolution called for a progress report to document the college’s goals for its major academic strategic plan and increase formal face-to-face interactions between students and administrators.

SUNY-ESF’s Graduate Student Association also expressed disappointment in the college’s actions in a statement two weeks ago.

Stabbing and frying pan fight

Two Syracuse women were arrested Sunday morning after a fight, Syracuse.com reported. During the altercation, the younger sister allegedly struck the older sister in the head with a frying pan, and also stabbed her with a kitchen knife.

The older sister’s stab wound was not life-threatening, and she was treated in Upstate University Hospital.

The younger sister also claimed to have been hit in the head with a frying pan and choked by her older sister. She also did not have life-threatening injuries and was treated at Crouse Hospital.

Both sisters charged with felony second-degree assault and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a misdemeanor. The older sister was also charged with criminal obstruction of breathing.

Published on February 4, 2018 at 6:28 pm

Contact Kennedy: krose100@syr.edu | @KennedyRose001