Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our newsletter here.

Notes containing racist language targeting Chinese students have been found in at least three Syracuse University buildings.

#NotAgainSU, a movement led by Black students that formed in response to hate crimes on campus, posted a photo to Instagram on Thursday of one note, which was pinned to a bulletin board in Eggers Hall. The note implied that Chinese students are a threat to campus and referred to them as “agents” of the Chinese government. 

DPS was notified on Wednesday of the flyers, which were found in Eggers, Huntington Hall and the Hall of Languages, DPS announced Thursday afternoon. The flyers have been removed, and DPS conducted several canvasses of campus buildings to search for others and speak with witnesses.

The notes come less than two weeks after two unknown individuals used anti-Asian language toward a student on Comstock Avenue. 

Both incidents of the notes and anti-Asian language are under investigation, Chancellor Kent Syverud and Keith Alford, SU’s chief diversity and inclusion officer, said in a campus-wide email. Syverud and Alford said they were disgusted by the incidents and called them “reprehensible and cowardly.”

“With this most recent incident, we don’t know if the individual or individuals responsible are affiliated with the University,” Syverud and Alford said. “What we do know is these actions and behaviors are disgraceful and harmful, and anyone who harbors these kinds of biases is not welcome in our community.”

#NotAgainSU called on SU to take action against anti-Asian racism at the university and to provide support for students affected by similar incidents.

Hate crimes against Asian Americans rose by 150% in 2020, according to NPR. Advocates are attributing the rise to xenophobic rhetoric that blames the pandemic on China. 

Anti-Asian hate incidents on campus helped spark a wave of student protests last year, including #NotAgainSU’s occupations of The Barnes Center at The Arch and Crouse-Hinds Hall.

Published on March 11, 2021 at 1:18 pm

Contact Sarah: scalessa@syr.edu | @sarahalessan