Syracuse University Offers $50,000 Reward for Information About Spate of Racist Incidents On Campus

Syracuse University is offering a $50,000 reward for information about racist incidents on campus after an African American student reported being called a racial slur.

She told university officials that the slur had come from a group of students, including members of a fraternity, on Saturday night, Chancellor Kent Syverud said in a letter to students and staff.

The student said the group yelled the N-word as she walked near College Place on the university's campus in Syracuse, New York, according to the university's Department of Public Safety (DPS).

In a video released on Sunday, he added that officials have identified the individuals they believe to have been involved in the "racist verbal attack." He said those responsible for it will face the"appropriate disciplinary action."

The student's report prompted the university to suspend the fraternity linked to the incident and shut down social activities for all other fraternities for the rest of the semester, pending an investigation.

"It is the collective responsibility of our fraternities and our whole university to reflect on how to prevent this very troubling behavior in the future," Syverud added in the video. Newsweek has contacted him for further comment.

The university was already investigating multiple instances of racist and anti-Semitic graffiti on campus when the student reported the slur.

The school's DPS said on Saturday that it was investigating after graffiti containing "racist language that is derogatory to Asian individuals" was found at Haven Hall. Later on Saturday, the department said anti-Semitic graffiti depicting a swastika was reported at the same hall. The department also said a student had reported another student "loudly yelling a racial epithet" at Sadler Hall.

On Thursday, the DPS said racist graffiti was found on the third floor of Day Hall and in a bathroom stall in the Physics building.

Last week, Syverud announced the university was working with the New York State Police's Hate Crimes Task Force after racist graffiti and vandalism was discovered in a residence hall on November 7.

On Sunday, DPS chief Bobby Maldonado said the university is working alongside the Syracuse Police Department and New York State Police to investigate those and other incidents.

"We are grateful to our students and entire campus community for promptly reporting incidents and partnering with us to share information and evidence. We need to find those responsible for these terrible acts in residence halls and the physics building to date," he said in the video released by the university on Sunday.

He said that in a bid to find the perpetrators, a $50,000 reward is being offered for rewards for information leading to an arrest or actionable referral to the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities. The reward is being offered thanks to the "generosity of a donor," he added.

Maldonado also said that the university is adding additional security officers to its campus patrols and that DPS officers will be working 16-hour shifts instead of 10-hour shifts. The university has also enhanced its safety escort program to include both shuttle and walking escorts, he added.

The dean of students, Marianne Thomson, added that the university is also reviewing and revising its code of student conduct and "hiring and retaining a diverse support staff" to support students.

"All students on this campus should feel welcomed, valued, and respected. Some of you do not feel that way now and some of you have not felt that way in the past, and this must change," she said in the video.

Students gathered to protest the university's response to the first instance of racist graffiti last week, Syracuse.com reported.

Newsweek has contacted the Syracuse Police Department and New York State Police for further comment.