An incident that occurred on April 18, 2018, at Syracuse University showed the true disconnect between Syracuse University and its students.
It was on this day that the engineering fraternity Theta Tau was kicked off campus for a video that went viral about the frat's new member process that included the incoming pledge class to get on their knees and repeat an oath that contained more than a few racial slurs.
As soon as word spread about the video, enraged students gathered at Hendrick's Chapel to speak about the oppression they were feeling, and the disconnect they were experiencing between Syracuse University's faculty and staff.
Before I came to college, I went to a Catholic high school, and while there was some diversity in my student class, there were only two teachers of color. One whom became my mentor, my role model, my coach, and to this day, one of my favorite people I have ever met.
She is someone who continues to touch my heart and teach me things even from 400 miles away.
In my senior year, I took a sociology class with Mrs. Joyner who challenged us every day to think abstractly and work to think of ways to change the world for the better. She always said to us, "be the change you wish to seek in the world."
We spoke about topics such as racism and segregation, and each time we spoke about it, I was shocked to look around and see how ignorant some people were, unaware of what goes on outside of some people's seemingly "perfect" worlds.
After seeing the video that surfaced from Theta Tau, I do not claim to know what these students were feeling, but what I did do was think back to my sociology class. Thinking about all the discussions I had in that class, and the words Mrs. Joyner had said, I felt sorry for the students who participated in this video.
It is because of you that our society cannot progress, and it is because of you that the hard work that people like Mrs. Joyner put into molding future generations seems to be in vain.
Life is hard as is. With each of our own individual responsibilities, from school to work to home life to social life, and all around, why do we as humans make life harder for each other?
There are plenty of good people in this world, but the good rarely ever shows when hurtful, violent things such as Theta Tau's racist hazing video comes to light. How can the good shine when the bad always manages to out-shine?
The video that was released that indicated Theta Tau initiating its new members was absolutely absurd. As a professional fraternity, these are the people of tomorrow, the ones that will be protecting us, leading us, helping us, inventing for us, and the ones that our children and our children's children will look up to.
Do we want to live in a world where we are selective about the people we take care of?
I look at Syracuse in a slightly different light after today. After today, I do not look at Syracuse as a place for growth, a place where my thoughts and ideas can run wild so they may develop into something more. After today, after seeing that video, my heart aches especially for those who experience racism and oppression on a daily basis.
This is not the first time, nor will it be the last time that a minority group(s) is made to feel less than, and unworthy. We as the people of tomorrow should help one another, be kind, and make the constant choice to choose humanity over aggression and hate.
