Syracuse University officials are currently investigating an off-campus incident in which an individual directed racial slurs at Asian-Americans in the University Hill neighborhood. A video of the incident was posted on YouTube late Thursday night and has since garnered attention in the SU community via social media.

The video received more than 300 views before it was removed on YouTube by the user late Friday afternoon. The YouTube account used to upload the video is registered to a 2011 SU alum who could not be reached for comment.

The video, which was edited and included subtitles, showed a man on a porch making Asian-American racial remarks and shouting swear words to people on the adjacent property.  According to text on the video, the incident took place on the 600 block of Walnut Avenue around 1:30 a.m. on June 23.

Members of the SU community have called out to the university to respond. Kevin Quinn, vice president for public affairs, said in an email SU is ‘aware of the video and investigating the facts surrounding it.’

‘We take matters like this extremely seriously,’ Quinn said.

The Department of Public Safety became aware of the incident after seeing discussion on Twitter and subsequently viewing the video. Jenn Horvath, public information officer of DPS, said in an email Friday afternoon that DPS was taking the event seriously and beginning to investigate.

Sgt. Gary Bulinski of the Syracuse Police Department, said he was unaware of the incident. He said SPD likely was not called to investigate the incident if it did not escalate to a physical level or result in any injuries or damages. The video did not show anyone physically fighting or becoming injured.

Issues at SU involving local Asian and Asian-American relations have arisen in the past.  The university was without an Asian and Asian-American studies program until fall 2010. Students began to campaign for one after an April 1997 incident in which several Asian-American students and their white friend were first refused service at a Denny’s on East Erie Boulevard. They were then physically assaulted by a group of white males, according to an article published in The Daily Orange on July 8, 2009.

This past spring, students campaigned against a professor in the AAA studies department claiming that the professor had an insufficient background in the topic. Another professor was later hired to teach Asian-American literature beginning fall 2011.

medelane@syr.edu

dkmcbrid@syr.edu

Published on June 23, 2011 at 12:00 pm