��was founded on a powerful premise: self-expression through writing holds transformative potential.

This year, the honored Project Mend with its 2025 Outstanding College-Community Partnership Award, the initiative’s efforts to empower justice-impacted individuals through writing and publishing.

The project, developed by , associate professor of writing and rhetoric in the College of Arts and Sciences, is a multimodal, grassroots-level, open-access national archive centered on the scholarly and creative work of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals and their communities. It is grounded in a digital storytelling and publishing apprenticeship for justice-impacted people, providing practical skills and professional opportunities.

Complementing the effort is “,” a print and digital journal that publishes works by anyone impacted by mass incarceration, amplifying voices that are often marginalized or silenced.

“Both components concern the power of writing to bring about change, exploring how individuals learn to write themselves into new identities and new lives,” Berry says.

�ճ����‘s Outstanding College-Community Partnership Award specifically honors initiatives that embody collaboration and reciprocity between universities and communities. The Coalition’s array of programs and member projects help catalyze community-based writing for the public good.

Berry’s work exemplifies the spirit of the award through meaningful partnerships that center the voices of justice-impacted individuals.

David Todd talked about Project Mend’s transformative role at a�� in the spring.

“Writing is one of the factors that boosted my confidence,” he said during the dialogue facilitated by the . “I was able to express myself, and when I’m able to express myself, people start to listen to me.”

The success of Project Mend has been made possible through partnerships with the Center for Community Alternatives and support from the Humanities New York Post-Incarceration Humanities Partnership, funded by the Mellon Foundation and the CNY Humanities Corridor.

At the University, Project Mend is supported by the Engaged Humanities Network, CODE^SHIFT (Collaboratory for Data Equity, Social Healing, Inclusive Futures and Transformation), the Humanities Center, the SOURCE, Syracuse University Libraries and the Department of Writing Studies, Rhetoric and Composition. Berry also received an award from the Office of Research’s Good to Great (G2G) Grant Program, designed to help faculty secure major external funding by supporting the revision of promising grant proposals.

The multifaceted support has helped Berry strengthen the initiative as it prepares for its next phase of growth. Its new work includes a series of animated films that highlight selections from the pages of “Mend.” On Thursday, Nov. 13, Wade and animator Evan Bode will premiered “Prison and Time,” adapted from a piece in the 2025 issue of the journal.

In January, Project Mend will also launch “Mend Fences,” a podcast series of recorded conversations inspired by contributions to the journal.

As Project Mend applies for new grants and reconfigures as a comprehensive national archive, it continues to demonstrate how writing can be a powerful tool for transformation. By giving formerly incarcerated individuals and their families platforms to share their narratives, Berry’s initiative creates opportunities for justice-impacted people to reimagine themselves, their communities and their futures.

KG Tan��Endowed Professor of Artificial Intelligence Paulo Shakarian was as one of 10 speakers to address emerging trends at the�� in Singapore from Jan. 20-27, 2026. AAAI is the premier scientific society dedicated to artificial intelligence (AI), advancing the scientific understanding of the mechanisms underlying behavior and their embodiment in machines.

The emerging trends in AI track at the AAAI conference aims to expose the AI community to exciting, under recognized or fast-developing ideas from the various AI subdisciplines, as well as from adjacent disciplines and domains. Talks will summarize new developments and competitions that are likely to shape future AI research agendas.

Shakarian will be discussing metacognitive artificial intelligence and a recent paper titled “Towards Artificial Metacognition.” Metacognitive AI deals with the study of artificial intelligence systems that can self-monitor and/or regulate resources.�� The concept has its roots in cognitive psychology studies on human metacognition.�� It has led to the understanding of how people monitor, control and communicate their cognitive processes.

“It is an honor to have been selected to present an emerging trend talk at AAAI,” Shakarian says. “I am really grateful to the community of researchers that have coalesced around artificial metacognition over the past two years.�� An exciting community has formed consisting of not only computer scientists, but from diverse disciplines including cognitive psychology, systems engineering and aerospace, among others. Developing artificial systems that reason about themselves is, in my view, a key challenge that we must address in order to deliver AI systems that are more resilient and robust.”

Shakarian has written numerous papers on metacognitive AI and has also edited a book on the topic.�� He has received several grant awards on the topic from the Army and DARPA, and most recently he has received funding for several high-end Nvidia-based GPU systems that will soon arrive at Syracuse.

Shakarian has also sought to create a , holding several workshops on the topic since 2023.

“Paulo’s innovative work in metacognitive and neuro-symbolic AI represents the next wave of AI research,” Alex Jones, chair of , says. “His recognition by AAAI signifies both his leadership in the field and Syracuse University’s growing role at the forefront of artificial intelligence.”

was an Iraqi Kurdish refugee and respected imam living in Albany, New York, when as part of a controversial FBI sting operation in 2004. Though critics argued that the government failed to provide evidence of Aref’s guilt, he was before to Iraq.

What role did media coverage play in Aref’s story? That was the focus of a research project sponsored by the and conducted by and five Lender Student Fellows.

Their findings, which will be presented at a symposium, “: The American War On Terror,” on Nov. 7 and Nov. 8, showed how local and regional news coverage shaped public understanding in ways that supported prosecution narratives and made conviction more likely.

The findings are also being showcased as an exhibition on Nov. 8 and Nov. 9 at . That event is sponsored by the Lender Center with support from the New York Humanities Center, Coalition for Civil Freedoms, Muslim Counterpublics Lab and Syracuse Peace Council.

The research team’s comprehensive examination of news coverage around the case found the following themes and patterns.

Over-Reliance on Official Law Enforcement Sources

• Reporting contained official government narratives and cited law enforcement and government officials more frequently than any other source, an imbalance that presented readers with primarily one perspective on the case.
• Coverage failed to question the legitimacy of the sting operation via independent experts.
• Alleged connections to terrorist organizations in news reports were based on weak or unverified evidence.

• Most media misreported, and then failed to correct, a claim by federal government translators that Aref’s name was found with a Kurdish word meaning “commander” in front of it; the word actually means “brother.”

Uncritical Framing of Sting Operations as a National Security Necessity

• 60% of articles portrayed terrorism stings as essential to national security and helped normalize controversial law enforcement practices.
• Coverage celebrated the sting as a counterterrorism success before the trial had concluded.
• Articles linked the arrest to heightened terror alerts, even when officials said cases were unrelated.

Direct Impact on Public Perception

• An emphasis on potential terrorist connections influenced how the public viewed Aref’s credibility.
• News coverage emphasized Aref’s identity as a Muslim more than any other identity he held.
• Most reporting was incomplete and did not include the voices of his family, community or even his lawyer.

Gauging Fair Reporting

Husain, an assistant professor of magazine, news and digital journalism in the Newhouse School, examines and reports on the ongoing “war on terror,” including the impacts of its news coverage. She believes that newsrooms have the potential to use their resources to assure more accuracy in reporting, and that the public has the ability to assess the reliability of news coverage they see.

“One of the big solutions is to give journalists enough time to properly report a story using objective and investigative methods,” she says. “It’s Journalism 101, but reporters speaking to many and varied sources about a situation is an important step in getting as close to the truth as you can.”

News outlets can also guard against poorly reported stories and assure better accountability to their audiences “by making sure their reporting is driven not by those in power, but by the people who are most affected by the decisions of those in power,” she says.

Journalists can also audit their own systems to make sure their reporting is not harming communities, she says. “When newsroom leadership fails to do this, it falls upon individual journalists to take responsibility. Reporters have always been able to push editors and higher-ups to change coverage or to pursue certain stories.” Husain also cites the resource ��and its as a tool for news consumers.

The student fellows for the project are:

• Mohammad Ebad Athar (College of Arts and Sciences/history); and Azadeh Ghanizadeh (College of Visual and Performing Arts/writing studies, rhetoric, and composition); both current doctoral candidates
• Olivia Boyer ’26 (S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications/magazine, news and digital journalism)
• Mary Hanrahan ’25 (College of Visual and Performing Arts)
• Tia Poquette ’25 (Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs)

From shaking a bottle of salad dressing to mixing a can of paint, we interact with emulsions—defined as a blend of two liquids that typically don’t mix, such as oil and water—daily.

For a vast range of foods and other technologies, scientists have devised emulsifying agents which help stabilize mixtures. By incorporating small granular particles to certain foods, it can help prevent spoilage and extend shelf life, important for safeguarding our food supply. When added to chemical mixtures, emulsifying agents can reduce viscosity, making liquids such as petroleum easier to pump and transport through pipelines, potentially leading to energy savings.

Researchers are continually investigating new emulsifiers to improve the control of liquid-liquid mixtures. Recently, , a physics professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, collaborated with scientists from the and to make a surprising discovery.

They found that when magnetized particles are added to a simple oil-and-water “salad dressing,” the mixture consistently separates into patterns resembling the elegant curves of a Grecian urn immediately after being shaken. The team’s results, published in ,��uncover a novel method of using magnetic particles to control liquid-liquid mixtures.

The study, led by UMass Amherst, began when UMass graduate student Anthony Raykh was experimenting in the lab. He added magnetized nickel particles to a batch of “salad dressing” instead of spices, which are normally what allow the oil and water in dressing to remain mixed. He chose magnetized particles because fluids containing them can be engineered to exhibit unique and useful properties. After shaking his mixture, Raykh was astonished to see it consistently form a pristine urn shape. Regardless of how many times or how vigorously he shook the mixture, the urn shape always reappeared.

To help explain this shocking phenomenon, the UMass team invited in Paulsen from Syracuse, along with colleagues from Tufts, to conduct theoretical analysis and simulations. Paulsen, whose research focuses on soft condensed matter, explores the ways in which materials like liquids and soft solids bend, deform and mix—research which lent itself well to this study.

Typically, particles added to an oil-and-water mixture, such as spices, decrease the tension at the interface between the two liquids, allowing them to mix. But in a twist, the team found that particles that are magnetized strongly enough actually increase the interfacial tension, bending the boundary between oil and water into a graceful curve.

“We turned the nature of particle-decorated interfaces on its head,” says Paulsen. “Now, you can have an emulsion droplet that you can imagine controlling in a variety of ways with a magnetic field, but the droplet will nevertheless coalesce with other droplets — something that particle-coated droplets typically resist.”

Their research on magnetic particles uncovered two surprising effects. First, the particles, being small magnets, form large networks with many holes due to magnetic interactions. These holes help droplets coated with the particles merge quickly into single oil and water portions. Second, the strong attraction between the magnetic particles increases the surface tension at the interface, further promoting droplet merging.

While there’s no application for this novel discovery yet, the team is excited to see how this never-before-seen state can influence the field of soft-matter physics.

“Liquid-liquid mixtures are ubiquitous in consumer products and industrial processes,” says Paulsen. “This discovery, which offers a new approach to managing these mixtures, could one day help produce better products with longer shelf lives or save energy in chemical transport and processing. I’m eager to see the future implications of this breakthrough.”

This research was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy.

Editor’s note: Portions of this article have been adapted from a .

In disability advocacy circles, the has gained a national reputation as one of the most progressive cities in the U.S. for incorporating the ideas and feedback of users with disabilities when creating new handicapped-accessible spaces, according to two prominent disability advocates.

, Baylor University professor of physical therapy and founder of mobility design studio , and , founder of the and a fellow, point to the work on and the adaptive design circles here as a model for other communities to follow.

The Creekwalk is a 4.8-mile paved pathway that runs from the Southside neighborhood to . When city planners and engineers decided to make accessibility a major focus of the Creekwalk, they tapped into local individuals with a range of backgrounds—medical and social model disability advocates, inclusive design experts, students at and local individuals with disabilities. , a city facilities engineer, and , City of Syracuse deputy commissioner of planning and sustainability, first invited local resident to provide a first-person perspective on the plans. McGough, a quadriplegic as the result of an accident��at age 21, is the program coordinator at ARISE Inc., a local independent living center.

The project soon drew in others McGough knew: faculty members , professor of industrial and interaction design, and , professor and coordinator of the , who are both ARISE volunteers.

Also joining the group were Upstate Medical University developmental pediatrician and staff members from the , an inclusive preschool in Syracuse. Galloway and Truesdell were aware of the initiative through their involvement with the adaptive design community here.

Carr involved School of Design master’s students because he recognized how the project presented an exceptional opportunity to learn inclusive design via a “living laboratory” at a site adjacent to their class space. He also knew the project supported key University goals for students: experiential learning; community-engaged scholarship; enhanced awareness of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility; and a commitment to human thriving.

The city’s project leaders welcomed student involvement, Houck says. “These projects are something we’ve collaborated on with Don Carr and with other organizations in the community. Our projects are better for it, and it’s wonderful we can have that resource. Carr is raising the profile of the work that’s being done and it’s great that he’s involving his students in these efforts.”

Kerney agrees. “Whether it’s the first fully inclusive and accessible playground, our sidewalks, our recreational amenities, boat launches or trails that are available to all users, increasing access is an important part of serving the entire community. It’s something Mayor Walsh and the whole administration has prioritized,” he says. “The city has a responsibility to serve everybody, and these types of improvements do just that.”

The User View

The student designers began determining how to create a practical experience at the Inner Harbor site based on the disability community maxim, “Nothing about us without us is for us.” Their first step: borrowing a wheelchair to look at the pathway from a disabled user’s perspective.

They digitally mapped the entire Creekwalk path, then started ideating. One student created a video game to familiarize users with the trail virtually before they visit. Another made an app that offers information about all pathway features. A third designed an accessible interactive information kiosk housing electrical ports to recharge electric wheelchairs. Others created an animation of the trail that featured a series of accessible kiosks, each equipped with a joystick controller for those with limited dexterity.

Amaan Khan ’23, a student who worked on that project and who is now a product and branding designer, said the class with Carr was “an absolute pleasure. It taught us that even though societal paradigms are shifting toward inclusivity, we must unlearn many of our ways to better connect people with disabilities to the facilities that already exist. Doing that can unite people and guide them forward as a collaborative community.”

McGough says he welcomed the chance to offer ideas based on his lived experience. “I was excited that they listened to my feedback and wanted to follow up on it, and that they were open to suggestions about accessibility in the community spaces,” he says.

McGough was able to try the kayak launch last fall. It’s built so someone can comfortably transfer into and out of a boat via a bench, pull bars, hoists and a gradual rolling launch system. “I was so excited about this project. Getting out in the boat is such a great experience, getting some sun, being around water and nature, having some exercise and recreation,” McGough says. “It’s really freeing because once the boat is in motion, it’s all me making it happen. It’s a really nice thing to have when a lot of the time you require assistance from other people and aren’t able to feel so independent.”

Three Phases

The project has three access points—the kayak launch at the Inner Harbor and a wheelchair-accessible waterside access ramp at Kirk Park have been built. An access/launch point at Dorwin Avenue is planned as part of the third phase of the Creekwalk trail that is now under design.

A $70,000 grant from the Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration program supported the Inner Harbor site, and $380,000 from the Honeywell remediation settlement, for improvements connected to Onondaga Lake, was used for the more extensive construction at Kirk Park. The city continues to apply for grants for ongoing accessibility projects.

A Model Partnership

Working together came naturally to this group, so it’s unlikely they were aware of the “ripple effect” of their cooperation. Fathers believes the city’s openness to including disabled users from the start, the involvement of interested supporters and the inclusion of University faculty and students in the project helped the group gel. “The way the group came together was kind of an organic thing—because disabled people, designers and clinicians began working together in a matter of hours,” he says.

Fathers tells how Truesdell, who was involved in Syracuse’s adaptive design collaboration, referenced that coalescing as “the Syracuse effect”—something she said she had not seen previously in her experience, he says. “She means that in Syracuse, it’s very easy to connect to people with disabilities, their advocates, their families and designers in a way that she hasn’t seen in any other place. It’s all about the people here. She said it was a very powerful thing to observe,” Fathers says.

Galloway says the collective advocacy spirit here “is particularly rare. It’s a model the world needs to come here to look at to see what Syracuse does and how they continue it,” he says. “Where Syracuse jumps into the ‘I’ve never heard of this before’ category is that here, the people with the lived experience are the ones with the power. To step back and let the disability community lead and to have city planners listen and take direction from the folks having lived experience, that’s very unique. So many people in Syracuse break the mold—you’ve got a really radical set of individuals who, from the beginning of the idea, listened and believed and took action from the disability community.”

Hands-On Rewards

The hands-on learning students experienced was important to their training as designers, Carr says. “In teaching design, this is a great way to get students to co-design with individuals in our community to address real needs. Together, we’re able to build, test and modify these ideas on the fly. It’s very rewarding to work alongside someone and then see their immediate reaction vs. purchasing a product that, in the end, might not address their actual need.”

From an inclusive design standpoint having projects where faculty can jump in helps Syracuse be a leader in the accessibility space, and having an adaptive design focus is a major attractor for the University’s graduate design program, Carr says. “That’s because there are opportunities for students to do grant-based work as part of their studies and then apply ideas throughout their careers.”

In a newly-published paper, “,” researchers at Syracuse University College of Arts and Science examine how certain strains of bacteria, and specifically the genetic diversity of acetic acid bacteria, influence the smell and flavor of sourdough bread and even how it is processed by the body.

While previous research has focused more on lactic acid bacteria and yeast in sourdough bread, acetic acid bacteria (AAB) and its the ecology, genomic diversity, and functional contributions remain largely unknown.

Researchers from Syracuse University and Tufts University sequenced 29 acetic acid genomes from a collection of over 500 sourdough starters and constructed synthetic starter communities in the lab to define the ways in which AAB shape emergent properties of sourdough. The team’s work was supported by a����awarded to Syracuse University Professor����earlier this year.

“While not as common in sourdough as lactic acid bacteria, acetic acid bacteria are better known for their dominant roles in other fermented foods like vinegar and kombucha,” says Beryl Rappaport, a Ph.D. student at Syracuse University and lead author of the report along with Oliverio. “For this study, we were interested in following up on previous findings which stated that when present in sourdough, AAB seems to have a strong impact on key properties including scent profile and metabolite production, which shape overall flavor formation.”

To assess the consequences of AAB on the emergent function of sourdough starter microbiomes, their team tested 10 strains of AAB, some distantly related and some very closely related. They set up manipulative experiments with these 10 strains, adding each one to a community of yeast and lactic acid bacteria.

“Since we can manipulate what microbes and what concentrations of microbes go into these synthetic sourdough communities, we could see the direct effects of adding each strain of AAB to sourdough,” says Rappaport. “As we expected, every strain of AAB lowered the pH of the synthetic sourdough (associated with increasing sourness) since they release acetic acid and other acids as byproducts of their metabolic processes. Unexpectedly, however, AAB that were more closely related did not release more similar compounds. In fact, there was high variation in metabolites, many related to flavor formation, even between strains of the same species.”

According to Rappaport, strain diversity is often overlooked in microbial communities, in part because it is difficult to identify and manipulate levels of diversity due to the vastness of microorganisms within a given community. By zooming into the diversity among closer relatives in the lab, researchers can start to understand key interactions in the microbiome.

The impact of this research is two-fold. ��When it comes to baking, she says their findings offer bread makers a new direction to shape sourdough flavor and texture.

“Since AAB reliably acidified the starters we worked with and released a large variety of flavor compounds, bakers who want their sourdough to be more sour or to create new flavors may try sourcing a starter with AAB or attempt to capture AAB themselves,” says Rappaport. “We hope that this study helps to shine a light on the diversity of microbes found in sourdough and their important functional roles.”

Their research could also have implications on the health benefits of sourdough bread.

During the fermentation process, AAB generates acetic acid, which significantly aids in breaking down gluten and complex carbohydrates, enhancing the digestibility of sourdough. By examining the genetic diversity of AAB and its influence on acetic acid production, researchers can develop strains that optimize this process.

The team uses sourdough primarily for its use as a model system because the sourdough microbiome is relatively simple to culture and use for repeated experiments in the lab. But their results stretch far beyond baking.

“Our findings will be relevant to people interested in more complex microbial communities, like the human gut or soil,” says Rappaport. This is because the sourdough system can be used to ask questions about ecology and evolution which would be more difficult to ask with more complex systems.

When it comes to the human gut, microbial communities can help build resilience to infections and improve efficiency in breaking down complex carbohydrates, fiber, proteins and fats. In the case of soil, microbes help to break down organic matter and maintain overall soil ecosystem stability. There are many unknowns, however, about how multiple levels of genetic diversity impact these processes.

By recognizing how strain diversity can have community-wide consequences on a microbiome, the team’s insights could have wide-ranging benefits for human health, wellness and environmental sustainability.

To arrange interviews with the researchers, please contact executive director of media relations Ellen James Mbuqe, ejmbuqe@syr.edu.

Senior Isabelle Lutz joined a group of fellow Syracuse University students and community members for a short bus ride last fall to the Skä•noñh Great Law of Peace Center—the Haudenosaunee cultural hub on the shore of Onondaga Lake in Liverpool.

The evening’s event, part of a series called “Listen to the Elders,” featured Onondaga Hawk Clan Chief Spencer Ohsgoñ:da’ Lyons speaking about the history of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and sharing the traditional Thanksgiving address. The gathering included an array of Haudenosaunee foods, including three sisters soup made with corn, beans and squash.

“We’re not a people of the past,” Lyons told the audience. “The Haudenosaunee are still the Haudenosaunee. We have our language; we have our songs.”

For Lutz, an enrolled member of the Oneida Nation in her home state of Wisconsin, the Skä•noñh event provided a chance to connect directly with Indigenous leaders in the Syracuse area.

“So much of Native American studies or Indigenous studies can be taught from a historical/past context, when the people, traditions, and cultures are still present and active in the community,” said Lutz ’24, who in May earned a bachelor’s degree in political science with a minor in Native American and Indigenous studies. “So, when there are opportunities to attend and listen to members of different nations share their story and knowledge, it truly complements and enriches my classroom studies.”

The “Listen to the Elders” series began in 2022, organized by a University group called Not in the Books, which fosters a reciprocal learning relationship between the University community and the peoples of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.

The Maxwell School is strongly connected to the effort: two of its faculty members, Aaron Luedtke and Heather Law Pezzarossi, are among its key organizers and it is supported with funding from the Tenth Decade Project, an initiative created 10 years ago in the lead of to the school’s 100th anniversary (see related story: From Sovereignty to Mortality: Tenth Decade Awards Support Research Across Disciplines).

“The Tenth Decade awards have energized and enabled interdisciplinary research around critical themes to the Maxwell School,” says Carol Faulkner, professor of history and Maxwell’s senior associate dean for academic affairs. “‘Listen to the Elders’ engages the Syracuse community around issues of citizenship, democracy and environment. It is a particularly appropriate project for our centennial because it highlights how our present obligations as citizens are tied to our past.”

Indigenous Ties ��

The work of Not in the Books aligns with the teaching and research of Aaron Luedtke and Heather Law Pezzarossi.

Law Pezzarossi, an anthropologist trained in critical heritage studies, does collaborative work that addresses colonial history while serving the contemporary needs of Indigenous communities, such as the Nipmuc people of New England. Her teaching includes courses on contemporary Native American issues, and on Indigenous museum relations and Native Americans. She is a faculty affiliate in the Native American and Indigenous Studies Program and a member of the advisory board for the University’s new Center for Global Indigenous Cultures and Environmental Justice.

Luedtke, an assistant professor of history at Maxwell since 2022, is also a faculty affiliate with the Native American and Indigenous Studies Program. He focused his graduate research at Michigan State University on the native peoples of the Great Lakes—particularly, in his words, “how they used the authoring of their own histories as resistance to colonial erasure.”

The connections Luedtke has made with Syracuse-area Indigenous communities through Not in the Books and other projects are influencing his research direction. “I have the privilege to build these relationships with Haudenosaunee elders,” says Luedtke, who is of Suquamish and Duwamish descent. “I am going to spend the rest of my career working in tandem with the Haudenosaunee to tell Haudenosaunee stories of resistance.”

The impetus for creating the Not in the Books group initially came from Diane Schenandoah, Oneida Nation Faith Keeper and the University’s Honwadiyenawa’sek—or “one who helps them.” A sculptor for 40 years, she earned an art degree from the College of Visual and Performing Arts in 2011. Her daughter, Michelle Schenandoah, is a graduate of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and an adjunct professor in the law school, and her son-in-law, Neal Powless, serves as the University’s ombuds.

As Honwadiyenawa’sek, Schenandoah offers intuitive energy work grounded in traditional Haudenosaunee culture and teachings to the University community. She also leads events such as a Haudenosaunee welcome ceremony opening the academic year and a monthly full moon ceremony. “I was asked to be a Wolf Clan Faith Keeper in 1988,” she says. “As a Faith Keeper, part of my duty is to share our teachings of how to live in peace though gratitude. We have duties and responsibilities to one another as humans, and to our Mother Earth for all that is provided. Giving thanks on a daily basis is of great importance.”

Through her initial work on campus, Schenandoah began connecting with Native students as well as with professors, such as Luedtke, Law Pezzarossi, and Patricia Roylance, associate professor of English, who teach courses related to Native American and Indigenous studies.

While students were clearly keen to learn more, many had little background on the impacts of colonialism and the dispossession of Indigenous lands, or on the persistence and current-day realities of Indigenous communities—topics rarely addressed in primary or secondary education. “As Indigenous people, our history is so erased,” Schenandoah says. “Many students see the purple and white flag flying around campus but don’t really know what it is. You’re standing in the capital of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. This is the birthplace of democracy.”

Looking for ways to help fill this gap in knowledge and awareness of the area’s Indigenous heritage and contemporary presence—among not only students but faculty and staff—Schenandoah lit on the idea of connecting the University community with a tribal elder. She contacted Freida Jacques, Onondaga Turtle Clan Mother Whatwehni:neh. Jacques agreed to do a series of lectures, and the Not in the Books team—named by Schenandoah—coalesced to organize these events at Skä•noñh.

In addition to Luedtke, Law Pezzarossi, Schenandoah and Roylance, the Not in the Books team includes Scott Catucci, associate director of outdoor education at the Barnes Center; Jim O’Connor, producer with the special collections team at SU Libraries; and Tammy Bluewolf-Kennedy, a member of the Oneida Nation’s Wolf Clan who leads Indigenous student recruitment in the University’s Office of Admissions.

“The Onondaga are still here, and the Onondaga reservation is minutes away from SU’s campus,” says Luedtke. “We decided as a group very early on that we have a coherent job to do: to educate the campus community that Native peoples are not the mythological, ahistorical stereotype representations that people are accustomed to seeing. Native peoples are just as modern, nuanced, complicated and fully capable of all aspects of humanity as anyone else.”

Hosting the series at a Native cultural center, rather than bringing elders to campus, was important for the spirit and intent of the project. “Skä•noñh is a Haudenosaunee welcome center,” Law Pezzarossi says. “So, it’s the perfect place for people to start learning.”

Building Bridges

Supported with a $5,000 grant from Maxwell’s Tenth Decade Project and other campus programs, the “Listen to the Elders” series began in the 2022–23 academic year with four presentations by Freida Jacques, who in addition to being a clan mother has served for decades as a Haudenosaunee cultural liaison for educational institutions across New York state and beyond.

During these Skä•noñh events, Jacques led tours of the center and explained how in Haudenosaunee tradition, women choose the clan leaders and men marry into women’s clans rather than vice versa.

In one session, she discussed the enduring impact of the boarding schools run by churches or the federal government that tens of thousands of Indigenous children—including Jacques’ grandfather—were forced to attend between the late 1800s and the 1960s.

In a letter written to support a funding application, Jacques said that sharing her life experiences and knowledge has been fulfilling. “Both grandparents on my mother’s side attended Carlisle Indian Industrial boarding school in Pennsylvania,” she wrote. “My family was affected by this fact. My father was a Mohawk Wolf Clan person and originated at Akwesasne, whose territory is divided by Ontario, Q and New York State. …Building bridges between cultures appears to be one of my life’s purposes.”

Onondaga Chief Spencer Lyons continued the series in 2023-24 with presentations on Haudenosaunee traditions and governance. With free transportation available from campus to Skä•noñh, the “Listen to the Elders” series have consistently drawn capacity crowds.

To read the full story, visit the .

Earlier today, Syracuse University was the site of a historic announcement of a transformational investment by Micron Technology in the Central New York region: a $100 billion semiconductor fabrication facility in the Town of Clay—the largest investment and facility of its kind in the United States. Officials with Micron announced plans to build a leading-edge memory fab in New York state this morning during an event in the K.G. Tan Auditorium, at the Daniel and Gayle D’Aniello Building, home of the National Veterans Resource Center.

Micron Technology Inc. is one of the world’s largest semiconductor companies and the only U.S.-based manufacturer of memory. The new megafab will increase domestic supply of leading-edge memory and create tens of thousands of new jobs. It is the largest private investment in New York state history.

Chancellor Kent Syverud welcomed Micron President and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra and several local, state and federal government representatives for this significant announcement that will impact the region and state for generations to come. The investment will create the largest-ever cleanroom space announced in the U.S., creating nearly 50,000 New York jobs over more than 20 years. Those include 9,000 new high-paying Micron jobs and over 40,000 community jobs, including suppliers, contractors and other supporting roles.

In August, President Joe Biden L’68 signed off on the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act, which will increase the country’s production of semiconductors while fueling efforts to reduce dependence on foreign suppliers.

“I am grateful to President Biden and his administration for making the CHIPS and Science Act a priority, to Senator Schumer and a bipartisan coalition in Congress for passing the legislation, and to Governor Hochul and County Executive McMahon for the local and state partnerships that made this investment possible. Micron will leverage the diverse, highly educated and skilled talent in New York as we look to build our workforce in the Empire State,” said Mehrotra in a . “This historic leading-edge memory megafab in central New York will deliver benefits beyond the semiconductor industry by strengthening U.S. technology leadership as well as economic and national security, driving American innovation and competitiveness for decades to come.”

At today’s event, Chancellor Syverud recognized the critical efforts of U.S. Sen.��Charles E. Schumer, New York State Gov. Kathy Hochul ’80 and County Executive Ryan McMahon, all of whom participated in the event’s speaking program, to help bring Micron to the area. Also in attendance were U.S. Rep. John Katko, Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh and CenterState CEO President Rob Simpson.

“Micron’s $100 billion investment in New York marks the start of something transformative in scale and possibility for our state’s economic future. I promised that we would jumpstart the economy by being the most business-friendly and worker-friendly state in the nation, and thanks to our State Green CHIPS legislation, the federal CHIPS and Science Act, and extraordinary partnerships with business, labor, and local and federal leaders, this project will do exactly that,” Gov. Hochul said in a . “Together, we are leveraging this investment—the largest private-sector investment in state history—to secure our economic future, solidify New York’s standing as a global manufacturing hub, and usher the state into another Industrial Revolution.”

Syracuse University was chosen as the site of today’s announcement because of the University’s deep connections and commitment to the Central New York region.

In a message to the Orange community, Chancellor Syverud said: “This is a proud moment for our University. Syracuse University’s academic, economic, cultural and civic contributions to Central New York are among the factors that attracted Micron to our area. The opportunity for collaboration—across all facets of our University—is significant. From internship and career opportunities for our students and alumni, respectively, to interdisciplinary research opportunities, educational programs, veterans initiatives, community building, engagement and investment, and economic development, Micron will quickly become one of our region’s greatest partners and a key driver of Central New York’s long-term prosperity.”

Micron selected the New York site based on the state’s leading higher education institutions, access to talent traditionally underrepresented in technology jobs and a significant military population aligned with Micron’s commitment to veteran hiring. The site also offers access to water and clean, reliable power to enable a project of this scale while achieving the company’s long-term environmental goals.

Micron and the state of New York will also invest a historic $500 million in community and workforce development with a focus on disadvantaged populations over the duration of the project. Reflecting the company’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, Micron’s New York plans include initiatives to address economic disparities and accelerate economic opportunity for underserved communities in the semiconductor industry. Micron aims to hire a diverse workforce for both direct roles as well as broader construction ecosystem jobs.