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march 23, 2023 high 55° low 39° t h e i n de p e n de n t s t u de n t n e w s pa p e r of s y r a c u s e , n e w yor k |
dailyorange.com
N • Maintaining diversity
C • Young at heart
S • Transferring talent
Chancellor Kent Syverud discussed SU’s plan for the Supreme Court’s upcoming affirmative action decision.
Every year, As Young As You Feel Day reminds everyone that age is just a number. Local elders have advice for people looking to be as happy as they are. Page 5
Kelly Breen changed teams multiple times, but regardless of the switch, she’s always working to improve her game Page 16
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Leading the way Nancy Sharp, one of the first women to be hired as faculty at Newhouse in the 1970s, is remembered for her impactful journalism and trailblazing role at SU
Sharp, who died at the age of 86 in February, was a Professor Emerita at Newhouse, where colleagues and friends said she fostered a lasting culture of support and progress. photo ilustration by meghan hendricks photo editor
By Stephanie Wright
F
asst. news editor
rom 2004 to 2017, Professor Nancy Sharp carried Syracuse University’s silver mace at the university convocations and commencement ceremonies. In full academic regalia attire and in front of thousands of people in the Dome, Nancy Sharp led the academic procession, and despite the pressure of thousands of people watching, she never faltered, said David Rubin, former dean of the Newhouse
School Of Public Communications. Nancy Sharp died on Feb. 12 at the age of 86 after a lifelong career in journalism which colleagues described as pioneering. She was one of the first women to be hired as faculty at Newhouse in the 1970s, and in addition to serving as SU’s mace bearer, she was a professor of newspaper journalism and as associate dean for graduate and professional studies. She first moved to Syracuse with her husband, Professor Emerita James Roger Sharp, in August 1966, when he was hired by SU’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and
Public Affairs to teach in and eventually chair the Department of History. They later had two children, Sandy and Matt. The two met in the spring of their sophomore year at the University of Missouri, James Sharp said, and married in December of their senior year. He said Nancy graduated top of her class, and was always a strong writer. “She did very, very well, and she just came to (writing) very naturally. She taught me to write and she taught me how to swim,” James Sharp said. see sharp page 4
on campus
Provost Ritter encourages political discourse ahead of lecture By Dominic Chiappone asst. news editor
Two New York Times best-selling authors with divergent viewpoints on racial issues and identity, Michael Eric Dyson and John McWhorter, will speak in a campus conversation on March 31 to initiate meaningful political discussions between students, according to a March 9 SU News release. Gretchen Ritter, Syracuse University’s vice chancellor, provost and chief academic officer, will be moderating the upcoming conversation, which
is titled “Fostering a Diverse and Healthy Democracy in a Period of Polarization.” The event aims to encourage civil discourse and empower students to speak about hot-topic political issues, Ritter said. Dyson, a professor of African American and Diaspora Studies at Vanderbilt University and political analyst for MSNBC, analyzes the significance of Black people’s efforts to make race part of a national conversation over the course of American history in his book. McWhorter, who is an English and comparative literature professor at Columbia University, argues that
antiracism has become an “illogical religion” that is “unintentionally neoracist” rather than progressive. Biko Gray, an assistant professor at SU’s College of Arts and Sciences, expressed concern about McWhorter’s views on race in light of his future appearance on campus during Wednesday’s University Senate meeting. “I understand that we need to have two sides and all of that, but I think there’s a difference between equivocation for equivocations sake and someone whose work quite frankly, produces a kind of rhetorical violence against Black
people,” Gray said. Regarding the talk’s premise of the divergence in the two speakers’ perspectives, Ritter said she wants the discussion to bring about debate and dialogue among SU students on the biggest challenges within the U.S. today. “What I am hoping for more than anything… is that folks will get a chance to see really thoughtful, considered people with different points of view discussing, debating and learning from each other in a way that, for me, seeks to model the kind of atmosphere and approach I would love for us
to be encouraging and valuing on campus,” Ritter said. Ritter said that as part of the university’s Academic Strategic Plan, a roadmap of academic objectives SU aims to reach by 2028, a commitment to diversity and inclusion includes being open to diverse points of view. SU promised in the initial draft of the ASP released Feb. 17 to provide all undergraduate students with the “necessary educational resources” to develop interest in civil discourse and deliberative democracy. Allen Groves, SU’s senior vice see ritter page 4