thursday, apr. 11, 2024
celebrating 120 years
N • Shelter from the storm
free
David Haas, executive director of Sarah’s Guest House, helps provide shelter for those seeking medical care in CNY.
With a 5K race, campus celebrations and a baseball game, the Syracuse community gathered to watch Monday’s solar eclipse.
C • Eyes to the sky
S • ‘Coach’s kid’
Page 3
Page 4
Page 16
SU women’s lacrosse head coach Kayla Treanor’s coaching interest stems from watching her father coach high school basketball.
city
Dai pleads guilty to antisemitic threats By Kendall Luther news editor
Unlike previous years, Wednesday’s Take Back the Night event was held inside in the Panasci Lounge and the third floor of Schine Student Center. It featured a student dance performance and a denim decorating activity. lars jendruschewitz asst. photo editor By Ahna Fleming asst. news editor
S Reimagined Take Back the Night creates safe space for survivors of sexual violence
urvivors of sexual and relationship violence gathered alongside their allies Wednesday evening for Syracuse University’s annual Take Back the Night event, which was hosted to offer a space for survivors to know they’re not alone. During the night of healing and community building, Diana VaroLucero, a graduate student studying multimedia, photography and design who helped organize the event, said nighttime symbolizes “rejuvenation.” “Take Back the Night is not just taking it back to the night where these tragedies happen. It’s also reminding ourselves that it’s never our fault. It’s never too late to heal. We can take back the night to also move forward with healing,” she said. TBTN is the oldest international movement standing against all forms of sexual violence, according to its website. The mission of the nonprofit organization is to end “sexual assault, sexual abuse, trafficking, stalking, gender harassment, and relationship violence, and to support survivors in their healing journeys.” see survivors page 6
Patrick Dai, who made violent threats against Jewish students attending Cornell University in October, pleaded guilty at the James M. Hanley Federal Building & U.S. Courthouse in Syracuse Wednesday. Dai, a 21-year-old from Pittsford, NY, pleaded guilty to a single count of posting threats to kill or injure another person using interstate communications, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office sent to The Daily Orange. “This defendant is being held accountable for vile, abhorrent, antisemitic threats of violence levied against members of the Cornell University Jewish community,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in the release. “In the elevated threat environment that we have seen since Oct. 7th, we have been vigilant and stand ready to hold perpetrators of hate crimes accountable.” Dai is set for a sentencing hearing on Aug. 12 in Syracuse and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, restitution to victims and a maximum of three years of supervised release, according to the release. Dai admitted to posting on the online forum Greekrank on Oct. 28 and 29 threatening to kill Jewish Cornell students and “shoot up” the university’s dining hall, 104 West, that caters to Kosher diets, according to the release. He also threatened to “stab and slit the throat of any Jewish man he saw on campus, to rape and throw off a cliff any Jewish women he saw, and to behead any Jewish babies” in another post, according to the release. Dai also threatened to “bring an assault rifle to campus and shoot all you pig jews.” He appeared in court in Syracuse for his arraignment hearing on Nov. 1 and did not enter a plea. Dai was originally set to return to court for a probable cause hearing on Nov. 15, which was postponed. see dai page 6
on campus
SU to monitor online education provider’s financial instability By Samantha Olander asst. copy editor
2U — one of Syracuse University’s online education providers — may have to file bankruptcy or liquidate if it can’t cover its debt, leaving SU and other universities to reconsider their partnerships with the company. SU uses the service edX, which operates under its parent company
2U, Inc., for many of its online degree programs. But, the company has struggled with nearly $900 million in long-term debt and has not had a profitable year since going public in 2014. The company warned of “substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern” without additional capital or reduced debt, according
to a 2023 filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission — causing uncertainty for the hundreds of colleges and universities that use its services. “We are aware and monitoring the challenges 2U is facing,” a university spokesperson wrote in a statement to The Daily Orange. “Our priority is the continued academic progress and success of all of our students
including those enrolled in our 2U-supported programs.” Currently, SU employs 2U for a variety of its online graduate programs and course offerings, including in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, College of Engineering and Computer Science, School of Information Studies, Maxwell School of Citizenship and
Public Affairs and the School of Social Work at David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics. 2U is at risk of being delisted from the NASDAQ Stock Market’s Global Select Market, according to a March filing with the SEC. The company has been trading below $1 for the majority of 2024. To remain listed on NASDAQ, the company must boost
see 2u page 7