thursday, feb. 6, 2025
celebrating 121 years
free
N • Local takeover
C • Winter wonderland
S • Devil domination
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After four decades of family ownership, J. Michael Shoes’ ownership is changing, leaving the city to remember its local charm.
Syracuse Winter Fair is an opportunity for locals and out-of-towners to experience summertime fun in the dead of winter.
Syracuse suffered its worst loss of the season Wednesday, falling 83-54 to No. 2 Duke. The Orange turned the ball over 14 times.
‘OUR GAME’ Haudenosaunee pushes to compete in lacrosse, a sport they invented, at 2028 Olympics
By Cooper Andrews managing editor
Photos Courtesy of Haudenosaunee Nationals
B
oys born in Haudenosaunee country grow to be one of three types of men: a speaker of their clan’s language, a singer of their songs, or a lacrosse player. For someone like 58-yearold Rex Lyons, a member of the Onondaga Nation’s Eel Clan, the sport is a fundamental right. A hickory lacrosse stick was placed into his hands out of the womb, and he will be buried with one in his grasp. Rex was a part of the first Haudenosaunee Nationals lacrosse team in 1983. His father, Oren Lyons, is a lacrosse legend — formerly an All-American at Syracuse University in the 1950s who’s credited with forming the first official Haude-
nosaunee team. Lacrosse flows in the Lyons’ blood. It’s why Rex does everything he can to help people today understand the sport’s origins. Because, Rex said, not many people do. Under current rules, the Haudenosaunee — who invented lacrosse — are not permitted to compete in the sport they consider a sacred tradition under their own flag at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. “We’re not going to go there as a gesture,” said Rex, a board member of the Haudenosaunee Nationals Lacrosse Team. “We should be there under our own flag, standing shoulder to shoulder. Not subservient, not playing in an exhibition game and getting a pat on the head. No, no, no. That’s not inclusion. That’s exploitation.” The Haudenosaunee Confederacy, an Indigenous group whose territory extends throughout parts of New York, Ontario and Quebec, created lacrosse around 1100 A.D.
It’s the oldest organized sport in North America. In 2023, the International Olympic Committee approved lacrosse’s return to the summer games for the first time since 1908. Yet, the sport’s creators may not be allowed to participate. The Haudenosaunee are advocating for special approval from the IOC, which would grant them sovereign nation representation and the chance to play lacrosse at the next Olympic Games. On Jan. 17, the United States and Canada submitted a joint statement calling on the IOC to admit the Haudenosaunee. But, as multiple Haudenosaunee citizens agreed, statements only mean so much. They still face an uphill battle amid a crucial calendar year that could determine their Olympic eligibility — which they say would be a major milestone in securing status as a sovereign nation. see haudenosaunee page 13
on campus
SU professors petition after dean overrides faculty vote By Delia Rangel
asst. news editor
In a special faculty meeting in April, 215 faculty members across Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences and Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs voted on revisions to a new proposed Liberal Arts Core curriculum. Seventy percent of faculty in attendance voted to adopt the revised version, which included a foreign language requirement for students.
On Nov. 4, A&S Dean Behzad Mortazavi and Maxwell Dean David Van Slyke informed faculty via email that they would override the vote without further consultation with faculty. Faculty have expressed significant concern about the deans’ decision and its lack of compliance with the A&S and Maxwell Bylaws. The deans cited financial and other university resources in their decision to override. “After thoroughly analyzing
the financial feasibility of such a requirement, including required hiring, classroom availability, workload for the faculty, sustainability and ensuring our students graduate on time — the decision has been made to proceed with the new LAC without a language requirement,” Mortazavi and Van Slyke’s email, obtained by The Daily Orange, states. Eleven faculty members helped create a petition nearly two weeks
ago urging Mortazavi and Van Slyke to work collaboratively with the CAS/MAX Curriculum Committee to revise and delay the implementation of the LAC by one year. The D.O. obtained the petition, which over 220 faculty members across the university have now signed. Currently, the new LAC is set to launch in the fall 2025 semester. The petition warns of the “dangerous precedent” Mortazavi and Van Slyke’s actions set.
“It really is a disregard of faculty voice and a refusal to collaborate, at a time when it’s absolutely essential that we in higher education unify because we are under assault and that’s going to be getting worse over the next four years,” Harvey Teres, a humanities professor involved in the petition’s creation, said. “We have to work together, and it’s not a time for the administration to be defying the faculty.” see petition page 6