News

Crimes committed against civilians during war can be especially heinous, but when those crimes are committed with planned intent to destroy an ethnic or religious community, international law applies the unique label of “genocide.” It is not a charge used lightly by the international community, although in recent times it has been applied to crimes committed during the Bosnian War (1992-1995) and Rwandan Civil War (1994).

Now, a white paper published by the Syracuse University College of Law-based Syrian Accountability Project (SAP) asserts that war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in 2014 against the Yazidi community by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) also should be considered genocide. The report documents crimes perpetrated against the Yazidi community and calls on the international community to take “proper care of the living proof” of the Yazidi genocide and to begin the “strategic preservation” of forensic evidence that could be used in an international court.

Read the full story at SU News.

Students participate in lighting candles for Diwali, the Hindu festival of light. This is the second year Professor Romita Ray of the Department of Art and Music Histories (AMH) has organized the event on campus. This year, over 50 students, faculty and staff gathered in the University’s sculpture garden to place and illuminate over 1,000 tea lights to signify the triumph of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, and hope over despair. The event was sponsored by the AMH, Hendricks Chapel and the South Asia Center.

View the original story at SU News.

The University’s fall 2017 Interfaith Dialogue Dinner Series, “Common and Diverse Ground: Raising Consciousnesses by Acknowledging the ‘Hidden’ Things that Divide Us,” will begin on Thursday, Nov. 2. The dialogue, on “Hospitality, Immigration, Justice,” will be held from 6-8 p.m. in the Noble Room of Hendricks Chapel. Read more at SU News.

Throughout the month of October, the Disability Cultural Center (DCC) and campus partners are hosting events in celebration of Disability Awareness Month.  The events include an open house, an inclusive book exhibit, collaborating for Mental Health Awareness Week, movie screenings and much more. Read more at SU News.

Award-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones will visit the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications Nov. 2. She will present “The Work We Have Before Us: Confronting America’s Racial Divide through Reporting on Education” at 7:30 p.m. in the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium, Newhouse 3. Follow on Twitter at #JournalismMatters. Read more at SU News.

The Office of Multicultural Affairs will host the 14th Annual WellsLink Transitions Ceremony on Friday, Oct. 20, starting at 4 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel. Campus community members are invited to attend the ceremony to honor the WellsLink Scholars from the previous year who have successfully transitioned through the WellsLink Leadership Program and into their second year at Syracuse University. WellsLink is a nationally recognized academic excellence and leadership program for first-year students of color at Syracuse University. Read more at SU News.

Poets Ona Gritz and Daniel Simpson will share verses from their book, “Border Songs: A Conversation in Poems,” at a reading Tuesday, Oct. 24, in celebration of Disability Awareness Month. Read more at SU News.

A highlight of Coming Out Month every year is the keynote speaker. This year the LGBT Resource Center will welcome Janaya Khan for an impactful presentation taking place on Thursday, Oct. 26, at 7 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium. Read more at SU News.