Oswego State President Deborah Stanley and Oswego city Mayor Billy Barlow invited the campus and the community to the first town hall meeting Nov. 14, bringing the two populations together to discuss topics which affect each other.

Students and community members gathered at the Roy C. McCrobie Building and spoke on expanding art throughout the town, the Social Host Law and diversity. Barlow praised Stanley in her accomplishments of getting the college involved with the town and city of Oswego, and said when the Downtown Revitalization Initiative funds were decided in 2016, he kept students in mind because the college is an asset to the city.

“[College campuses] are such an asset to local communities in upstate New York where the economy isn’t always the strongest,” Barlow said. “Students come in to our town and spend money, rent apartments and buy groceries, so that’s an asset.”

Tenaja Smith-Butler, president of Black Student Union, asked if there was student involvement when deciding what to do with the funds from the Downtown Revitalization Initiative.

Barlow said when the projects were picked in 2016, there were no students on the committee, which has since been dissolved, as it is no longer necessary. He said he held four public engagement sessions beforehand, giving the option to the campus community to be involved in the decision-making process.

Barlow said the DRI is aimed to increase quality housing downtown, constructing a pocket park with benches and a miniature stage, where the town has a $20,000 budget for entertainment, with college students and their music tastes in mind. Stanley said the college is currently looking for a space off campus for students like a “clubhouse” or a “coffee house” so they have a place to gather casually.

Laurie Kester, president of Art Association of Oswego, Inc., presented her wish to get more students involved in spreading art throughout the community through internships and asked Stanley for an alignment with the college to do so.

“We have a huge resource of college students,” Kester said. “In the past, we have had interns come to the art association…We so appreciate that because we are a [nonprofit]. We don’t have any paid staff.”

Omar van Reenen, Student Association president, addressed Barlow in regards to the Social Host Law, which he said disproportionately targets students of color.

Barlow said neither students nor the town is to blame exclusively for the creation of the law, which he said places accountability on the tenant or person hosting a party.

“I always make sure that we are not generalizing the student population and to also not exclusively blame the student population for any specific problem and never blame year-round Oswego residents,” Barlow said. “It doesn’t help in any way to blame a segment of the population.”

The law, which is aimed at discouraging large parties, gives the host the ability to rectify the issue so hosts do not face immediate arrest or fines, Barlow said. He recommended to speak with neighbors if there are plans for parties to come to a compromise because issues are solved better in person rather than on social media or in an angry email.

In regards to van Reenen’s question on what diversity initiatives will be put in place, Barlow said Oswego has a predominantly white population, but has never had a case of racial bias or police brutality come across his desk as mayor, and the police department is very professional.

Baldwin Lawson followed up the topic of racial bias from both the Oswego Police Department and University Police toward students of color.

“I was in a house where the police literally broke down my friend’s door, and then the next week after, the police came on my friend’s doorstep saying, ‘Hey guys, can you turn the music down lower?’,” Lawson said.

Barlow said the Oswego Police Department has policies on how to respond on a case-by-case basis and that it becomes more urgent when there are more complaints. Stanley responded by offering a workshop setting where people could discuss and learn about racial bias.

Lawson then recounted a case of racial bias in a residence hall where someone had written a racially charged comment on his friend’s whiteboard, who then called University Police, but never had a follow-up. Stanley said the college does not brush those incidents aside, they do not get covered up and it will be looked into.

President of African Student Union Joyce Boadu continued the conversation by addressing that Barlow has not been physically in the situations talked about. She said she has known other students who transferred to a different, more diverse school.

“It doesn’t reflect Oswego well; it doesn’t reflect the campus well,” Boadu said.

Barlow said if this has been happening, he has not been made aware of it. Stanley said to move forward regarding this issue, there will more town halls and discussion.

Another senior student in attendance expressed concern that it has been increasingly difficult to book events at the American Legion, where people under 21 can enter and enjoy the time with friends who are of age to order alcoholic drinks. She asked how Barlow plans to make more places accessible to students to celebrate and come together.

“It’s hard when we’re trying to book an event to celebrate some of our accomplishments,” she said. “If you were to take Legion out of the equation, you would be left with the bars, and I can name approximately maybe four or five different bars that are available only to people that 21 and over.”

Barlow said although he cannot speak for the Legion, he does not believe it was the idea of people drinking in the Legion, but rather the issue rested within the disruption of people flowing in and out with a four-lane road next to the building.

Student Collin Hoeffner expressed to Barlow that he is concerned with how the Social Host Law will affect students finding off campus housing. He said he spoke to three landlords, who said they would be discouraged from renting to college students because they could be held accountable from the law.

“[Landlords] will always rent to college kids because there’s a very strong market, and quite frankly, if you want my 100 percent opinion, they can get away with taking advantage of college kids more frequently than they do other people,” Barlow said.

Barlow said he found the old point system of damages to a residence to be ineffective, and corruption led to code violations never being fixed. He said students in off-campus housing can call the Code Enforcement Office for a free inspection before moving in, and if any violation is not fixed, the landlord will be fined.

Barlow encouraged the community to reach out to him to further discuss issues and said when the college does better, the city does as well.

Stanley sent an email to the student population Nov. 15 with an update as to the next step after the town hall meeting.

“We have planned a second Town Hall to be held on Wednesday, Nov. 28, from 4 to 6 p.m., in the Hewitt Hall ballroom, so that we can continue to listen to one another, support one another and make change that matters for you and the entire campus community,” Stanley wrote in the email.

Stanley said she reached out to her President’s Council to attend meetings of cultural/affinity student groups and schedule a dialogue with Residence Life and Housing.

“We are securing implicit bias and related training for our campus (will provide an update on the training soon), in a collective effort to move forward with solutions that will foster a more supportive and welcoming environment,” Stanley wrote in the email.

Photo by Alexander Gault-Plate | The Oswegonian