Campus Community Invited to Community Review Board Open Forum April 21

The University’s inaugural Community Review Board (CRB) invites students, faculty and staff to its first open forum on Thursday, April 21, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Melanie Gray Ceremonial Courtroom in Dineen Hall.

After a brief introduction of the CRB’s mission, representatives and progress to date, the open forum will serve as a listening session where members of the campus community can bring forth ideas, opinions, personal experiences and concerns related to the Department of Public Safety (DPS) and policing on campus.

No RSVP is required; Communications Access Realtime Translation (CART) will be provided. To request additional accommodations, please contact crb@syr.edu.

“As the CRB continues its important work, it is invaluable to hear from as many campus constituents as possible to ensure we are serving in an inclusive and representative way. This work is much bigger than the 11 of us who serve on the Community Review Board—for us to best meet the needs of the entire campus community, broad input is imperative,” says Brianna Sclafani, the CRB chair who is also a law student in the College of Law and graduate student in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

The CRB was created following an independent review of DPS by former Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch in 2020-21. It is responsible for:

• reviewing appeals of civilian complaints regarding DPS officer conduct;
• reviewing and commenting on prospective new DPS policies, procedures and trainings;
• reviewing key community-facing functions of DPS; and
• issuing to the University community a public annual report of findings and recommendations.

Current members serving on the CRB include:

• Yusuf S. Abdul-Qadir, graduate student, School of Information Studies
• Guilherme Maurell Costa, senior associate vice president and deputy university secretary, Office of the Board of Trustees
• Liz Green, executive director, Online Student Success (vice-chair)
• Keith L. Henderson, chief compliance officer, Office of University Counsel
• Theresa A. Jenkins, academic advisor, Newhouse School of Public Communications
• Milton R. Laufer, director and associate professor, School of Music, College of Visual and Performing Arts
• Hunter Stanley Luke, undergraduate student, College of Arts and Sciences and Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
• Alexandra Zoey Pollack, undergraduate Student, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
• Adia Santos, undergraduate student, College of Arts and Sciences and Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
• Brianna C. Sclafani, graduate student, College of Law (chair)
• Corrinne B. Zoli, research faculty, Forensic Science Institute

The CRB has also engaged two highly experienced consultants to advise on its work. Bethaida “Bea” González, former vice president for community engagement, special assistant to the chancellor and dean of University College, is senior advisor to the CRB; and Melvin “Tony” Perez, former chief of public safety for Monroe Community College, serves as its expert law enforcement consultant.

For more information, visit the CRB webpage or contact the CRB directly by email to CRB@syr.edu.