Syracuse University’s Student Association announced on Tuesday the panelists for its upcoming event “Cuse Can! It Start With Us.”

Actress and comedian Tiffany Haddish will perform a comedy show on Saturday as part of “Cuse Can!” Following Haddish’s performance, two panels will be held in Watson Theater — one focusing on campus issues and another on the dynamics between SU and the city of Syracuse. Pusha T and Flipp Dinero will perform a concert on Saturday night.

Haddish, Pusha T and Flipp Dinero will not participate in either of the panels.

Marissa Willingham, program associate for budgets and operations in the Office of Multicultural Affairs, will moderate the panel on campus issues, “What We Need To Be Talking About” at 4:15 on Saturday. The four panelists are: Biko Gray, assistant professor of religion; Ahlam Islam, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences; Danielle Schaf, a triple major in anthropology, forensic science and writing and rhetoric; and Hanz Valbuena, a senior television, radio and film major.

Bea González, SU’s vice president of community engagement, will moderate the panel “Just Up the Block” at 5:15 p.m. on Saturday. Four of the panelists are members of the SU community: Syeisha Byrd, director of SU’s Office of Community Engagement; Tere Paniagua, executive director of the La Casita Cultural Center; Dina Eldawy, a senior international relations and citizenship and civic engagement major; and Jordan McGriff, who graduated in 2018.

Azariah Yemma, program director of the Good Life Foundation, will also be on the panel. The Good Life Foundation is a Syracuse-based nonprofit that works to improve the quality of life for “at-risk” youth according to its website.

SA representatives and cabinet members have criticized the planning, cost and content of “Cuse Can!” SA allocated $242,000 for the event, which was planned with University Union and the National Pan-Hellenic Council.

Quincy Nolan resigned from their position as co-chair of SA’s Diversity Affairs Committee last week after criticizing “Cuse Can!” as “queerphobic.” Nolan said Pusha T has previously used homophobic slurs and that there was a lack of LGBTQ voices in planning the event.

Nolan and Ryan Golden, co-chair of the Student Affairs Committee and an SA presidential candidate, criticized SA leaders for not promoting the panels. UU announced the event on March 24, but the panelists were not publicly announced until Tuesday.

Published on April 3, 2019 at 12:13 am

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