Here’s the news you might have missed while you were on summer break:

Boeheim defamation case:

Syracuse University and men’s basketball head coach Jim Boeheim settled the defamation lawsuit filed by former SU ball boys Michael Lang and Bobby Davis on Aug. 6. The terms of the settlement were not released.

Davis and Lang accused former SU associate men’s basketball coach

Bernie Fine of molesting them while they were ball boys at the university. SU fired Bernie Fine on Nov. 27, 2011. He was not charged after an almost yearlong federal investigation and has denied all wrongdoing.

Boeheim called Davis and Lang liars who were out to get money, which led to the lawsuit.

Veteran-focused medical school:

SU is exploring the idea of creating a veteran-focused medical school. The idea comes from Chancellor Kent Syverud’s call in his inauguration address to again make SU a leader in veterans’ affairs. It also aligns with Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Upstate Revitalization Initiative, which calls for “big ideas” to identify ways to boost economic development. SU has created a faculty advisory group, chaired by University Professor Sean O’Keefe, to further look into the idea.

Administrative changes:

Mark Coyle was named as SU’s new director of athletics on June 19. Coyle comes to SU from Boise State University where he was also the athletics director. Coyle has made a few personnel moves in his close to two months on the job, the most notable being the appointment of John Cunningham — who served as the senior associate athletics director for external relations and executive director for NCAA Compliance at Boise State — as deputy athletics director for administration.

SU appointed Robert Maldonado as the university’s chief of public safety on June 12. Maldonado had served as director of campus safety at Nazareth College since 2006.

Hendricks Chapel Dean Tiffany Steinwert, who had served in that role since 2010, left SU for Wellesley College in mid-August. Samuel Clemence, the Meredith professor emeritus of civil and environmental engineering, was named interim dean.

Chancellor Kent Syverud appointed Candace Campbell Jackson to the position of vice president and chief of staff on July 16. Jackson previously served as the vice president for student success and vice provost for academic success at the University of Akron. Syverud’s former chief of staff — Hoang-Anh Tran — has returned to Kansas City, Missouri in order to purse new opportunities.

SU appointed Aaron Hodukavich as its new Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator in early July. A search for a Chief Equal Opportunity Officer is also underway and Sheila Johnson-Willis — the current director of equal opportunity and inclusion — has been appointed interim Chief Equal Opportunity Officer and Title IX Officer.

Pete Sala, who served as the interim athletics director for about three months, was named as Syracuse’s vice president and chief campus facilities officer on June 24. Outside of still overseeing all Carrier Dome operations, Sala will now also oversee Campus Planning, Design and Construction, Business and Facilities Maintenance Services, Physical Plant, Housing and Food Services Maintenance and Energy Systems and Sustainability Management.

Hannah Arterian, the longest-tenured dean at SU, announced on June 15 that she is stepping down from her position as dean of the College of Law. She served as the law school dean for 13 years. William Banks, a board of advisers distinguished professor of law and founding director of the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism at the College of Law, was named interim dean.

David Seaman was selected as the dean of the SU Libraries on June 8. Seaman previously served as the associate librarian for information management at Dartmouth College.

Princeton Review Ranking:

The Princeton Review ranked SU as the No. 5 party school in the U.S., which is down from the university’s No. 1 ranking last year. SU had the second-highest ranking among private universities, trailing Bucknell.

Odds and Ends:

Former Student Association President and SU alumna Allie Curtis was crowned Miss Rhode Island on May 30. She will compete to become Miss America on Sept. 13.

The city of Syracuse is removing the floating parking lane on Waverly Avenue near Bird Library.

SU announced the completion of the Academic Strategic Plan in late July. The plan is part of Chancellor Kent Syverud’s Fast Forward initiative and will be used to “serve as a strategic roadmap to guide priorities and institutional decision making in the coming years.”

SU offered a buyout program to staff members whose age and years of service combined is 65 or larger. The buyout offer expired on Aug. 5 and had the intention of cutting costs across the university.

New York State passed comprehensive sexual assault legislation making it the second state in the country to have an affirmative consent law. The “Enough is Enough” legislation defines affirmative consent as a “knowing, voluntary and mutual decision among all participants to engage in sexual activity.” The law affects both public and private higher education institutions.

Published on August 26, 2015 at 12:05 am

Contact Justin: jmatting@syr.edu | @jmattingly306