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While Syracuse University freshman Dominic Zlupko sat in the first COM 100 class of the semester, one of the teaching assistants suddenly interrupted instruction to announce Chancellor Kent Syverud would step down in 2026.

Zlupko was shocked, he said. The chancellor who had just welcomed thousands of undergraduates to SU the week prior would not be the one to lead the university for the rest of their college years.

“As a freshman, I didn’t really get the chance to know what he was like as a chancellor, so I was just sort of taken aback, because he had just given the speech at convocation,” Zluko said. “It was honestly just a lot of shock and confusion as to why he would step down at this point in a school year, as we’re just getting started.”

Syverud, who has served as SU’s chancellor and president for 12 years, announced his June 2026 departure from the university Tuesday afternoon — the second day of classes for the fall 2025 semester —via a campus-wide email.

“After much reflection, I’ve decided that I will step down as chancellor and president of Syracuse University,” he wrote. “The opportunity to lead Syracuse University has been both humbling and profoundly meaningful, and in many ways like coming home.”

The announcement immediately sparked mixed reactions among current students and the Syracuse community.

Multiple local politicians, including Rep. John Mannion, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon, took to social media to reflect on Syverud’s tenure and thank him for his accomplishments while in the role.

“Chancellor Syverud’s legacy includes making Syracuse University a model for serving veterans and students with disabilities,” Mannion wrote in a statement posted to Instagram. “As a State Senator, I was proud to support these efforts, and in Congress I remain committed to making them even stronger in the years ahead.”

Syracuse women’s basketball coach Felisha Legette-Jack, men’s soccer coach Ian McIntyre and the Board of Trustees also praised his leadership.

Several students told The D.O. they thought Syverud’s decision may be linked to recent backlash over his response to President Donald Trump’s administration policies affecting higher education.

In April, many criticized Syverud for not signing a public letter denouncing Trump for his “unprecedented government overreach … endangering American higher education,” alongside over 200 university officials.

“I wasn’t a huge fan of his actions regarding not signing the letter, but I think it shows a lack of backbone, and I hope our next chancellor embodies more of those qualities,” said Kate McVicar, a sophomore studying international relations.

Last month, many condemned Syverud after SU announced it would close its Office of Diversity and Inclusion and create a People and Culture unit within the Office of Human Resources in its place. The change followed a national trend of universities cutting diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility programs after Trump’s Jan. 21 executive order aimed at ending them.

Isabella Ferrandiz, a junior studying sports analytics, said she believed the chancellor stepped down because of reactions to the ODI’s dismantling.

“Maybe the backlash is making him want to step down, because I know a lot of people didn’t like that decision,” Ferrandiz said.

Despite not agreeing with the decision to remove the ODI, Ferrandiz said she believes the chancellor is “very present” and has done a lot to connect with students. She said she’d like to see a current SU faculty member or administrator, such as Vice President of People and Culture Mary Grace Almandrez, as a potential replacement.

Criticism of Syverud has followed him for much of his tenure. In late 2019, NotAgainSU leaders — who were protesting the university’s response to a pattern of racist incidents on campus — listed Syverud’s resignation as one of their demands. A 2019 petition calling for the chancellor to step down has 2,591 signatures as of Aug. 28, 2025.

“He didn’t really handle that correctly, and it took a while for him to get back into order for this school,” Abby Thurmon, a junior majoring in theatre design and technology, said about Syverud’s response to these racial incidents and subsequent protests.

Chase Gaewski | Daily Orange File Photo

Several Syracuse University students said they thought Chancellor Kent Syverud’s, pictured in 2013, decision to leave the university was due to recent backlash over his handling of the Trump administration’s actions against higher education institutions.

During that fall, Syverud ultimately agreed to almost all of the student demands after days of protests and sit-ins, though organizers continued to call for his resignation.

“As Chancellor, I take very seriously these immediate priorities, and commit to promptly achieving them, as well as to supporting the other important measures in the responses,” Syverud said in a November 2019 campus-wide email.

Syverud also faced scrutiny during 2024’s Gaza Solidarity Encampment, when demonstrators pushed the university to support a ceasefire and disclose its investments tied to Israel. Protesters also objected after his administration threatened conduct referrals for those who remained on Shaw Quadrangle.

Roman Saladino, an iSchool PhD student who was an undergraduate at the time, said he believed Syverud tried “to at least be active when it comes to these situations,” especially amid broader political tension and the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Saladino said as times become more “turbulent,” he hopes the new chancellor will be able to adapt.

In the SU Board of Trustees’ campus-wide email on Syverud’s announcement, they wrote, “leading a university today is not for the faint of heart.”

Syverud’s tenure also included several infrastructural improvements to the university, including new partnerships and programs, which several students commended him for. Under Syverud’s leadership, the university established InclusiveU, the Office of Military and Veteran Affairs and a first-of-its-kind Esports program, among other initiatives.

Nick Tomassi, a business analytics junior, said he applauds Syverud for his efforts to create more modern housing options on campus. So far, SU has established two new dormitories — Orange Hall and Milton Hall — since Syverud began as chancellor. Three more are currently under construction.

Priyanka Anoop, a sophomore psychology major, pointed to Syverud’s deal with Micron Technology and the creation of the Esports space in Schine Student Center as examples of investments that stood out to her during her time so far at SU.

Other students said they weren’t very familiar with Syverud’s role in day-to-day campus life, which left them unfazed by the announcement. One sophomore, Alexander Morales, said he didn’t have anything negative to say about Syverud’s time as chancellor.

“I was indifferent about it at first. I didn’t really have an opinion about it, and then seeing some of the discourse that went on about that, I was like, ‘Okay, I guess it could be a good thing that he stepped down,’” senior economics student Jeffrey Elekwachi said.

Others looked ahead to what SU’s next leader might bring.

In Syverud’s Aug. 26 statement, he wrote that the Board of Trustees would select the next chancellor over the next year.

“I just hope we get somebody who has a good head on their shoulders. Syracuse is everything and more,” Morales said. “I feel like, if anything, we should just bring somebody who’s gonna keep it like that.”

News Editor Delia Rangel and Asst. News Editors Brenne Sheehan and Chloe Fox Rinka contributed reporting to this article.

Published on August 28, 2025 at 1:37 am