JESSICA MEDITZ
Editor in Chief
For a change at Fredonia, numbers went down instead of up.
This is not in reference to cases of COVID-19, but to the number of members present in Fredonia’s class of 2021 Facebook group.
Students reported seeing the amount of members plummet from over 400 to zero in a matter of minutes.
Then, the Facebook group was completely deleted and invisible to any user on Facebook.
Class Facebook groups are created “as a way for incoming students to connect,” according to Cory Bezek, Executive Director of Enrollment Services and the admin of the page.
Although this may have been the initial intended purpose of the groups, many students have been active in them as recently as yesterday.
The unofficial intended purpose of the groups is for students in their respective class years to stay updated on a variety of things and have a way to contact their peers.
In reference to the now-deleted class of 2020 page, Maci Cosmore, a 2020 graduate said: “It’s really [irritating] though because [an alumna] was still using it to post updates. Caitlin Sweet also posted the other day onto it for people to come visit her art exhibit.”
It appears that the deletion of these pages all occurred on the same day with no forewarning; this raised concerns for many students.
A number of students reached out to Bezek via email with their questions.
He replied to them with what looks like a copied and pasted response, which read: “Yes, we are aware of this, as part of the normal cycle for the university, pages get consolidated. The page was created by the Office of Admissions as a way for students as part of the class of 2021 to connect. We encourage you all to follow the Official Fredonia Facebook page.”
Despite this claim from admissions, evidence of the consolidation and deletion of past class pages has not been found.
In fact, the class pages from 2014-2017 are still available on Facebook.
Curtis Henry, a Fredonia alumnus, posted in the class of 2017 group on the day this article was written.
“Just gonna point out that the class of 2017 page is still up that I’m a part of,” he wrote. “Absolutely b*llsh*t justification by the Admissions Office/administrative to try and silence the senior class and others where students were voicing their concerns and pointing out the flaws with Fredonia’s COVID plan… this is gaslighting.”
As of late, the class of 2021 page specifically has been used by students to express their disapproval with the administration, and discuss topics such as COVID-19 and other social issues.
The Leader shared a new opinion piece, “How my education became a catch-22” to the group. It points out the flaws in SUNY and Fredonia’s reopening plans, among other things.
Tim Snider, a senior at Fredonia, shared a poster for a Black Lives Matter march they organized.
Shortly after Snider posted, their post was taken down. Not long after that, the entire group disappeared altogether.
Snider said that no one from Fredonia’s administration contacted them before or after the post was removed.
“I did contact someone (who I prefer not to name) from the Intercultural Center to speak about sponsorship or support of any kind,” they said.
“When speaking with this person, I was warned that there might be push back from the school. I was also warned that by following through with this event that I might face repercussions such as expulsion.”
On Aug. 30, at least 100 students participated in a protest titled, “Standing Against Sexual Predators at SUNY Fredonia.”
Justina Eodice, a sophomore at Fredonia and the organizer of the protest, said that she has not received warnings for disciplinary action of any kind.
What’s the difference?
“I understand that we are also in the middle of a global pandemic, but that is not the only reason why Black people are dying,” said Snider.
“I know that this is just some small protest at a school half the size of a parking-lot, but if we can do something to show support for the students of our own community… then why not? I’m also shook at how fragile SUNY Fredonia really is; it only took an article from The Leader and a Facebook event to scare the school in a matter of hours.”
According to Bezek though, this is not the case.
“As part of routine maintenance, we are consolidating Enrollment Services run social media pages to ensure accurate and timely information can be distributed through official channels,” he said.
“In a review of all social media platforms this summer, we had noticed that these pages were mainly serving as marketplaces to buy and sell, which was not the purpose of the group, and [we] didn’t want them done with official capacity.”
Unless he meant a marketplace of ideas, this notion is undeniably false.
While some students have listed class-related items, and others posted inquiries for services such as tutoring, these items were related to student success, and part of a larger trend of students using the groups to collaborate as a community.
“This [Facebook] group has been vital for student success and virtual community building from sharing class materials to organizing student advocacy efforts,” said Derek Sunderland, a senior at Fredonia, in a post on Facebook.
“This justification feels like a haphazard excuse to remove our main form of communication and self-advocacy.”
As of the time of this article, the class of 2022 page was made hidden from search, and students can no longer post in it. However, the class of 2023 page is still functioning and able to post.
According to Bezek, “The class of 2024 page is still active and will be continued to [be] used throughout this academic year and sunset next summer.”
No post options are visible to students on the page, though.
Because other “class of” Facebook groups are in fact still active and untouched, Snider does not feel this response from Admissions was legitimate.
Neither do other Fredonia students.
“Bad move by administration,” said Lylens Lubin, the class of 2021 president in a comment on Facebook.
Another student wrote: “What an awful, stupid and completely unwarranted move. Start a meaningful discussion. Don’t just shut everything down. This was incredibly stupid.”
“Moving forward,” Bezek said, “the ‘class of’ pages run by Enrollment Services will be created and run for a total of two years, one year prior to enrolling in Fredonia and the student’s first year at Fredonia.”
Enrollment Services has yet to address the situation publicly.
UPDATE: Following the publication of this article, Cory Bezek sent out an email to students addressing the situation.
Enrollment Services has reactivated the class Facebook groups and recreated a new class of 2021 page. Students are now able to post in the groups again.
The class pages will remain active for the rest of the fall semester. In the future, class pages will be archived at the start of that respective class’ sophomore year.
There have been reports of students no longer being interested in using school-provided avenues to network and communicate, and starting class pages of their own.