The news of sexual abuse allegations against Bernie Fine hit close to home for some advocacy groups at Syracuse University.

MasculinityU, a group with roots at SU, is a movement to spread knowledge on how to prevent violence and to encourage gender equality among males. The group was founded at SU by Marc Peters and Sacchi Patel, two alumni, in fall 2010.

Rather than attempting to assess who is guilty and who is telling the truth while this scandal continues to rock SU, the group is reaching out to the community to try to find ways to empower one another, Patel said. An interactive segment on MasculinityU’s national blog asks readers to reflect on potentially abusive behaviors and preventative solutions.

‘We are extending an offer to anyone who wants to write a guest blog based on their thoughts and experiences on the Fine situation, why men need to be a part of the work or abuse prevention in general, to submit their piece to us for consideration to be displayed to our readers on an international level,’ Patel said.

Four different accusers have come forward so far to accuse Fine, a former SU associate men’s basketball coach, of sexually abusing them when they were younger. Three of the four have publicly accused him. The Syracuse Police Department opened an investigation into the allegations Nov. 17. Fine was placed on administrative leave by the university shortly after the news broke about the investigations and was fired from the university Nov. 27.

MasculinityU isn’t the only group on the SU campus that works toward preventing sexual violence. A Men’s Issue, with co-presidents Seth Finkelstein and Louis DiFazio, also strives to create an environment free of sexual and gender violence.

The co-presidents said they hope the Fine events do not pass without the SU community learning from it. A Men’s Issue will be using the allegations as a way to educate others on the magnitude of complexity in a situation like this, Finkelstein and DiFazio said.

When situations like this arise, members of A Men’s Issue will normally discuss it during weekly meetings. Generally, members talk about victim blaming and media portrayal. Finkelstein and DiFazio stressed that members of A Men’s Issue take the allegations seriously and support all survivors of abuse.

Patel and Peters formed MasculinityU based off their involvement with advocacy on the SU campus. The two were involved with A Men’s Issue and both men volunteered at the R.A.P.E Center, which is now called The Advocacy Center.

Patel, who completed both his undergraduate and graduate studies at SU, now works as the abuse prevention manager at Battered Women’s Service in New Jersey. Patel spends a lot of time working with men and boys in prevention work. Patel said he found that men do want to talk about issues.

For Patel, talking is how to prevent situations like the Fine scandal. Because people do not talk about abuse, sexism and oppression, they don’t acknowledge that it happens. Once the acknowledgement is there, people need to take advantage of the resources SU has available to learn about the dynamics of abuse. Then there is one final step.

‘Action is key to prevention,’ he said. ‘Make a pledge to yourself that you will never excuse, commit and remain silent about abuse.’

medelane@syr.edu