SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Syracuse University students in the engineering school, whose peers were responsible for a racist, offensive video that surfaced this week, took their frustrations about the school's culture directly to the dean.

"I'm not paying $60,000 a year to get abused," one student said at an open forum Thursday night.

She described being the only woman, person of color, and person of her religion in a class in which she felt a professor was hostile toward her.

She and other students said they were frustrated over increases to the university's tuition -- the total cost of attendance goes up to over $70,000 in the fall -- while issues like racism and sexism run rampant.

Those concerns, particularly about SU's College of Engineering & Computer Science, were laid bare after a professional engineering fraternity was suspended Wednesday. Members of the media were invited to observe a forum, but asked not to record the meeting, which attracted about 75 people.

A video published by The Daily Orange student newspaper showed members of the engineering school and fraternity making an oath: "I solemnly swear to always have hatred in my heart for n*ggers, sp*cs and most importantly the f*ckin' k*kes."

The fraternity, Theta Tau, is a national organization for engineers with dozens of chapters. Syracuse's chapter, which was recognized by the university, is closed to women. It is mostly made up of white students, according to photographs of the group.

The frat's existence, and several other factors, create a hostile culture for women and people of color, students at the school said.

Dean Teresa Dahlberg acknowledged the problem, noting the video made her recognize her own naivety about the persistence of racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination on campus.

The meeting was the first time students and faculty of the engineering school came together after the video surfaced.

Students who attended, mostly women and students of color, said the ordeal made them feel exhausted and it drained their pride in their school.

Many expressed the feeling that the university had ignored previous concerns and was only stepping up now "because some PR nightmare happened."

"So many of these white people on campus are so entitled in how they treat people," one student said. Attendees said white male students, particularly members of fraternities, received preferential treatment at SU by public safety officers and professors.

Dean Dahlberg listened for most of the meeting. When students urged her to speak candidly and from the heart, she described the video as a kind of wake-up call. Dahlberg said she was an introvert and felt awkward trying to find the right words to say.

"I was shattered when I saw the video," she said. "I might be very naive -- I am very naive -- I didn't know that kind of thing existed, here, still today."

Dahlberg proposed six steps the school wanted to implement to address the problems, including required diversity education in introductory classes and the creation of a "diversity council."

The dean faced a tough audience that softened up a bit when she shared her own stories of breaking into the engineering profession as a woman in the '80s.

The forum was emotional, but there were hopeful moments, in which students celebrated faculty members and staff they felt had supported them.

Some students begged faculty and administrators to "put in the hard work" every day to make campus more welcoming -- not just in the aftermath of a scandal.

They said they often feel ignored until a controversy like the frat video strikes.

"At the end of the day, this is happening because that video made it to CNN," senior computer science major Andrew Fowler said.

Many students said they feared similar incidents would continue to be reported and swept under the rug if there was not "proof" or video evidence to back up claims of discrimination.

"The school has to listen to us," one woman said. "They have to believe what we're saying."

Many female students lamented going for semesters without having a female professor or seeing another girl in their engineering classes. Female students also said they were disappointed that an overnight women's retreat at the school had been discontinued.

Several students questioned whether diversity was just a "buzz word" at SU.

Many said they expected the university to have difficulty attracting a diverse student body as a result of recent tuition increases. They asked why SU didn't spend more money recruiting and hiring a diverse faculty.

Students of color said they felt they were accepted at the school just so SU can say it's diverse.

One soft-spoken freshman was tearful as she described feeling like she'd been recruited and accepted to SU to fill a quota of minority students. She said once she'd gotten to Syracuse, she felt all the support that had been promised to her evaporated.

"I feel like I was kind of played," she struggled to say. "We're here, we're chosen to better the college. It's not for me."

Read our continuing coverage of Theta Tau's suspension

Public Affairs Reporter Julie McMahon covers courts, government and other issues affecting taxpayers. She can be reached anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-412-1992