Sexual assault is never easy to talk about. I was painfully aware of this as I approached the campus roundtable on sexual assault this past week. Nevertheless, its vitally important to talk about issues such as these to make our campus safer for everyone who lives here. I had very mixed feelings on the campus roundtable.

The roundtable began with a question and answer session from President Elizabeth Garrett. The questions were not all related to sexual assault at this point in the event. It was kind of interesting to see her interacting with students and answering questions. Despite that, I was underwhelmed by her responses.

One in particular stood out to me. A student asked about the growing financial difficulties many students face to go here. This is an issue that deeply resonates with me, as I’m sure it does with many students. President Garrett handled this question in what I believe was a very dismissive manner. She mentioned that tuition will never be going down and that most students graduate with what she  believes to be a manageable amount of debt. To me, this is an almost laughable sentiment. I bet debt looks a lot more manageable from her side of the desk than it does from mine.

Despite what I view as a less than tactful response, the question and answer session was still very interesting. I got to see our new president interacting with students in a way that I had not seen before.

After this portion of the event, President Garrett left and Vice President Ryan Lombardi was left to participate in the roundtable on campus sexual assault. President Garrett said before she left that even one instance of sexual assault on campus was too many. I couldn’t agree more. I do wonder though if even one question on sexual assault was to many for her to answer at the event.

The roundtable began with VP Lombardi explaining that since the administration was meeting every legal mandate for eliminating sexual assault, it was really up to the students to work to change the climate on campus. Again, the word “underwhelming” crept into my mind. After this explanation, VP Lombardi was silent for the rest of the event.

Luckily, the student activists of Cornell rallied to the occasion. There were countless suggestions on ways to make this campus safer. Individuals shared personal stories about their struggles. Shortcomings on the universities part were pointed out. Several people expressed ways  in which they were already working to improve the campus climate. The strong reaction on behalf of the students was by far my favorite part of the event.

I’m very glad I went to this event. As a student activist, I have a lot to learn from my peers. As a student leader, I grew a lot from their example. As a student, I feel a lot safer knowing that they’re working to make this campus better. Though the administration fell a little short of my hopes, my fellow Cornellians made the roundtable worthwhile.