In the last month, The Miami Student has featured numerous Letters to the Editor, column pieces (mine included), editorials and a front page story, all covering sexual assault at Miami.
As of this writing, not one Letter to the Editor has come in from the Miami administration, whether from the top with President Hodge or those likely to be more in-the-know since they're directly dealing with sexual assault, Rebecca Getson or Susan Vaughn.
I bring this to attention not for personal reasons. If I wanted, I'm sure I could get a meeting with one of them and I'd be thankful for the opportunity. Rather, the seriousness of the sexual assault issue demands honest, public dialogue and there's no better university platform than The Miami Student.
Right now, the dialogue is a one-way street with members of the student body and those affiliated doing all of the talking. Yes, Hodge and Vaughn offered quotes, respectively, in The Student's front page story, but that's not sufficient.
Hodge's one quote amounted to, "Gee golly, this sure is a hard issue!" and the student body deserves more. Not one quote. Not a 140-character Tweet. Not a vague email. And please, don't announce another task force.
Moreover, where is ASG on this? Their second mission statement is, "We're here to serve as the student voice to university administration." A recently published article detailed ASG candidates' platform, which actually involved some interesting ideas, but there was nothing on sexual assault.
It's dubious at best how much influence ASG could really have in being a voice to the administration, especially on this issue, but at least make an effort.
Brett Milam
milambc@miamioh.edu