Sexual assault student town hall

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Sexual assault has been a serious issue on Michigan State’s campus, to handle the issue head on students held a sexual assault town hall.

Kelsey Wiley, senior, feels the university has not done enough to deal with important issues that matter to students.

“You know there is the perception that institutions are not protecting our students they’re not looking out for us they’re looking out for profit,” Wiley said.

Aaron Stephens, junior, organized a sexual assault student town hall to address perceptions. 

“To make sure that the people making the decisions especially at this university are in touch with what is actually happening on campus,” Stephens said. 

Although, MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon said the university is making strides when dealing with sexual assault. In a detailed email, she quoted a survey by the Association of American Universities saying Michigan State, along with other universities, is making significant improvements and devoting substantial resources for a safe campus.

During the town hall students were allowed to address their experiences and issues with how things are being handled with MSU Student Affairs Vice President Denise Maybank and others.

While the discussion took place reporters were not allowed in the room to provide students privacy.

Stephens said having the panel with the faces of the university that handle this issue was helpful.

“These are the people that work on these issues, they might be in the articles, but they’re here,” Stephens said. “They’re sitting and they’re listening to the students and they’re answering the hard questions and there were a lot of hard questions at this panel and I do appreciate that they were here and willing to help.”

By the end of the event, students like Kelsey Wiley felt reassured.

“It was very clear here that as an institution that they are holding themselves accountable by wanting to make sure our safety is the most important thing,” Wiley said. 

Dealing with these issues is never easy, but for both the students and the university, they are hopeful that meetings like this will help.

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