OUR VIEW: If administrators put on forums for sexual misconduct to show students they are valued, then motions to implement change should be top priority, not saving face in front of the eyes of the media.

While the nearly 2-hour forum allowed students to speak and share their concerns, many students feel casted aside and left with unanswered questions. They feel the forum was held to bolster Midwestern’s appearance instead of taking responsibility for this mistreatment of this issue.

The voices selected to speak should empathize with students, not make side comments that take away from the severity of this situation. The entire event felt choreographed and allowed administrators to sidestep and dance around the real answers to the questions students were asking. Students crave straight answers. We want to further an open and honest relationship between administration and the student body that administration members have said we have.

While the American Association of University Women research showed that 89 percent of college campuses in the United State reported zero incidents of rape in 2015, the Bureau of Justice Statistics said 80 percent of student victims don’t report their rape or sexual assault to police. The conversation we are having on campus now clearly defies this statistic as well as the seven sexual assaults that occurred over the last school year.

Through the meeting, though, Keith Lamb, vice president for student affairs and enrollment management, said administrators will hire a sole Title IX coordinator that is aptly trained and has worked at a university level.

None of this is an overnight fix, however. Students have to feel confident the administration will protect each individual student, and as evident of the forum, students feel neglected. Administration cannot simply slap a bandaid on this issue and hope it goes away.

Administrators will have to work with students and organizations to be more intentional with any allegations and reports so students can be confident in and support the university.