_Regan Huston is a freshman journalism major at MU. She is an opinion columnist that writes about student politics for The Maneater._
Students, including myself, often find themselves complaining or concerned about the social well-being of our school, but how often do we put ourselves out there in order to make a difference? MU recently distributed a climate survey, and the lack of participation falls on us, the students.
The survey was heavily promoted by the Missouri Students Association and even came with multiple incentives, such as gift cards, iPads and free parking for a year. But, even these did not jump start enthusiasm throughout the student body, and that’s unacceptable. Two days before the deadline, only 7,344 students had participated, which is a very small fraction of the total student body.
This statistic is very upsetting because the atmosphere of our campus truly does rely on what we’re willing to give. The lack of responsibility shown by those that brushed this survey off as unimportant is concerning.
Life gets busy and maybe you don’t feel the importance of yet another survey you have to take, but at what point does that excuse lose its clout? I truly do believe that in order to see a change, we have to be that change. No campus is perfect, but we can do better. We can do better by closely examining ourselves. Although the climate survey has been an ongoing initiative since 2001, MU feels that progress, “requires the commitment and engagement of the entire MU community,” according to the campus climate survey page on MU’s website. This means that our participation numbers must increase to get the most out of the survey.
Skeptics may look at this survey and doubt it will actually make a difference. What influence does a questionnaire have on us, anyway? But that’s missing the bigger picture. The bigger picture is not just answering a few questions and then going about your day. It’s understanding that the issues being asked about exist on this campus and in the real world. That acknowledgment is the first step in finding a solution. In ignoring the university’s initiative to get your input, you are saying that social issues are not important enough for your attention.
We have to understand that just because an issue may not be apparent to us personally does not mean it’s nonexistent. Become aware of the social stigmas at MU and partake in university initiatives in order to foster a better environment. If we all just sit around and wait for somebody else to give their input, we can’t better our learning environment.
