Abigail Ramirez is a sophomore journalism major at MU. She is an opinions editor for The Maneater.

TRIGGER WARNING: This column contains topics regarding sexual assault, hazing and drugging.

My friend group is full of independent, strong women more than capable of standing up for themselves. Despite this, we never let each other walk alone at night. We always preface going to parties with “be safe,” before “have fun.” Trusting each other to make good decisions was never the problem; we didn’t trust other people to treat us fairly.

Calling last school year a stressful time to be at MU is a drastic understatement. Between the magnificent amounts of snow for mid-Missouri and several shootings downtown, the student body was definitely thrown for a whirl both semesters. While the sickening incidents that occurred in Greek life are past us, such as sexual assaults, drugging and dangerous hazing, they still continue to stain our school’s reputation.

Heading into the new school year, the MU student body must see reform in the university’s Greek system.

First and foremost, it’s important to make one thing clear: Not all fraternities and sororities are bad. There are plenty of positive things that result from Greek life: friendships, service and spirit. This column does not target them. Rather, this column targets the members of Greek Life who continue to drug, sexually assault and harm members of this university.

Asafer school year is not too much to ask. To most, it is common sense to not harm others in horrific, traumatic ways. It’s choosing kindness over reputation and logic over peer pressure. Remember, you’re supposed to be paying thousands of dollars for friendship, service and unity, not to make unhealthy and disrespectful choices for yourself and others.

Fraternity culture reflects the toxic traits of masculinity — peer pressure, confrontation and abuse — just as sororities can bring out jealousy, pressure and comparison. While specific acts of abuse are committed by one perpetrator or a certain group, these systemic issues are results of institutional failures in MU’s Greek system and administration.

This year, students must actively make choices that work against the system created and abided by generations of students. Fraternity leaders must actively police and punish members who harm others. Sorority leaders must encourage an inclusive, supportive environment as opposed to a plastic, social media-driven space. It’s easy to promote decency, but enforcing it is a whole other story.

While the faculty’s end of the deal is a little more complex, they are not exempt from doing the same to help the student body. Despite students’ efforts and protests, many wrongdoings continued across campus last year. MU administration failed to address these issues and properly punish those who committed such actions.

Even after students protested against sexual assault when a case was reported to the MU Police Department, school police and administration did nothing to prevent future occurances. Despite the university’s “zero-tolerance” hazing policy, one of MU’s freshman students, Daniel Santulli, was still hazed to the point of unconsciousness.

The people who committed and continue to commit these actions still roam campus because the administration failed to discipline and punish them.

This must change.

Accepting the problem is the first step. Once that’s done, it’s time to get to work. If we want to reform our campus into a safer, more enjoyable place, both students and administrators must make an effort to keep each other in check.