Our semester in review

Every semester, Opinion has plenty to talk about. The spring semester of the 2013-2014 academic school year saw the continuation of changes that have been in motion not only since the fall, but since the beginning of a decade that has continued to bring about changes both on campus and across the country.

Here at IU, we saw the continued inaction of a student government so out of touch and so oblivious to what actually matters to the average undergraduate that taking the IU Student Association to task has essentially amounted to one of the outstanding responsibilities of the Indiana Daily Student Editorial Board.

The issue of substantive student input and student voice in the University took center stage this semester, including in what eventually amounted to another non-competitive IUSA election. Despite this, the incoming administration is positioned to push for IUSA to actually do what it’s supposed to be doing — represent students.

The push will be needed in the face of significant changes being pushed on the campus by the administration, as outlined by another highlight of this semester, the Campus Strategic Plan. The majority of it is little more than feel-good rhetoric and opaque wording.

But the reason why it has come to matter and it will continue to do so is because, for better or worse, it presents the direction our University is heading.

Some other primary semester highlights for the Editorial Board include the significant donation to Assembly Hall and the necessary revitalization of other more important parts of our campus, IU’s timely and necessary push for gender-blind housing in our dormitories, campus safety after the Purdue shooting, President Michael McRobbie’s unnecessary withdrawal of the University from the American Studies Association, IU’s misguided expansion of its smoking ban, the raising of the University’s minimum wage and the possible deportation of IU junior Qun Sunn for owning a business.

In keeping with national trends, this semester we tackled some of the more troubling parts of greek life both on and off IU’s campus.

The dangerous cultures that exist in some chapters are issues that are increasingly receiving national attention. But likewise, greek chapters are also addressing these issues and leading the charge in how we talk about fraternities and sororities, which we hope will lead to more progressive greek systems that college students deserve.

Sexual assault also finally became a national conversation during the course of this semester.

From the White House to our campus, we’ve witnessed the transformation of rape from a hushed conversation in public discourse to a roaring national campaign demanding action. IU currently a faces a probe from the Department of Education in how it handles sexual assaults. Unwittingly or not, we’ve become part of that conversation, which we hope can lead our University to even better ways to address one of the most perverse issues on college campuses.

Nationally, we continued to see and be part of the ongoing social change the country is undergoing. From the inevitability of marriage equality to the beginning of the end of marijuana prohibition to setbacks for affirmative action, 2014 is turning out to be quite the year for some of the biggest issues we care about.

This semester might be ending, but we’re bound to continue to see and feel the aftermath of what’s happened during its course.

opinion@idsnews.com
@ids_opinion