Has the University of Oregon done enough to protect students on campus? The simple answer to this loaded question is no, the University of Oregon has not done its part to protect students. As unfortunate as it is to believe, our beloved institution has a history of ignoring issues of sexual violence on our campus. Student safety has been compromised.

The University Senate hosted a forum on Wednesday, May 21, during which they encouraged the campus community to come and speak up about what was most troubling to them — and how we can come together to fix it. In the email sent out to faculty and students, the stated objective was to, “Provide a safe environment for respectful dialogue among all members of our campus community.”

With every seat filled, and people lining the walls in a medium-sized lecture hall in Lawrence, tensions were high. Members of our community are pissed off, and rightfully so. Sexual assaults on college campuses aren’t a new epidemic coming out only to shock and irritate administrators. But our university has not been doing everything that they can to prevent sexual assaults on our campus.

The 2013 Annual Campus Security and Fire Safety Report had some deeply troubling statistics. On page 55 of a 58-page document, the number of “forcible sexual offenses” on campus has gone up by 10 percent in the past two years. It went from seven in 2010, to 17 in 2013. And those are just the assaults that have been reported.

This forum was necessary, and a step in the right direction for ending sexual violence at the University of Oregon. Robert Kyr, the Senate President moderated the event. He encouraged everyone to send their thoughts and ideas to the University Senate because they need and want the input. “It’s our University” Kyr reiterated multiple times during the forum.

It is ours, as students and community members it is our responsibility to maintain the kind of atmosphere that is safe and inviting. But how effective can our efforts be if we have an administration that sits on their hands when something difficult comes their way?

Carol Stabile was the first member of the audience to stand behind the microphone and speak. She is a professor in the School of Journalism and Communication and Department of Women’s and Gender Studies, as well as the Director of the Center for the Study of Women in Society. Stabile recently led the rally on Johnson Hall’s steps. She spoke of her ongoing frustration with administration’s lack of properly managing sexual assault cases at the UO.

“We are not all ‘part of the problem’,” Stable said. “We are not going to move forward by addressing whistle blowers as the problem. How can we move forward if the administration is ignoring the problem?” Stabile’s frustration comes from years of letters sent to the administration without proper responses. Safety for students on campus is something Stabile has been working on since she began her work here.

Men and women from all over campus stood to speak. Professors, undergraduate students, graduate students and campus employees stood in solidarity and advocated to make sure that sexual violence at the UO stops being an issue.

University of Oregon professor of psychology Jennifer Freyd, who like Stabile, participated in last week’s rally at Johnson Hall, also spoke during the forum. She mentioned that she has been researching sexual violence for over 20 years, and has felt let down by the University.

Freyd mentioned that she has had several conversations over the years with the administration about sexual assault on our campus, and although she was told all of the right things — there was never any follow-through.

“Admin has not come through with actual actions. It is now our duty, to not forget the history that brought us here, it is our duty to carry that history in our hearts and in our mind as we move forward,” Said Freyd.

This is bigger than one case. This is bigger than one administrative mistake. This is bigger than one University. It is time for the administration to actually step up for victims of sexual assault. We need to look at every assault, not ignore any detail of any case, and come to a proper solution that no longer condones sexual violence on our campus.