It is no secret diversity has become a hot-button issue on our campus this year.

Especially in the last few weeks, when readers pick up the newspaper each morning, more often than not it seems they are likely to see content about diversity on our campus. The Daily’s coverage of this complex topic, like the diversity issues themselves, seems almost endless.

The Daily published an article last week that examined the demographics of the Student Government Senate and compared it to those of Iowa State. While the numbers for both ethnicity and gender do not match up, running for office is a simple way that students can make a direct impact — making student leadership at the university more diverse and inclusive.

Student Government itself is not necessarily to be blamed for its lack of diversity. If ISU students feel passionately enough that they are underrepresented in Student Government, why don’t they themselves run for a position on the Senate? The responsibility to make our government more diverse and inclusive also falls on the student body itself, to both run for office and vote for the senators it feels will best represent Iowa State’s population.

There are barriers for underrepresented students that the majority of the student body may not be aware of. To have a diverse Student Government, we need to talk about why it is the way it is. Student Government must be reaching out to more people, but students must also take advantage of their opportunity to make a difference on this campus.

Of the 35 newly sworn-in senators, 62 percent of them are white men, while 17 percent are men of color. This number is much different than those that make up the ISU student population as a whole. More than 23 percent of ISU students are members of the international or other underrepresented populations.

The discrepancies in representation are even more shocking when it comes to gender. While 43 percent of ISU students are women, only 14 percent of Student Government senators are women — this equals five senators.

These numbers are hard to accept. After all, these are the students in charge of allocating millions of dollars to student organizations as well as making recommendations to administration. How can we expect the Senate to do everything in the best way possible if it is not representative of our students?

Part of the solution to this problem should include more women, students of color, international students and other underrepresented groups running for office. ISU students can easily have an effect on our government if they simply decide to participate.

The responsibility to diversify our Student Government rests on the shoulders of the Senate, yes, but also the students who have the ability to run for these positions and make their voices heard. It seems to be a logical step to make our governing student body a diverse place.

Note: Points of clarification have been added to the original version of this editorial.