After months of protests, meetings, social media strings, an open forum and heightened awareness to the tensions and issues students of color have faced, a positive light on the larger issue of racism in this country has shown on Iowa State.

Cooperation.

It’s no doubt events of racism, bigotry and systematic oppression have occurred on this campus for decades; however, the peaceful protest turned poster-ripping fiasco Sept. 12 at the CyHawk game brought the issues to the forefront of a campus-wide discussion that engaged students, faculty and administration alike.

Students of color immediately responded and demanded the university listen to them. Less than three weeks later, the open forum that filled the Great Hall provided them that chance.

The student panelists held nothing back when speaking at the forum to President Steven Leath, Senior Vice President for Student Affairs Tom Hill and Dean of Students Pamela Anthony. They shared glimpses of their personal encounters with racism and listed suggestions and demands to improve how it’s handled on campus.

Protests, columns, meetings, letters to the editor, criticism of university administration and more filled the following two months; similar events occupied college campuses around the country.

Iowa State is a microcosm of a larger issue of racism around the country, but how we have handled it should be a model.

The forum opened up a bottle of carbonated frustration that’s been bubbling for years. The students talked; the university listened. They discussed and now administration is about to do what all the protests have been asking for: act.

Formerly known as Students Against Bigotry, Latinos United for a Change, LUCHA, released a statement Monday in response to a letter President Leath sent out to the university Nov. 20.

Leath’s letter provided a time line of events and an action plan the university has taken and plans to take, including appointing a multicultural liaison police officer, an expansion to the safety escort services and relocating multicultural artwork to be more prominent on campus. 

So, applause to the university for acting quickly and openly. By publicly recognizing he doesn’t share the same viewpoint, background or experiences as students of color, Leath and administration helped create an environment where students could share their concerns and provide suggestions. And kudos to making the process and steps public, as it’s important for a campus to know the actions of its administration.

And applause to the students who have led the charge to change. Without their bringing issues and suggestions to light and continuously working to make them heard and understood, we wouldn’t be having the discussion, and the situation would not be improving.