The administration of Iowa State University released a survey for the student body on Wednesday to assess if students view sexual assault as a problem on campus as well as how the university handles such incidents. The survey, which only takes 20 minutes to complete, also gives students valuable information regarding on-campus as well as off-campus resources to contact in case of or when working through the trauma of a sexual assault.

While it is only too easy to ignore the survey, just like students tend to look past their course evalutations, the importance of filling out this particular survey is paramount to the safety of all students of Iowa State’s campus.

To put it simply, this survey is not a joke. Sexual assault in any form is a serious issue on college campuses and is a particularly pertinent issue here at Iowa State given the fact that the university is under federal investigation for the manner in which it handles sexual assault cases and investigations.

The sexual assault climate survey represents the administration’s honest efforts to gauge the feelings of the student body regarding an issue that each and every one of us must take seriously and to an extent, personally.

We should all take it personally because though a majority of students when asked about their perceived personal safety on campus answer that they feel very secure, there is a student who clicks on the opposite box.

Though many of us may not experience a sexual assault or perhaps (hopefully) have any connection to an assault whatsoever, there are far too many students who don’t feel safe at school, who don’t trust the university to do the right thing when investigating their assault or don’t know the resources to contact to get help following an assault and there are far too many students who will say nothing for fear that no one will believe or be able to help them.

Every student at Iowa State deserves to feel safe on campus. Every student deserves to have their concerns regarding a very serious issue heard. And no student should ever feel helpless during what could be the most difficult process of their lives. This survey aims to make the entire university safer and thereby all students more able to truly enjoy their college experience. Taking 20 minutes out of your day to honestly assess your feelings about sexual assault at Iowa State and anonymously answer some very simple questions is the least all of us can do to make sure sexual assaults are minimized, and hopefully someday erased, from Iowa State’s campus.