Syracuse University’s lack of action in regards to the Advocacy Center this past month is unacceptable. The university should have made it a higher priority to directly address students’ concerns. Moving forward, SU should establish a listening meeting with students as soon as possible, or communicate with students why there is a delay in action.

Wednesday’s “Rally for Consent” proved that the Advocacy Center is still an extremely important issue for students. And yet — almost a month into this semester —there have been no listening meetings since the two that took place during the summer.

The university has not completely ignored the issue. On Sept. 5, Chancellor Kent Syverud appointed 14 members to the Chancellor’s Workgroup on Sexual Violence, Prevention, Education and Advocacy. The workgroup was asked to create a report to point out gaps in service and support in the structure for sexual assault resources on campus. However, the university’s lack of open discussion with students comes off as apathetic to students’ concerns.

It wasn’t until students marched into the chancellor’s office that Rebecca Reed Kranowitz, senior vice president and dean of the Division of Student Affairs, informed students that the workgroup was in the process of forming a third listening meeting. Until the protest, the university had not communicated with students when there would be another meeting to discuss concerns over the Advocacy Center, or that the workgroup would be planning it.  SU must be more transparent with its students when addressing important campus issues.

The upcoming town hall meeting regarding Syverud’s strategic plan also begs the question as to why the university still hasn’t planned a forum for students to talk about their opinions on the Advocacy Center closing. It reflects poorly on the university that it was able to plan this question-and-answer session with Syverud, but there has been no listening meeting scheduled for those concerned about the Advocacy Center.

It shouldn’t take a protest to get the attention of university administration. SU should prioritize listening and responding to students’ opinions and it must follow through on its plan to hold the listening meetings. If there can be an open discussion between students and the administration, then the entire university community can move forward on this issue together.