The fight to make sexual assault a relevant issue on college campuses continues each year. Issues ranging from sexual misconduct to stalking are continually discussed, but students rarely see more than articles and emails. I believe the University of Iowa has begun to see that students should be the main party involved. While faculty task forces and data are relevant to changing the campus climate, without including students, those actions may not make the changes the university wants to see.

I am incredibly honored to be running with the UI Student Government ticket Bridge UI. Instead of just conversations, Bridge UI officials have planned to meet the needs of students. The biggest issue students face is where to take their concerns and feedback, but Bridge UI is creating the connection between the university and students.Feedback is an essential part of the Bridge UI mission and goal. Every action we take is on behalf of students, and we want to create easy access to our organization. No new initiatives would be proposed or action taken without students bringing them to the attention of student government.

Sexual assault does not discriminate. It is our job to create opportunities for conversations in minority groups to meet their needs, ones we ourselves might not immediately recognize. It is our job to make these conversations accessible and create steps to follow. It is our job to follow through and mean what we say; sexual assault will not be eliminated from our campus through silence. But this job cannot be taken by just one individual. Each student is responsible for speaking out about sexual assault. This means changing bystander intervention from a concept to the norm.

Bridge UI encourages all students to provide ideas and feedback during the upcoming campaign. Sexual assault is happening on the UI campus. Sexual assault is just one of the many issues that Bridge UI will work on. The voice of each student is more important than ever, and I believe that Bridge UI is the organization that will empower those voices.

— Lily Burns

is running for the position of UISG senator on the Bridge UI ticket.