At the Carleton Student Association Senate tonight, senators struggled with the implications of the Campus Climate Survey, and wondered out loud what the next step was. The results confirmed that racism, sexism, elitism and heterosexism are definitely problems on campus.

The survey also showed students know little about CSA and don’t believe it is addresssing the issues of equity and justice on campus. This is an issue that CSA must address, survey showed that the vast majority of harassment on campus is by students, against students.

How should the CSA respond when 300 students report that they are the victims of harassment?

There is no clear line of action. CSA is full of student leaders, but this doesn’t imbue them with the ability to lead the whole campus. There is a fundamental lack of discussion about Carleton specific issues.

The survey recommended mandatory First Year classes focusing critically on minority issues, but students have been lobbying for this requirement for years. CSA sometimes holds Townhall Meetings in an effort to involve the wider community, but they are inevitably met with low turnout.

Hopefully the CSA can organize further discussion about the discrimination on campus, and publicize some of the less known results of the survey. All over campus I hear, “Why did we spend so much money on that survey?” which is absolutely the worst thing someone could take away from results.