By Marcelle Meyer

After a semester of students demanding changes to major university operations, like the Office of Student Life and Community Development and Residential Life, Fordham University has finally made some real progress. In response to legitimate concerns about the treatment of Resident Assistants and women’s health on campus, the university has given OSLCD the new moniker “Office of Student Involvement.” It seems that change is in the air at Fordham.

This brings back memories of last year, when the security office became the Office of Public Safety in order to eliminate the harsh ideas brought up by the word “security.”

Perhaps that is the purpose of this new change, but I am left thinking that a rose by any other name will still not help the Campus Activity Board efficiently plan a fun Spring Weekend.

The tail end of last semester was a time of unrest, and this unrest was much needed to open students’ eyes to the ways in which our university is not serving us.

Surely, given the cost of living on campus, we deserve a better Residential Life office (and no triples in Martyrs, in my opinion), and that is what students were demanding.

As a student, I am incredibly disappointed by the lack of change I see in the university upon my return from break. Is the administration even aware that students want a gynecologist in the health center? Did they read The Fordham Daily’s article about the abusive system of the Residential Life office?

I cannot imagine how these issues could have been left more blatantly ignored.

Many people say our generation is apathetic. If everyone between the ages of 18 and 25 were to vote in every election, we would dramatically change the results.

If only we were passionate and put the effort into implementing change, we could make things better all over the country. That is what students tried to do last semester when they stood up to start a dialogue about the changes that our school needs.

Instead of honoring that effort and listening to what we, the 8,000 undergraduate students that are the heart of this university, want but the administration has seemed to be waiting for things to settle down and fade away.

A university founded on Jesuit ideals of dialogue and attentiveness to the experiences of others ought to spend far more time attempting to understand its students and actively work toward building the environment for which they are fighting.
We have voiced our disappointment, Fordham, and we expect a little more than a fresh coat of paint to cover up legitimate issues.