On Aug. 30, the Old Gold & Black’s editorial board committed to investigating and reporting on issues of interpersonal violence on Wake Forest’s campus. Since then, we have launched our special reports section, which is overseen by our investigative team, in hopes to provide clarity and information to students about the systems surrounding interpersonal violence on this campus. We will continue our investigation through the end of the semester and beyond.

However, it is important to recognize that our investigation alone is not sufficient given the importance of this issue. In light of previous events this semester, the administration of Wake Forest now has before it the charge to channel the totality of their resources toward eradicating the culture of violence that has, for far too long, been allowed to fester on our campus.

On Tuesday, Oct. 12, the Student Government Senate passed S.R. 4, in which it committed to co-sponsor a campus-wide survey about the climate surrounding sexual assault. The legislation echoed S.R. 9 — passed during the Senate’s 2018-19 session — which originally called for the creation of such a survey. S.R. 4 also references an address President Wente delivered at the President’s Leadership Conference on Sept. 25 in which she committed to conducting the survey.

As is the case at almost every college and university across the country, campus sexual misconduct is an issue at Wake Forest. In order to create solutions to address the issues at hand, however, it is imperative to understand the size and scope of the issues. That is why this survey is so important. 

Accordingly, the Old Gold & Black editorial staff urges the administration to follow through on their promise to collect this essential information, and we urge students to participate candidly and openly in the survey. Should our student body fail to do so, then this work will have been for nothing, and change will remain out of reach. 

Furthermore, we would like to extend an offer to all parties involved in the creation of the survey to the full resources and platform of the Old Gold & Black. We hope that in doing so, we can ensure that this important work is done well, but also that the student body is informed of the results and the resulting actions the university takes. 

For our part, we will be continuing in our investigation during the coming weeks as we seek to further shed light on these pertinent matters. As we have said in the past, the Wake Forest community deserves nothing less.