On April 18, Butler University’s Office of Student Affairs released the numbers from  its diversity survey.

The data revealed that most Butler students do not believe the school is very diverse.

Specifically, 71 percent of students of color and/or gay and lesbian students thought this.

If students, faculty and staff want to see a more inclusive university, everyone needs to take responsibility and not simply “encourage” diversity.

Students of diverse backgrounds are uniquely positioned to see this in action.

Each member of the community—from administrators to students—must take action to see a more respectful, diverse community at Butler.

Butler’s public relations materials talk about encouraging a worldview that considers other cultures and perspectives equal.

The community should not take these statistics negatively though.

Whether students think so or not, the university is not very diverse.

When respondents see that, the community demonstrates self-awareness.

And that means we have the opportunity to improve.

The university may indeed want to see more diversity.

But when the community stays relatively the same, perhaps inclination is not enough.

Everyone needs to take the commitment to diversity beyond simply tolerating others or wanting more obvious examples of multicultural students.

In other words, Butler and the people who make up the university all need to improve the school with direct action.

That starts with little gestures.

The university should consider converting some of the existing restrooms on campus into gender-neutral ones.

Any sort of deliberate move to include people of differing backgrounds speaks louder than mission statements do.

The university needs to find ways to work with the community and make Butler less of an island.

The bubble should not have such tough boundaries.

But a big part of responsibility falls on every student as well—myself included.

Students answered their surveys by saying that as few as 28 percent participate in diversity events.

This is unacceptable, especially when so many respondents say they want to see more diversity.

All of us, need to get involved.

Attend the events and take advantage of all the programs Butler offers.

Our community demonstrates over and over again that philanthropy and fundraisers are important.

Butler students should channel that energy to improve things close to home as well.

A more inclusive community makes everyone stronger.

And the events themselves help allies and activists unite over their common goals.

Any effort to build community support is better than nothing.

So the students must take advantage of the groups and events on campus.

And the university absolutely must do its part to include people of diverse backgrounds through accessible facilities and programs.

This Friday is the national Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Day of Silence.

The Day of Silence is a nationwide protest of anti-gay bullying and institutionalized discrimination.

While the protest has good intentions, the Day of Silence needs to review its tactics.

The activists need to speak up.

The Day of Silence is sponsored by a few national organizations including the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.

According to dayofsilence.org, the protest is the largest “one-day, student-led grassroots action on LGBT rights.”

It is worth noting that the GLSEN and even the Day of Silence talk only about sexual orientation bullying.

Little to no mention is made about people who identify as transgendered or queer.

By leaving out these already underrepresented groups, the organization sets off on shaky footing.

This well-intentioned but incomplete focus can be seen in their tactics as well.

Organizers in middle schools, high schools and colleges across the country do all of their own event planning.

The groups use vows of silence to illustrate how people who are not heterosexual are silenced through bullying and discrimination.

In theory, this works very well.

If lots of people take the oath, it makes for a powerful demonstration.

But if we want to see the end of LGBT bullying, it cannot be done silently.

Look at the Civil Rights Movement.

The famous sit-ins were illegal.

The marches announced their presence with chants, songs and even shouts.

The point is that the participants in that movement were tired of silence.

Do not ask silently—or even quietly—for the same protections and rights afforded to others.

More broadly, all students should recognize what this day is about: bullying and discrimination.

The protesters are not even demanding that anyone be comfortable with them.

In fact, they do not even ask for respect.

Instead, they ask that any potential bully keep his or her hurtful words inside.

People deserve to live their lives without being harassed and threatened when they do no harm.

Keeping silent to honor the brutalized silence of others will not put a stop to bullies.

Try using more volume, not less.

According to some, Butler University functions like a community of care.

The university attempts to find work for spouses and partners of professors and administrators, and this brings Butler employees closer together.

However, this stands in direct contradiction to Butler’s current policy.

According to the “consensual relationships” policy—found on Butler’s website—”the University prohibits consensual relationships” when one partner has a supervisory role over the other, even if it is indirect.

Butler needs to enforce its policies.

This ensures fairness and allows the university to best spend its resources to help the entire Butler community.

The most important thing is that if there is a situation where relatives are working in the university and  one of them is a top executive, that person in authority should always recuse him or herself from the conversation, said Elaine Johnson, director of compensation and organizational management.

I could not agree more.

It is vital both for the university’s integrity and simple efficiency that we minimize conflicts of interest.

That starts with high ranking partners recusing themselves.

The university administration certainly has the right to employ whomever it thinks best fits the job.

But as an organization, Butler needs to recognize that having partners working for the same institution—in the same department, sometimes—creates a conflict of interest.

In fact, someone at Butler did think of that.

And the university made a policy that forbids precisely this situation.

Perhaps because of this very contradiction, human resources is currently updating and reviewing all of their policies for the staff handbook.

The university continues to grow and struggles to provide for the core curriculum.

If Butler could reallocate money, the administration might find a way to hire more professors to teach those classes.

The spouses and partners of Butler’s faculty and staff could be wonderful people.

They might even fill vital roles in the university.

Where people benefit the university, Butler should be quick to preserve the community of care.

But as an organization, we need to take a very thorough and critical look at how best to spend on employment.

A real community of care means benefitting the students, not just the spouses of higher-ups.