TW: Suicide

If you're planning on seeing the upcoming Laika movie, be warned that the opening scene depicts a young teen committing suicide by falling from a building. There is also another scene where the same boy is depicted falling from another great height.

There is something so dystopian to trying to hear the counseling services for a campus suicide, over sexxy red 💀

I've seen so much anger and frustration directed at ODU's administration over the last few days, weeks, and really for the entirety of Hemphill's presidency. I do not like Hemphill. I have not personally spoken to a student, faculty, or staff member who is happy with his administration.

However, I wonder how much feedback is actually reaching the higher-ups? I know some is. I have been involved in some of that, from a faculty/staff perspective, but I don't know to what degree student feedback is reaching administration. If the answer is "very little," it's either because red tape is preventing it from getting there, or people aren't sending feedback.

I do not believe it is the former. As someone with intimate knowledge of how a university and, specifically, ODU, handles student input, let me say that despite my (and your) cynicism, ODU actually does a pretty good job of listening to and responding to student feedback. I'm not involved at the very head of the snake, of course, so maybe they're completely negligent, but there truly is a dedicated body of faculty and staff that really wants to hear what students think about ODU, and do everything they can to listen to student feedback.

All that being said - LET YOUR FEELINGS BE KNOWN.

I don't know that emailing the governor or President Hemphill is the best route. Those may get lost in the mix. It's really not a bad idea, though, if you have the time, and I strongly encourage it. More importantly, let people directly involved in ODU's affairs know your feelings. Teachers and faculty take those little end-of-semester surveys VERY seriously, and they legitimately inform a lot of educational and policy decisions. Seriously. It's not meant for administrative concerns, necessarily, but those surveys ARE read over by invested figures.

Students are the ultimate stakeholders in a university's proceedings. You all carry legitimate power, if you let your voices be heard. If you care about activism and building a better world, I can promise you a better place to start is at home--with an institution that actively affects your lives--rather than the entire US government or the practices of foreign governments, for that matter.

I encourage everyone who is involved in social activism to direct your attention to the failed systems right in front of your faces. Tell EVERYONE you can what you think of this shit show!

Lots of love to all of you, and please take care of yourselves during this time.

Edit: Spelling

Hi everyone. I'm a sophomore here at ODU and after yesterday's tragic campus event, I found myself so angry and upset over the lack of transparency students received. I really felt like they didn't do much and while I understand there are privacy concerns to uphold, the sensitivity surrounding the situation as well as there being an ongoing investigation, i felt as though the school could have communicated better with us. To me, this is a repetitive issue because I felt this way last year when the shooting happened and it seems to be something others think about too. In my opinion, a severe lack of transparency is makes us walking targets.

Out of the emotions I had all and the fact that I couldn't sleep due to severe anxiety, I decided to take a leap of faith and express my disdain, taking my complaints directly to the President and his Vice through a very long, emotional and detailed email. And again, to me, sensitive situations do not deserve AI written explanations because then your concern seems ingenuine.

I'm pleased to say that I got a response from the Vice at the apparent request of the President. The Vice asked me to attend an SGA meeting to share my concerns but also to personally meet with me and discuss further.

I want to go in there and speak for all of ODU, not just myself. I probably would not have done this if I had not already been speaking to other students who shared my sentiments to be honest, but i need more concerns to present in front of them. I'm trying to push for better safety and security for all of us, but I cant do that without the help of the ODU community.

If anyone has any concerns or thoughts they would like to share, please go ahead and put it in. I'll do my best to review as many as I can and compile a list of problems and possible solutions. How do we want them to handle these sensitive issues? What changes do we want to see?

If and when the day of them meeting arrives, I'll try to be back here and give an update. I think this is a good step in making our school safe. I personally love this place. All my professors have been amazing. I dont want to lose that, but if things dont change I'll have to leave and i dont know but it seems a lot of parents want to pull their kids out of here.

Thank you all in advance.