When the independent commission reviewing the April 2-3 disturbances was created, it was viewed as a victory for the student body.
Finally.
Questions were going to be answered. Students were going to be heard. There was finally going to be accountability.
Then, the report came out.
Who actually read it?
Obviously no one important.
Two members of the MSU Board of Trustees admitted they and their fellow trustees had not read the report. They have skimmed it, but not read it.
It's been out for weeks. How is it that the university's highest governing body hasn't had the time to read the report on one of the most important issues facing students?
Trustees represent students, not just the university and reading the report is not a lot to expect.
The disinterest is frustrating. The student body put up with the independent commission for months to no avail, and now there's no one to turn to.
What can students do? No one wanted to listen to their side of the story.
Even when students did speak up, their stories and experiences were politely listened to by commission members and then ignored in the final report.
And the final report itself: a sham, something to move every one's minds away from police tear-gassing "rioters" and arresting several students.
It shows, once and for all, the independent commission amounted to nothing more than a joke. The commission silenced students for seven months and came out with useless recommendations after the city and students had largely moved on.
It was the perfect strategy for sweeping questionable police actions under the rug just long enough for the issue to disappear.
Too bad everyone fell for it.
Now, nearly seven months later, who has students' backs?
Obviously, not the MSU Board of Trustees, who can't find the time to read the report.
Not MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon, who flips between defending students to their faces and writing an apology to residents behind their backs.
Not the city that created an ineffective commission, which took seven months to deliberate that no one was to blame.
Stellar.
Was it even possible for students to have a meaningful voice in all of this?
More and more, the answer is no.
