Monday night’s Student Congress meeting focused on the results of the Campus Climate Survey that were released last week.

Valerie Hampton, the chief diversity officer for the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ODEI), said she was impressed by the responses received in the 117-question survey, and that participants were comfortable being honest about incidents they have faced.

“What was positive was people’s candor about it,” Hampton said. “This is difficult to talk about. And if you’ve had experiences that were negative in relation to your identity, that’s hard to talk about it.”

According to University President Harvey Stenger, the survey results provided a platform for BU to improve.

“[The goal of the survey] was to provide metrics and data for students, faculty and staff across the University related to institutional climate, inclusion and work-life issues,” Stenger said. “Based on the findings ODEI will continue to develop and implement action plans and strategic initiatives to improve the overall campus climate and to inform programmatic initiatives and policies moving forward.”

Ruslan Klafehn, vice president for multicultural affairs-elect (VPMA) of the Student Association (SA), said the results of the survey showed a need for more information about where members of the campus community can seek help against discrimination.

“The results of the climate survey show that perhaps the issue we need to work towards the most is awareness of different sources students can utilize if they feel they have been discriminated against,” said Klafehn, a freshman majoring in political science. “With that said, we also need to work towards improving ways students can voice concerns.”

Students at the meeting asked about the timeline of the survey. Because it was distributed to campus last April, many wanted to know why the results weren’t released sooner. Hampton said that after facing initial problems with the data analysis, the University also wanted to take the time to make sure the analysis was thorough.

“It took a little longer than we wanted, but because we were fully immersed in the data we took our time to make sure we understood it and knew where there were limitations,” Hampton said.

Students also asked about the ways that discrimination was defined within the survey. Hampton said that the meaning of discrimination was left open-ended, and that the survey allowed participants to respond according to their own interpretation.

“Because we allowed people to self-identify discrimination and harassment, there are things that fall under the broader category of incivility as opposed to the legal definition of discrimination and harassment,” she explained.

Hampton also defined the role of the ODEI on campus. She said that while the office is a resource for students with any concerns, its main goal is to improve the campus environment and unite the University.

“One office does not do all the diversity work for the campus,” she said. “Our responsibility is to look at the institution as a whole, and to make sure that diversity is a part of everything that we do.”

Alexander Liu, the SA president and a senior majoring in philosophy, politics and law, said the survey was progress for the University.

“I think the results of the campus climate survey give our University a good place to start when dealing with issues of diversity and discrimination,” Liu said. “There’s a lot of work ahead of the University to improve these statistics and I think we will get there if everyone stays invested and follows through on all of the issues that were raised this semester.”

According to Hampton, the survey opened up an opportunity for the University to grow and improve.

“If one person is having an experience that is predicated on their particular identity, that’s not acceptable,” Hampton said. “We can do better than that.”