April 16’s A.S. Council meeting was marked by remarkable displays of courage. During the public input session of the meeting, members of several student organizations gathered and made their collective voice heard, speaking on the campus climate.

Students filed forward and shared stories of repression, harrassment and gross racism that they had experienced while on campus. Many were near tears as they declared that they did not feel safe here. While many also said that the voices of minority students on campus were silenced during last week’s A.S. elections, their voices were most definitely not silenced at that meeting. On a campus that is known for its abundant apathy, it was refreshing to see students so passionate about an issue — especially one as important as this one. Hopefully, these voices will continue to grow and incite change for the problems of our campus climate.

Through all of these courageous stories, there was one student who stood out in bravery. Thurgood Marshall College Sophomore Senator Jeff Le, who also served on the A.S. Elections Committee, joined the public input session and defended the integrity of the committee and elections manager Robin Shelton. It was Le who wrote the dissenting opinion in Friday’s disqualification of Students First!, yet he still stood by the integrity of the committee in the face of emotional opposition.

Le’s words were courageous because because it was preceded by over an hour of angry students voicing their displeasure over the disqualification of Students First!. Throughout the previous public input, students often portrayed the elections committee as having bended the bylaws in an effort to silence minorities on campus. The words were delivered with such emotion and passion that it took true courage for Le to stand up and defend a body with which he didn’t necessarily agree. To look a large group of students in the eye and tell them that their claims are unfounded and that they weren’t cheated took a lot of courage, and for that we applaud Le.