While Carleton sports fans had reason to celebrate this month with the announced return of the Ravens men’s varsity football team in 2013, some students have reacted to the news with a seemingly unrelated question: where is Carleton’s sexual assault support centre?

If the university administration can get behind a fun venture like football, administration also ought to help with something as serious and important as a sexual assault support centre. With students using every opportunity to demand a centre, including a football announcement, it’s about time administration realized how much students seem to want and need this service.

It’s important to note the university is not funding the football team. Alumni have raised money and created a five-year business model to get the team on the field. The university has, however, supported the alumni group’s efforts and plans through non-monetary resources, including giving them time and space to put together their plan and a platform to promote it. Meanwhile, administration has not given the same level of support, monetary or otherwise, to attempts to start a sexual assault centre on campus.

The Coalition for a Carleton Sexual Assault Centre has tried for years to start a centre on campus. But administration doesn’t necessarily have to work with the coalition to run the centre. The important part is the establishment of a centre, and to make this happen, administration needs to provide some support.

A new football team is certainly exciting. There is nothing wrong with supporting the efforts to bring football back to Carleton, but why can’t we have our team and our sexual assault support centre too?