In my four years at the University, I, like most students, have become concerned with the rifts that exist on our campus. While UA offers many excellent academic and social opportunities for students, we must admit walls divide our campus that often do not exist at the premier institutions with which we compete. We’ve got the most USA Today All-USA Academic Team members of any school, but why is it that we are still not considered on par with the schools that place right after us, universities like Harvard, Vanderbilt, UNC, Yale, and UVA?

Some claim that the comparisons are unfair. I have heard the litany:

“They’re not well-rounded like us. Plus, we just don’t have the same types of students.” Bull, on two counts. First, I have met and worked with plenty of Ivy Leaguers and students from other top-tier schools, many of whom are very well-rounded, civically-engaged, and socially brilliant. Second, no one will ever convince me that the people I have met at Alabama are any less well-rounded, civically engaged, or socially brilliant. We are a group of people with tremendous talent and a passion for learning and service. There is no doubt that we have students who are just as qualified.

“We’re a football school.” Yeah, well, Duke’s a basketball school, I guess.

“We have sacred traditions that we can’t change.” Of course, there are great, historied traditions: the Walk of Champions, the XXXI and Jasons, the Honors Day ceremony on the Mound, and the most badass football uniforms of all time. Likewise, studying under the majestic trees, tailgating on the Quad, and listening to the ring of Denny Chimes are traditions that define this university. The bottom line is that these positive traditions can exist without the negative tradition of misunderstanding between groups on campus. We should celebrate our traditions, but we must consider them in the modern context, too.

“Well then, why didn’t you just go to one of those ‘top’ schools?” Simple. I love the University of Alabama. No other university captivated me like our school. The University of Alabama has offered priceless relationships and experiences that will forever be ingrained in who I am, and for everything, I am perpetually grateful. It is my intense love for the University that makes me set such high expectations. If we can all demand such greatness, outranking those other schools will no longer surprise anyone.

Wilson Boardman is a senior majoring in international finance and Spanish.