This isn’t a letter, it’s a movement.

Her eyes remained fixed on me, speaking volumes. Coals of passion burned in each iris.

She sat there, perched on the end of my bed, and rambled. She rambled about the 50th anniversary, the ignorance, the pain, the cover-ups, the culture, the separation, the perspectives, about everything, without even a breath, until she stopped on a dime – or, more accurately, a word.

Racism.

It is racism.

She uttered the word with a spit of pure heat, mirroring the hatred that has long been standing here at The University of Alabama. The pain of the past – not exclusively her own – welled inside her until she took another moment to pause and collect herself.

She said it one more time, “It’s a movement.”

Sunday night, my friend delivered a copy of “An Open Letter to our Administration” to me from a group respectfully signed as “Concerned Students and Faculty.”

As I read the letter, I understood the severity in her eyes. It was written like a war ultimatum, with demands and conditions, casualties in the form of Emily Jamison, and even identifiable diplomatic threats of protests.

The battle lines had been drawn. I was asked to step to either side of the line.

But then, something unprecedented happened. The greek system was flipped on its head.

In rapid succession, reports of impending protests, President Bonner’s commendable action to reopen the recruitment process to make room for students of diverse backgrounds and apparent reports of forthcoming bids came rolling in.

So much good in such a short period.

Now, I’m not here to say that all these items were as a result of their efforts, but one thing is for certain, when ABC and Time come a’ knocking the day that a letter was published to interview their members, something is going right.

And yet, admirably, the Concerned Students and Faculty remain concerned. After all, their demands have not yet been met.

If Reconstruction and Jim Crow taught us anything, it is that there is no quick fix to racism, no superficial bandage for organizational discrimination. Twenty years ago, the “greek accreditation” program attempted a superficial fix. Today, that has all but been forgotten.

In the next 20 years, I don’t want to look back and wonder what might have been, and I certainly don’t want to reflect on this day and have to explain to my grandchildren where we failed, how we could have been so – quite frankly – evil, and how we let them down.

I guess that’s why I support the Concerned Students and Faculty’s demands. They are not that outlandish – at least, no more so than having blatant discrimination run rampant at our school for 50 years.

These students are just asking for what the national chapters already say. On their website, Chi Omega posted the following in response to last week’s media attention: “Chi Omega embraces Sisters from different ethnic, religious, and racial backgrounds who live to reflect our values and purposes.” I’m willing to bet other national greek organizations see it in much the same way.

In the end, this isn’t a war of attrition, but there should be no appeasement either. It’s all or nothing; it’s time for a change.

This is a “Where were you when…” kind of moment for this university, so tell me, on what side of the line do you stand ?

I am a concerned student, and I truly hope that “An Open Letter to our Administration” wasn’t just a letter, but the start of a movement.

Maxton Thoman is a sophomore majoring in biology. His column runs on Wednesdays.