Three years ago, I moved into my first residence hall, walked into my first class and made my first friends at the University of Alabama, excited to join the UA family. Community—that pervasive feeling of belonging and shared purpose—sat heavy in my heart and mind. I entered a new phase of my life hopeful and energized.

Over the course of my time at the Capstone, I’ve sought to enrich the community of our campus. Now, as the president of your Student Government Association, I am committed to strengthening our community in unimaginable ways.

Building our community is multi-faceted. It isn’t just talking about unity or fostering better relations between disparate groups, though those certainly play a role. Improving the lot of students on our campus ranges from reinforcing fundamentals to meticulously creating special projects to improving programming.

Over the summer, the SGA has worked tirelessly to create more opportunities for student involvement and to cultivate a richer student experience on campus. We’ve launched a laundry service for students, finalized details on the premiere gubernatorial debate in Alabama, carried out a successful football ticket on-sale process, and streamlined information about financial resources available to Alabama students. We’ve informed thousands of incoming freshmen—many of you—about how to get involved at the University. We then helped those freshmen move in to their residence halls.

All of these exemplify the special projects and improved programming our SGA wants to provide to the student body at large.

We’re also seriously addressing our fundamentals as an institution for the first time in over a decade. We’ve begun a full-scale review and revision of our SGA constitution, a process we hope will create a more accountable, more equitable and stronger institution for the future. We are also actively recruiting students from every corner of campus to take positions in SGA. This process of aggressive outreach has allowed us to be more representative and more effectual as a government.

Since I took office, it’s been my highest goal to be accountable to every student and to demand diversity. This goal reaches to the very heart of what our student government ought to be. Our job is to accurately and empathetically represent our exceptional student body. Setting goals that push our government to live up to its promise betters our SGA for the long haul and more importantly delivers unparalleled results for the student body.

Our legendary coach Bear Bryant once said, “Set goals—high goals—for you and your organization. When your organization has a goal to shoot for, you create teamwork, people working for a common good.”

We still have a way to go. This university—and its student experience—is far from perfect. But together, dedicated to our goals, we can become a team. We will leave an indelible footprint on this campus. We can change our own experience for the better and invest in the experiences of students to come.

So today I welcome each and every student back to this campus and ask you all to hold me accountable to my goals and to join me in the pursuit of the common good.

James Fowler is a senior majoring in business and political science. He is the president of the Student Government Association.