I’ve been at The University of Alabama since August 2008, and the amount of changes that the University and city have undergone is staggering to consider.

The University has gone from having a Machine candidate elected under suspicious circumstances my freshman year to an independent candidate being elected as I leave. The city has undergone significant changes that were, in part, forced by the tornado but greatly increased the options for the students and residents. The most important thing The University of Alabama provides students is the ability to understand and push against the status quo and students should take advantage 
of that.

The University of Alabama has given me such a great opportunity to help understand some of the issues that affect society. The classes that I had from my Blount Undergraduate Initiative professors, Utz McKnight, Paul Horwitz and law professors such as Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic helped me understand society and the University community. They also pushed me to not accept everything how it exists now. Students have such a great opportunity while here to understand the problems that we are dealing with, but also give them the initiative to go do something on an interpersonal and 
community level about it.

The education I got from the University actually pushed me to go into the SGA Senate the last year I was here. Throughout the six years that I was here in law school and undergrad before, I was an SGA senator. I was pretty convinced the SGA was a pretty much useless organization on campus for getting any real progress done. After having served, I’m not really dissuaded from that belief. Despite that, it does have a huge impact on money given to organizations and now has ultimate discretion 
regarding block seating.

Students should especially continue to push against the Machine, which is run by an almost perfect example of institutionalized racism and sexism, and take advantage of the ability to challenge others that exist within our society. Without that, students are accepting the terrible parts of campus and our society as a whole. The University gives students the tools to understand and move beyond the cynical acceptance of the status quo. This is the best time for people to become politically active and they should take the opportunities available to start a push for change.

Matthew Bailey is a third year law student. He was a staff columnist for The Crimson White.