When I tell someone that I attend the University of Alabama, I expect one of two responses: How about that football team or are you in a fraternity?

Capstonians, we have an identity crisis. I’m not concerned with my relatives and the complete strangers who have little knowledge of our university. I’m concerned with students complying with those UA stereotypes. Not just in a way that suggests a student has to be greek or a fan of the football team or both, but also in a way suggests if a student is neither, he or she probably feels left out and frustrated.

Every student doesn’t live or die with the Crimson Tide and most don’t belong to a greek organization. We cannot accept either of these two labels as a true unifying force, because neither can represent all of campus.

Still, both do help acclimate a large number of new students to their surroundings.

I enrolled here with no allegiance to UA athletics, only to connect with the 2008 football team and become the unruly Bama fan I am today. In my case, the football team did foster my connection with the University, but I love sports. We can’t rely on all incoming freshmen to have a passion for football nor even – dare I say it – our team’s success.

Greek life creates bonds between members of the same house and those in other houses and provides a portion of freshmen with a strong base of friendships. Sometimes though, a fraternity or sorority can dominate a student’s identification. Instead of identifying as a UA student, a student may distinguish themselves as a member of a certain house at the University. Even within greek life, there is the divide between the white and minority organizations.

Finding and institutionalizing a UA identification across the board requires the efforts of the administration and all students.

When President Robert Witt announced his goal of reaching 35,000 students by 2020, current students rightly questioned how the campus could support such a number without accompanying expansion projects.

The other major concern should be when the University will stop devoting a majority of its time and resources to recruiting and start addressing student life. It doesn’t matter how large, involved or smart future freshmen classes are if they don’t feel a part of the University. They will either transfer or become apathetic, joining the large number of indifferent students already attending the Capstone.

The University can recruit with quantitative standards for only so long.

A vibrant, unified student body should attract high school students just as well as numbers on a page. It is difficult to quantify student life, but the numbers that the University hammered into our heads lose all value with one step on campus.

As students, we have a powerful voice at this university. We need to prove that we can use it effectively. The administration can’t help us if it doesn’t know the problems we face. We have the responsibility to engage in open discussions to facilitate student-administration collaboration by pinpointing the issues.

Discussion can be defined as exploring solutions and is the first step in the solution process. Its success is based on the degree and the diversity of participation. Our identity crisis is prevailing. We need to discuss the UA standard that relates to every segment on campus and can be a common bond for all students.

It will not take a public forum or a powerful student group to address this – though they would help significantly. It takes talking about it at lunch with a friend, asking someone else for their opinion and creating conversations on Facebook and Twitter. As long as it incites discussion, it benefits the cause.

This must be an organic student movement.  The most important individuals are the ones that speak. If you feel left out, this is the time to express your feelings and concerns. If you have grand ideas, this is the time to share them. This process will be long and will probably outlast the students currently on this campus, but it is a necessary one that has yet to be enacted.

Though Alabama football and greek life do connect the student body to a degree, these two labels should not be how students identify with our university. We need to discuss, decide, and implement a unified student identity.

Wesley Vaughn is a junior majoring in public relations and political science. His column runs on Wednesday.