For days, our collective attention has unfortunately turned to an act of racial tension at the University of Alabama. On a campus that has, for too long, faced repeated incidents of racism and exclusion, Friday’s event has reminded us of the fragility of cohesiveness and unity.
Human relations are just that: fragile. We all maintain different beliefs and distinct interests. At times, blending those into one community can cause hiccups. We cannot, however, allow volatile moments to set us back.
At this important moment, we – as united student leaders – affirm the values of harmony, respect, and understanding. We affirm the importance of a campus that not only tolerates but also embraces diversity as an essential part of the collegiate experience. And we affirm our commitment to lead by example, striving to model the empathy we advocate.
Our progress as a university has been well documented and much lauded. But, as students, we cannot confuse institutional progress for a unified community. We cannot be content with superficial unity. Rather, we must call ourselves to deeper, truer progress.
Friday’s saddening incident should be a call to action for us all. Divides do still exist, and differences can still drive us apart. And while one person’s words can exacerbate those differences, we reject the notion that one person’s actions define our student body. We reject that one belief or one word can epitomize our status as a university. We, as a community, stand for progress. We stand for cohesion and mutuality. We yearn for togetherness, for that is what makes our community strong.
As long as bright students invest time and energy into this campus, we will rush forward. We will create new organizations like the Honors College Assembly. We will revamp and revitalize existing ones like the SOURCE. We will colonize new greek houses of all colors and creeds, and we will never stop exploring new academic frontiers like student research and teaching.
We are, at our very essence, a campus of progress. In truth, our past has driven us to be one. We all recognize our failures, and because of them we strive to be better. When we look across classrooms, we see not the superficial identities that divide us. We see partners from group projects and co-founders of organizations. We see neighbors, fraternity brothers, sorority sisters, casual acquaintances.
At the end of the day, we’re friends. Our student body, for its size, demonstrates a remarkable geniality and warmth. We triumph more than we fail, and too often those triumphs go unrecognized. In the heat of some moments, attention turns to our infrequently demonstrated divisions instead of the frequent, everyday displays of unity. That should not diminish the triumphs. It cannot drown them out.
This moment is unique because we have the capacity to recognize a momentary flare of our past and universally decry it. From every corner of campus, we can join in condemning speech that tears down rather than builds up. We can show, very publicly, that we all want and need to bind up any existing wounds and to carry our campus into a more tolerant, more empathetic, and more collaborative future. Together, we shall find hope in our very capacity to progress and move forward.
James Fowler, the SGA President, and Teddy Phillips, the president of NPHC, are seniors. Nancy Hogan, the president of the Black Student Union; Dakota Peterson, the president of the Interfraternity Council; and Ashley Getwan, the president of Panhellenic, are juniors.
