This past November, Autherine Lucy Foster took the stage in Foster Auditorium, and with one question framed my experience as a student at The University of Alabama.  Her words —“Am I in heaven, or am I still on Earth?”— demonstrated the power of people to lead to a better society. Though this moment occurred during my senior year, I first learned about Foster Auditorium in 2008 through the class Documenting Justice, in which another student and I worked together to create a short film that explored the historical significance of this space and the effects of its abandonment on our campus.

When we began the project, Foster Auditorium sat in disrepair with chains on the gym doors and asbestos filling the auditorium; for most students passing by the building, Foster Auditorium meant nothing. A small plaque near the entrance was the only hint that the building had any significance in The University of Alabama’s long history, and this plaque failed to properly memorialize and celebrate the progress, equality and justice that took place on June 16, 1963, as Vivian Malone and James Hood peacefully integrated The University of Alabama.

One week before our film screened in Tuscaloosa, The Tuscaloosa News announced that The University of Alabama would renovate Foster Auditorium. My partner and I were ecstatic that Foster Auditorium would no longer be relegated to the margins of campus history.

As I reflect on this project and Autherine Lucy Foster’s words, I have come to realize that these moments represent what The University of Alabama aspires to be—a place of civic engagement where thoughtful, strategic action and collaboration can lead to a better campus, community and state.

Though this project is a success story, another project only a few months after the film will forever shape my thoughts about our university.

In April 2008, a student found a framed picture of President Reagan speaking in Coleman Coliseum, and he proposed that a group of students work together to formally invite the President of the United States to campus to speak on the current state of education in our country and state. Though Alabama has some of the most innovative and highest achieving students, teachers and schools in the country, our statewide education system consistently ranks in the bottom 10 to 20 percent of the country. By inviting the president to come speak on campus about this topic, we saw an opportunity for The University of Alabama to take the lead in a community discussion on a pressing issue and to promote civic engagement for all students.

As we met with administrators to pitch the project, we would proudly bring the large 4-foot by 3-foot framed picture of President Reagan into the room, hoping that we would have a second framed picture of the President of the United States speaking on campus.

However, the project never happened. A few days after our fourth meeting in the Rose Administration Building, the project was canceled. To this day, the only explanation I’ve received is that this project wouldn’t be good for our university in the current times, and that explanation came from the SGA President, who had been an ardent supporter of the project for a few weeks.

Ultimately, these two projects have profoundly shaped who I am as a person, and they embody the paradoxical nature of The University of Alabama. In some instances, our university is overwhelmingly progressive and forward thinking; in others, our university is bound by its troubled history and controlled by a narrative of fear, ignorance and mistrust.

The only way for The University of Alabama to reach its full potential is for every stakeholder — administrators, alumni, faculty, students, trustees — to live by the Capstone Creed.

We’re on the right track, but we have a long, long way to go.

Marshall Houston is a senior majoring in economics and English.