By Sydney Page

I woke up Saturday morning to see an email from President Witt about yet another racial incident on campus. As I read the email, one question came to mind – when is this hate going to stop?

This has been a chaotic semester. Although I am only a sophomore, I have never witnessed the amount of corruption and hate I have seen this semester. Whether it is within the SGA or with racial slurs/chalkings on buildings, stabbings in Lakeside, bomb threats, intruders in residence halls and now this incident, when is this hatred going to cease?

The amount of hate and corruption going on at this campus is not healthy and is ultimately holding us back from becoming a more unified institution of learning. We can stop this negative stigma that has plagued our campus. If we choose to make wise choices and not hurt one another, we can move forward and become a more unified, and ultimately more successful, campus community.

Forums and marches are great but it will take more than that. This negative energy will forever remain on this campus until we choose   to accept each other as diverse individuals with the ultimate goal of receiving a great education.

What makes this country, and honestly any successful company or group, so great is the collaboration of minds. We need to reach out to one another, listen and work together to become a stronger and more unified UA.

It is possible. It is evident at every home game, especially the Iron Bowl, that as a diverse group of students we can rally together to support our beloved team. If we can rally together for our team, we can also rally together to progressively move this campus forward.

I am a resident advisor, and during our training this summer we were informed about a new campaign called “One Team. One Bama.” Every student on this campus should embody this statement.

Although we are different, together we make up The University of Alabama. When this university is ranked, not just one race or group of people is measured. We all are measured as one body of students. Every student here has been given the opportunity, or better yet been privileged, to attend this University and obtain an education. How can we fully reach our potential as individuals and as a campus if we are not able to work together and look past differences?

I encourage all students to look beyond skin color, socioeconomic backgrounds, sexual orientation, religious associations and greek or non-greek affiliations and look for what we can do together as a diverse student body. I know I am not alone in being tired of hearing about racial incidents and corruption on this campus, but it will continue to prevail if we choose not to stand up against it.

I challenge us to consider what we are doing before we act. Consider how what we say or do may impact others around us. We can be “One Team. One Bama,” but that will never prevail if we do not join together and accept one another.

Sydney L. Page is an SGA senator for the College of Arts and Sciences.