When I walked through AU's gates three years ago, my new and unfamiliar home was sliding into chaos. Within weeks, I saw President Ben Ladner plummet amid allegations that involved French chefs and private chauffeurs. Students protested on the quad and demanded accountability, honesty and real leadership.
This institution has come a long way since then. For the first time, one of our own alumni is AU's president. We've broken ground on a new building for the School of International Service. AU danced in the NCAA tournament for the first time in history, losing a close game to a 2nd seed team. Not to mention we're rated the most politically active school in the country.
Many dedicated individuals - men and women, students and staff who have nothing but AU's bright future in mind, have shaped this university in the past three years. They have toiled to guide the university with a steady hand after a year of uncertainty.
Their actions, however, bring pause as we start the new academic year here - whether it's our first or final. What has been our impact on this university? Have we sat by the wayside as others made decisions, complicit with the masses, unaware of campus goings-on? Have we become so detached by the prospect of the next high-level D.C. internship that we've lost a part of our AU identity, our AU roots?
You see, just as being from Seattle, playing the saxophone, or having a sister is a part of my identity, so is being an AU student.
But implicit in the power of identity is the ability to shape it - and so I ask myself: What have I done for AU? Have I given back? Three years ago, I walked onto the quad a bright-eyed student, just trying to keep my head above water. Now, as I enter my final year, the path that I've chosen is increasingly clear - and so are the decisions I've made, the relationships I've forged, the service I've given: my AU legacy, in so many words.
By enrolling, attending class, living in the dorms, each one of us has the ability to shape AU. Faces come to mind when I think of those who have worked to further our school during my tenure here. They have not always had enormous impact - not always been campus celebrities. But their impact has still been meaningful - meaningful to this place I now call home.
As each of us begins our new year, whether as a freshman or a senior, we must remember why we're here. To receive an education, yes. But there is something deeper - something that ties us back to our university for the rest of our lives. It is strange to think that for the rest of my life, I will be an American Eagle. It will be on the top of every resume, in every cover letter, job application. Our education here is, without question, our foundation for things to come.
But as much as it is a part of us, we are a part of it. Just as we will forever be AU Eagles, this university will have been home to us. Just as it would seem strange to move into a new house, live there for four years, and never put a thing on the walls, I think it would seem strange to be here - at your AU home, and not leave a mark.
AU's book still has many blank pages yet to be written. And we, the students, will write on those pages as much as anyone else. If there is one thing to be sure, it is that students have already had a lasting impact on this university. And without a doubt, they still will. But will you be one of them?
This year is full of potential. You just have to decide how to use it.
Carl Seip, a senior in the School of Public Affairs, is The Eagle's AU issues columnist. You can reach him at edpage@theeagleonline.com.
