As we head into the start of another school year here at Marquette, I’d like to talk about the idea of unity.

Unity writes history, and we have proven this statement repetitively throughout the course of America’s lifetime. Unity came about in the Revolutionary War when we broke off from Britain and obtained our freedom. Unity came about when Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech that led to many civil rights acts initiations. Unity still comes about today with the many servicemen and servicewomen who fight for our country’s liberty every single day.

Unity does not always have to involve large gatherings of people in one place at the same time. Unity is a feeling, unity is trust, and unity is knowing that you can go arm in arm with the people around you for a cause.

However, over the course of the past year, I’ve been contemplating if America is taking the right steps towards preserving unity. Opposing views, acting out, and the desperate need to reveal who is truly correct has led to both violent and peaceful riots, tragic deaths, and the hesitation to use freedom of speech.

This summer alone has frightened me the most. Headliners like the numerous African-Americans who have died due to police brutality, the talk of a nuclear war, multiple terror attacks across the world, and most recently, the Charlottesville attack. It is at times like these where I wonder how much love can you find throughout all this hate?

Here at Marquette, I still feel the unity within this campus. We all have one goal, and that is to come out successful, to walk up on that stage and finally grasp that diploma. We have our differences, but we must stand together-- why? Because We are Marquette.

We hear and see this phrase repeatedly, during Marquette speeches, plastered all over the walls down Wisconsin Avenue, and during the roaring chants at Marquette basketball games. (Haanif Cheatham—I hope you read this cause I’m your number one fan.)

Some of you reading this may think, are we all really Marquette? We don’t all share the same opinions, the same religion, the same values?

I’d like to recall a very tragic moment for America: September 11, 2001. Though most of us who were alive during this time were probably very young, we can all remember the strong emotions flowing across the United States. There was fright, there was fragility, and there was hate. But despite this, and as time moved on, resilience began to sweep across all the people who lived in this beloved country. We persevered, we loved, we became strong, and we unified. Despite differences—white or black, Catholic or Muslim—we went arm in arm and us, as Americans, showed the world that we are more brave and strong when we are together.

To answer the previous question, I believe in the statement that we are Marquette. However, it is up to you to decide if we are Marquette—do we unify together and wear Marquette proudly? Or do we shrivel up in a ball and let our differences get the best of us? The times where America gets struck down by others, we get back up, we stand up for our rights, our liberty, our justice. 9/11 will always be one of the purest examples of this. However, will we let us get struck down by ourselves? Will we split ourselves apart based on differences, differences that may not seem so important a couple years from now?

Unity entails all of the of the previous traits that I have mentioned. Unity takes strength, perseverance, courage, humility, intelligence, compassion, and so much more.

So, I ask you this. Come into this school year, arm in arm, work towards the goal of being successful. Push away the differences. Become the better man (or woman). Instead of turning your head away from the problem, turn your head towards the problem and compose a solution. Become a unified Marquette. Work towards being Marquette, because we are all, and always will be, Marquette.