ACUOPTIMIST.COM | Friday, February 7, 2020 | 1
Students get creative with ways to enjoy the rare Snow Day on Wednesday
A student publication of Abilene Christian University since 1912
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BY MEGHAN LONG | PHOTOGRAPHER
Sing Song practices in full-swing across campus. Freshmen class act rehearses for performance.
Search for OMA director narrows decisions BY SYDNEY VARNER STAFF WRITER
The Office of Multicultural Affairs has recently begun deciding between three finalists for the director position that has been open since last semester. A committee of 12 members, including students and faculty are conducting on-campus interviews as well as listening to each finalists presentation on their vision for the office. Dr. Steven Moore, McNair Scholars program director and associate
professor of language and literature, has been serving on the committee in search of the new director since its inception last semester and has enjoyed the experience. “It’s been an exciting process for me and I think for many of us on the committee,” Moore said. “I think it’s just great for us to meet individuals who are excited about this position and see what their visions are, what their goals are and for us to go through the process to which candidate will be ex-
cellent in carrying out the vision for OMA.” The committee has been holding multiple meetings and conversations to align their visions for where they want the OMA to go. “We’ve had plenty of time and several meetings and several opportunities to just meditate and pray,” Moore said. “We’ve been in prayer throughout the entire process just to make sure we have the right person for the job.” In addition to the committee members sitting in on presentations, interns
from the OMA office have also been present to provide their feedback and ask questions. With the lack of a director in place, the office has been run for the most part by the 10 interns and they are excited to find a director that sticks. “I’ve been with OMA since my freshman year since I was desperately trying to find somewhere that was a safe space,” OMA intern Priscilla Hernandez said. “With this process, it’s been stressful because we’ve had, in my years here,
two directors and an interim director. We haven’t had that consistency. We understand that it takes time to make change but no one has been here long enough to make that change.” Multiple facets of change such as representation and intercultural connection are being actively sought out by students through this process of searching for a long term director. “OMA is an office at ACU but we are treated like a small organization,” said Hernandez, junior child and family services
Lecture series promotes eduction of Black History BY ALLISON HARRELL EDITOR IN CHIEF
Two students will be conducting the Carter G. Woodson Black History Month Student Lecture Series, hosted by the Carl Spain Center, from 6:308:30 p.m. on Feb. 27 at the Walling Lecture Hall. For the celebration of Black History Month, the student-led lecture event will honor Carter G. Woodson, who began Negro History Week in 1915 which evolved into what is now celebrated as Black History Month. A committee of faculty and staff under the Carl Spain Center selected students Jeremiah Taylor and Jalen Garrett to speak on Wood-
“Any person that I talk to that has read the book, said that it has opened up their minds and given them a new perspective on seeing the world, seeing where we are right now and the implications for the future.” TRYCE PRINCE EXECUTIVE COORDINATOR OF THE CARL SPAIN CENTER
son’s two most classic works titled “The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861” and “The Mis-Education of the Negro.” Tryce Prince, executive coordinator of the Carl Spain Center, said Dr. Jerry Taylor, associate professor of Bible, missions and ministry and director of
the Carl Spain Center, had the vision for the event. “Dr. Jerry Taylor had a vision to encourage students to participate in research about black history and black literature, but also to encourage them to equip the people and students around them,” Prince said. To be selected for the lectureship, students were required to submit an application, complete the two assigned readings and submit an eight page essay over the readings. “We felt like this was the next step to getting more student involvement with education and encouraging students to not only educate themselves but educate their peers,” Prince said. “We feel like if we
can establish a constant rhythm of building up and equipping students to build up and equip their peers on matters of race and race studies then we will benefit campus greatly.” The students will give a 30-minute lecture on Woodson’s works which chronicle the systems of teaching, educationally and societally, in place for individuals of the black community. “Any person that I talk to that has read the book, said that it has opened up their minds and given them a new perspective on seeing the world, seeing where we are right now and the implications for the future,” Prince said. “And I think both of the students presenting will have similar
responses as well.” Each student presenting will receive a $500 scholarship. The event will include additional performances, as well as an interview with former students who attended the Carter G. Woodson school, Abilene’s first public school for African Americans. The event is open and free to the public. No registration is required to attend. “We just ask that people show up with an open mind to learn about history,” Prince said. “But also with their notepads and notes to discuss after how they can apply practically some of the principles and themes that these students will be talking about.”
Theatre department plans production packed with mystery BY DILLON DANIEL MANAGING EDITOR
The Department of Theatre will host the spy thriller Pack of Lies as its winter production. The production by Hugh Whitemore is based on a true story and will be directed by Adam Hester, professor of theatre. Mirroring the show, The Americans, Pack of Lies is “a little bit different. It focuses on the neighbors who are a British couple in 1960,” Hester said. He said that the production focuses on the couple’s relationship with their neighbors, their best friends, and how Scotland
Yard tells them they need to use their house to spy on the neighbors due to suspicions that they may be communists. “The play has several twists and turns in it. It’s meant to have surprises throughout, kind of a mystery, and it will be a thriller in the sense that [the audience] will feel unnerved,” Hester said. Because the setting of the play is in Cold War Britain, Hester said that there will be historical events and figures mentioned throughout such as the Rosenbergs, an American couple convicted of spying on behalf of the Soviet Union. Hester also said he be-
lieves the play brings up themes that mirror current American beliefs of Russian influence on our own politics. “There’s a character that is talked about, a Russian KGB officer. Even though Putin was not in power when this play was written, sometime in the 1980’s, it feels very much like an echo that that could be Putin when he was a KGB officer.” Landon Holub, freshman theatre major from Victoria, plays Bob Jackson, the husband of Barbara and father of Julie, who are neighbors to the suspected communists, the Krogers. Holub said that a big theme in this production is
“The play has several twists and turns in it. It’s meant to have surprises throughout, kind of a mystery, and it will be a thriller in the sense that [the audience] will feel unnerved.” ADAM HESTER PROFESSOR OF THEATRE AND DIRECTOR OF PACK OF LIES
that of the “dirty little secret” on the Jacksons’ side, not just the Krogers’, especially between father and mother to their daughter and to best friends. “Our character’s world starts slowly unraveling as the play goes on.” Holub also said he noticed a theme throughout
the rehearsals that everyone we know has an impact on how we react to situations. “If Barbara and Bob weren’t married, the decisions they would have made separately would have been so different.” Pack of Lies will be at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 13-15 and 20-22 and will be held at the Culp Theatre in the Williams Performing Arts Center. Tickets are available at acu.edu/theatre-tickets or at the ACU Theatre Box Office in the Williams Performing Arts Center. Box Office hours are 1-5 p.m. Monday-Friday or by calling 325-674-ARTS (2787).
major from Irving. “We have an event called Underground and we kind of joke about it because we feel like we are almost underground. Because of the constant changes these past four years, the interns get fatigued and irritated and that creates the idea that nothing ever gets done. We need more people like faculty working for the office.” Though the finalists are chosen, the timeline is still slightly unclear as to when a director will be chosen for OMA.
NEWS
BSU plans events to celebrate Black History Month PAGE 2
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Men’s tennis recap PAGE 5
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