OPTIMIST
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PICTURES OF THE YEAR See some of the Optimist’s best images on Page 3.
A student publication of Abilene Christian University since 1912
Volume CVII, Issue XXXI
Friday, May 10, 2019
F S S
Campus News
Sports
Cyrus Eaton, dean of spiritual formation and campus chaplain, said his office will work over the summer to improve the system the tracks Chapel credits................................................Page 2
In athletic director Allen Ward’s first year on the job, ACU sports notched five conference rings and two March Madness appearances. Ward says that’s just the start..................Page 14
M T W T
Graduates Find your name among the 848 students who will walk across the Moody Coliseum stage during one of two Saturday Commencement ceremonies...........................................Pages 4-12
Photo by LAUREN FRANCO | 2018-19 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Denise Tapia embraces her son, newly hooded graduate Daniel Tapia, during the 2018 Commencement ceremonies. CAMPUS NEWS
Commencement ceremony to honor 848 DILLON DANIEL ASSIGNMENTS EDITOR
The 2019 Commencement ceremonies will honor 582 undergraduates and 266 graduates in Moody Coliseum Saturday. Graduates from the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Biblical Studies, the Graduate School of Theology and the School of Nursing will be honored in the first ceremony at 11 a.m. Graduates from the College of Business Administration, the College of Education and Human Services and the College of Graduate and Professional
Studies will be honored in the second ceremony at 3 p.m. Out of the 582 undergraduates, 80 students will graduate summa cum laude with a GPA of 3.9 through 4.00; 94 will graduate magna cum laude with a GPA of 3.75 through 3.89; and 74 will graduate cum laude with a GPA of 3.6 through 3.74. Undergraduate numbers have remained steady over the past few years, said Eric Gumm, director of the FirstYear Program and Academic Development Center. “Although it varies year to year, we’ve been able to stick around 250 undergrad-
uates, give or take, per year,” Gumm said. This year’s commencement speaker is Sam Gonzalez, a 1993 alumnus and campus minister for Oak Hills Church Alamo Ranch Campus in San Antonio. His daughter is Victoria Gonzalez, junior communication disorders major from San Antonio. “For the past half a dozen years or more, the commencement speaker has been an ACU alum,” Gumm said, “while the December commencement speaker is usually Teacher of the Year.” He said a unique aspect of
Seven faculty enter retirement ALLISON HARRELL EDITOR IN CHIEF
Seven faculty members from across campus, each of whom are retiring. Among those who are retiring at the close of the 2018-19 year are Dr. Malcolm Coco, professor of human resource management, Dr. Rob Byrd, associate professor of information technology and computing, Dr. Loyd Goldsmith, professor of education, Dr. Becky Hammack, dean of the School of Nursing, Dr. Robert McKelvain, professor of psychology, Dr. Jim Nichols, professor of biology, and Dr. Terry Pope, professor of finance. Nichols, who has served in the Department of Bi-
ology for 37 years, said the most unique aspect of his time teaching at ACU has been how the students turned into friends. “That’s kind of what happens,” Dr. Nichols said. “Everybody has a course or two that are their specialties, but they have to do some other things that are kind of outside their bounds initially.” Hammack became the first dean of the School of Nursing in 2013. She said ACU has been the best place she has ever worked out of her 42 years in nursing education. “There is a lot of reasons for that,” Hammack said. “There is a sweet spirit of students, faculty, staff and everyone that works at ACU.”
ACU’s commencement ceremonies is the escort. Dressed in all white, in contrast with the graduates black robes, escorts accompany the undergraduates to the floor of Moody Coliseum, sit behind them and, at a given time, hood them. “This is a unique way for a student to a bring a family member, friend, faculty or staff member who has helped them achieve this milestone be a part of an integral part of the ceremony,” Gumm said. This achievement has had an effect on the students that are graduating this year. “These past four years
have grown in a number of ways from academically, as a Christian, and who I am as a person,” said Bailey Clark, double major in youth and family and children ministry from San Antonio, said. “One of the biggest things I have learned from ACU is no matter what job or field you are in you are able to show the light of Christ in that area.” The entire ceremony will consist of worship time, the presentation of the “Outlive Your Life” award, the commencement speaker’s speech and the hooding ceremonies. Austin Parsons, biochemistry major from Abilene, said
he believes Commencement is a good “book-end moment.” “The ceremony is great because I think it gives a great opportunity for people to reflect on their last four years and come to terms with it coming to an end, like a way to say goodbye.” Both commencement rehearsals will take place the Friday before. The rehearsal for the earlier ceremony will take place at 2:15 p.m. and the one for the later ceremony will happen at 3:30 p.m. Graduate students will participate in rehearsals the day of the ceremonies at 10 a.m. and at 2 p.m.
CAMPUS NEWS
Byrd
Coco
Hooding event to recognize larger class of grad students DILLON DANIEL ASSIGNMENTS EDITOR
Goldsmith
Hammack
McKelvain
Nichols
Pope
An increasing number of students earning graduate degrees through on campus programs and ACU Dallas has led the university to plan a separate hooding ceremony for the Friday evening before graduation as a prelude to conducting three graduation ceremonies next spring. The hooding ceremony will take place at 8 p.m. on Friday in the auditorium of University Church of Christ across from Sewell Auditorium and will honor graduates from the College of Arts and Sci-
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ence, the College of Biblical Studies, the College of Business, the College of Education and Human Services and the College of Graduate and Professional Studies. Dr. Robert Rhodes, provost, said the change is directly attributed to the increased number of students completing graduate programs. This year, 266 students will earn masters and doctorate degrees from the university, an increase from 168 just last year. Rhodes said this is because of increased interest in graduate programs at ACU as well as the intro-
duction of new graduate programs. The hooding ceremony will shorten the Saturday graduation ceremonies because, in the past, college deans would hood each student earning a graduate degree on stage individually. Rhodes said the ceremony is not meant to replace graduation but to honor the graduate students beforehand. This also will be a onetime event. In May 2020, the university plans to conduct a Friday evening graduate degree commencement ceremony and two Saturday ceremonies for undergraduates.