MAY COMMENCEMENT TO HONOR ’22 GRADUATES Commencement to return to Wildcat Stadium due to Moody Renovation

BY MACI WEATHERS NEWSLETTER EDITOR

The ongoing construction of Moody Coliseum will force May commencement into Wildcat Stadium for the second-straight year. The first of three ceremonies will be an evening graduate ceremony on Friday at 8 p.m. Ceremonies will continue with the undergraduate ceremonies on Saturday, one morning and one afternoon at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. respectively. There are 521 students graduating with Undergraduate degrees and 232 students graduating with gradute degrees Garrison Powell, university relations officer, said this year still does not feel like a normal year for graduation.

“Just because we haven’t had the ceremony back with Moody undergoing renovation towards the tail end of COVID, it still feels kind of a little bit not like normal,” Powell said.

“But I think the big thing is just being able to have a ceremony during COVID.”

Despite the location change, April Young, senior alumni university relations officer, said they have still been able to implement the traditions that the campus is familiar with.

Alongside the candlelight devotional, the alumni office started the tradition of giving Purple Line pins after seniors walk across the stage.

“It started a few years ago,” Young said. “We started giving out Purple Line pins. I’m from the Alumni Association so that’s turned into what I would consider being a tradition.”

“Now, a lot of people probably don’t know about it, but we want every graduate to leave with a little piece of purple to represent they leave this place as an alumnus.”

Graduates however, continue to be upset about not graduating in Moody Coliseum.

Ally Brant, senior phys - ics major from Abilene, said being in the stadium is the best way to graduate on ACU grounds.

“Since I heard that Moody would not be ready in time, for my graduation I was very upset.” Brant said.

“As a kid who grew up near ACU’s campus, I always saw myself graduating in Moody.”

“I also wished that we would be the first to graduate in the new and improved Moody. I am glad to at least graduate in the Wildcat Stadium on ACU ground.”

BY SYDNEY VARNER EDITOR IN CHIEF

Student Government Association has officially elected Lindsey May and Skyler Gill as the 2022-23 president and vice president respectively.

Alongside May, a senior marketing major from Farmersville, and Gill, a junior english major from Schertz, the Executive Cabinet was also chosen for the 2022-23 school year.

The board is as follows:

• Treasurer: Nathan Marshall, junior financial management major from Melissa

• Press Secretary: Gracyn McGathy, sophomore journalism major from Leander

• Marketing Director: Javier Soto Valladares, junior graphic design and advertising major from Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Chief of Staff: Alli Dimmitt, sophomore political science major from Bonita Springs, Florida

• Chief Financial Officer: Hayden Poorman, sophomore financial management major from Abilene

• Director of Student Engagement and Recruitment: Trevon Hardy, junior management major from Houston May and Gill have both been a part of SGA during the 2021-22 academic year and based their campaign off of three main components: Transparency, Advocacy and Representation.

“In all decisions we make, we want these three components to be at the center of it all,” May said.

May and Gill both hope to include more students in SGA decisions, giving students a space to make their opinions and voices heard, a goal specifically mentioned in the adovacy prong of their election campaign.

“We want to advocate for the students that attend this University through campaign weeks, educational events, giveaways and provide a listening ear to their concerns,” May said.

“Student Government is the direct channel for students to make change happen on campus.It’s not that often that someone gets a chance to be in a position that has so much impact and I take this responsibility very seriously in that regard.”

Gill said in addition to wanting to provide a listening ear to students, she wants to serve campus through positive change within the community.

“For me, SGA means service,” Gill said.

“Our main goal is to serve the students and advocate for positive change around campus.

“I hope that through our senate we are able to have student leaders from a variety of areas represent the needs of students so that we can change ACU for the better.”