Campus hosts 111th Summit starting next week Page 2
FEATURE
Friday, September 15, 2017 Vol. 106, Issue 04
A student publication of Abilene Christian University since 1912
DE LEON TALKS ABOUT HIS PATH TO ACU Page 4-5
3, 2, 1 KICKOFF
NOAH TAMBORELLA VIDEOGRAPHER After years of preparation, the campus prepares to finally attend the first home game at Wildcat Stadium Saturday. Thousands of fans will pack the stadium and campus.
CALENDAR 9/15 •
NEEDTOBREATHE performs at 8 p.m.
9/16 • •
Cross Country hosts alumni and community 5k at 10:50 a.m. Tailgate at 2 p.m.
•
Football at 6 p.m.
9/17 •
Summit begins with Alumni Chorus concert
9/18 •
Freshman Follies crew sign-up deadline
9/20 •
Men’s pledging registration deadline
BOX OFFICE SEPTEMBER 8-10 1. It
$123,403,419
2. Home Again $8,567,881 3. The Hitman’s Bodyguard $4,801,745 4. Annabelle: Creation $4,003,115 5. Wind River $3,132,362
0
DAYS UNTIL
WILDCAT STADIUM OPENS NEWS
PLAYERS TALK GAMEDAY EXCITEMENT Page 3
Alumni Relations prepares for stadium opening BY ASHLEY ALFRED COPY EDITOR
Alumni are traveling from all over as they gear up for their first taste of on-campus football at their former university. Craig Fisher, director of alumni relations and annual projects, said alumni are traveling from across the state and the country. He said that he knows for certain that alumni will be visiting from Arkansas, Arizona and Kentucky with
no doubts that some will travel further. Fisher said the Office of Alumni Relations has been planning for Opening Day for a year and a half to give alumni the opportunity to reconnect with classmates and enjoy being back on campus. Alumni Relations designed many of the weekend’s events with alumni in mind to make their first modern era on-campus football game a memorable one.
“We want them to see and experience the home football experience that they were not able to when they were students,” said Fisher. “They can experience ACU again in an all new way. While they’re here we want them to see the campus, expansion, and new buildings while also enjoying being back as they remember their favorite places ... we want them to bring their children and show them the benefits of a unique edu-
cation at ACU.” An portion of the tailgate area will be set up specifically for alumni, faculty, staff, student life and fans. The portion of the tailgate south of the GATA fountain will have inflatables for children and teens. “We didn’t plan any specific alumni-focused activities for this weekend because we want everyone to feel like they are a part of the ACU family,” said Samantha Adkins, talent
management specialist and Gameday Committee member. “We know they want to connect with classmates and experience a little of student life now.” This football season will feature more opportunities than ever before for alumni to reconnect and experience the how life is changing on campus.
Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) deadlines. Before this year, students could file the FAFSA and receive financial award letters in the spring. Campbell said this allowed the admissions team to visit high schools in the fall, then work on sending award letters in the spring. This year, students were able to file the FAFSA as early as Oct. 1. Campbell said many students received award letters and knew their financial situations before they even got a chance to visit schools. A third reason freshmen enrollment went down could be the lower population of high school graduates nationwide. Campbell said most states have fewer high school graduates,
but Texas has had a rise in high school graduates. This means more colleges outside of Texas recruited Texas high schoolers. “Competition for Texas students has never been higher,” Campbell said. “They are telling us that they are being inundated from colleges all over America trying to recruit them.” The university undergraduate totals have also gone down, with fewer fifthyear seniors on campus. Campbell said before the university had block tuition, only 60 percent of students graduated in four years. Now, 83 percent of students graduate in four years, which led to a decline in the
AMA14B@ACU.EDU
Declining enrollment reflects state trends BY HALEY REMENAR EDITOR IN CHIEF
The university enrolled fewer freshmen than expected this year which reflects national and state trends for freshmen enrollment, university officials said. Kevin Campbell, vice president of enrollment management and student engagement, said the university aimed to get 1,060 new freshmen, but just 971 have enrolled at the 12th day of classes, which was Tuesday. The lower enrollment may not have a big impact on university finances because the university only budgeted for 980 freshmen, Campbell said. “Any time your overall
freshmen class slips a little bit, it does have an impact on the financial status of the institution,” Campbell said. “But ACU is extremely financially strong. More of what we need to do is realign our budget and expectation as we go into this next year.” Across the nation, the number of freshmen enrolling in college has dropped during the last year. State schools in Texas are getting less government funding and are turning to tuition money to bolster their finances, Campbell said. Texas A&M University and Texas Tech University took more freshmen this year than in previous years, and some of those students had
been considering ACU. Throughout the last few years, the number one choice for students who were accepted at ACU but didn’t enroll was Baylor University, followed by A&M, then Tech. However, this year Campbell said Texas Tech was the number one school students chose instead of ACU. “When they withdraw their application from ACU, we have a cancellation survey that goes out so know we where they wind up attending,” Campbell said. “We have never had more students in our pool choose Texas Tech.” The lower freshmen enrollment could also be the result of a change in Federal
SEE ENROLLMENT PAGE 2
Big teams lead to big payouts for football BY JONATHAN RAITZ SPORTS DIRECTOR
The Wildcats have been outscored 76 to 24 in the first two games of the season, and had the spread been right in either game, it would be much worse. But aside from getting the big-game experience that FCS schools can’t quite produce, why do schools like ACU play these lopsided games?
$650,000 is why. Before each of the games, ACU had already been promised $325,000 from New Mexico and another $325,000 from Colorado State. In fact, according to a USA Today Sports, ACU’s payout is just a fraction of the $150 million that is to be paid in “guarantee games” throughout college football this season. The Wildcats’ early
season matchups against FBS teams started back in 2013 with a late-season 34-29 loss to New Mexico State. ACU then opened the next season with a one-point loss to Georgia Southern in the Georgia Dome. However, the payouts for UNM and CSU doubled the combined total of those 2013 and 2014 games. In fact, since 2013 the football program has grossed $1.25 million in
W W W. A C U O P T I M I S T. C O M
“guarantee games,” and that doesn’t include the totals from matchups with Fresno State in 2015 and Air Force in 2016. Those totals were not disclosed at this time. But this is just a start. The Wildcats also have matchups slated against Baylor (2018), Mississippi State (2019), North Texas (2019), Texas A&M (2020), SMU (2021) and Texas Tech (2024, 2026).
Each of those teams will likely pay more than the $325,000 total. Aside from the huge payouts, it’s games like these that help get a small, Church of Christ-affiliated private school in West Texas on the map. Director of athletics Lee De Leon said the national recognition of the university has been a focal point SEE PAYOUTS PAGE 2