By Paul A. Anthony, Editor in Chief
Chapel’s daily time will change under the only proposed recommendation released to the public Tuesday.
The Chapel Task Force, which has been routinely releasing ideas for the event’s future for student and faculty review, presented just one proposed recommendation for a daily meeting time: 9 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; 9:30 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
“Everything we have released is changeable,” said Dr. Charlie Marler, chair of the task force and professor of journalism and mass communication. “We have not locked anything in.”
At the same time, Marler said the options for the future were clear: leave the time as is or change it to the proposal, which will likely be recommended to President Royce Money.
“I don’t think it’s a big sticking point [for Money] because of his experience,” Marler said. The current Chapel time of 11 a.m. has been in effect only since the 1980s.
Even if approved this summer, the proposed change would not go into effect until 2004-05 at the earliest, Marler said, because schedules for next school year have already been set.
The task force listed three reasons for the proposed change in a document written by Mark Lewis, chair of the subcommittee in charge of the issue and director of spiritual life.
* To facilitate group meetings by creating a 30-minute break between Chapel and following classes.
* To allow more time for students who work in food service. “Flip-flopping a class with Chapel is the idea,” Lewis said. “It’ll help those who have to work. So many restaurants stay open because of ACU students.”
* To eliminate the post-Chapel rush that clogs the Campus Center with long lines.
“Campus Life particularly strongly believes this is better timing,” Marler said, referring to the four task force members who work in that office.
Marler said the two students on the task force-Jeremy Smith, senior psychology major from Saint Louis, and Valerie Morby, freshman integrated marketing communication major from Houston-also approved the proposed time change.
Students wishing to voice their opinions on the proposal may e-mail Marler at marlerc@acu.edu.
Chapel was conducted at 7:30 each morning when the university was founded in 1906. In the 1950s, Chapel was conducted twice a day in Sewell Auditorium. With the move to Moody Coliseum in 1968, it was conducted at 9:30 and 10 a.m., depending on the day.
