By Kyle Peveto, Opinion Editor

The Light, an ACU-sponsored singing group and recruiting tool, was listed as one of the budget cuts released by the university Tuesday.

Ceasing operation at the semester’s end, the touring group will not travel the nation this summer.

Though understanding of the cuts, those associated with The Light say the group should return when the budget can afford the group, said Dr. Mike Scarborough, director of choral acts.

“The best way to think about this is to get our feet back on the ground,” Scarborough said. “Everyone is being affected by this.”

The singing group, composed of current ACU students and led by a student director, tours churches and youth rallies across the country and records albums of a cappella Christian-themed songs to promote the university.

“Anytime you do without something you’ve grown accustomed to, it creates a void,” Scarborough said.

The void created by The Light’s absence will be evident in the youth rallies and church meetings where the group used to perform.

“ACU will be missing a very important PR [public relations] instrument,” said Travis Branam, senior music education major from Santa Clarita, Calif.

Student participants in The Light, who receive scholarships for their work, will find other ways to supplement their educational costs, Branam said.

Most of the expenses The Light incurs stem from the national tour each summer that has them traveling coast to coast in rented vans with cellular phones and renting hotel rooms in various cities, funded by ACU, Scarborough said.

The Light began as a recruiting tool for the Campus Life Office but became a music department-sponsored group more than two years ago, and Scarborough is confident it will return.

“A group as valuable as The Light will find its way back to the university,” he said.