By Jared Fields, Managing Editor

This whole “Centennial Celebration” thing is great for ACU. It really is. There have been great things done to celebrate what ACU has done and what ACU will do in the next century.

But, the university has used as an excuse to overdo things just a bit, like the Graduation Celebration in May.

For those of you unfortunate enough to miss it, Graduation Celebration took place the Friday night before graduation to honor those about to graduate. It was a big to-do with graduates, family, friends and faculty gathered in the mall area of campus.

What made this an over -the-top spectacle can’t be narrowed to one thing; there were many things that pushed this to “ridiculous” status. After hearing rumors of fireworks, what followed was nothing short of a letdown.

After the speeches, there was a laser show, accompanied by some music. That’s right, a laser show like the kind you thought was cool when you were 6-years-old at Six Flags.

The school may have had good intentions with this laser show, but it came off the wrong way. It would be like hiring a petting zoo for your kid’s birthday. It’s OK for a kid in kindergarten, but not for a 22-year-old.

Then, just at the climax of the “I-can’t-believe-ACU-paid-good-money-for-a-laser-show” show, tons of purple and white confetti shot out of massive canons.

Who sits around planning one of the biggest events of the year and says, “I think a laser show followed by mind-boggling amounts of confetti would be appropriate?”

I’m sure people in Potosi were wondering where those pieces of purple and white confetti came from when they started blowing in during June.

After the confetti, students and faculty were too puzzled to express their thoughts with words. Very few verbalized thoughts came out as “cool” or “I liked it.” The words were more like “lame”or “joke,” while students cried from laughter.

Others weren’t too surprised by ACU’s ability to take something potentially great and turn it into a laugh-fest.

What ACU intended to be an honoring of the graduating class turned into a joke. If anything, it showed how out-of-touch the administration is from the students. Maybe ACU got the hint after the Graduation Celebration and will follow through on the rumors that the Birthday Celebration will have fireworks.

That’s a move the university should have made in May. It would have saved a lot of embarrassment.