While ACU students endured another grueling Monday of school-related responsibility and recovery from Sing Song Weekend, people working for government organizations enjoyed their national holiday, celebrating Presidents Day away from work.

Perhaps ACU students forgot that Monday was a holiday established to celebrate America’s historic leadership because ACU doesn’t give its students and faculty the day off. Was anyone reminded of this unfair reality after remembering that you could not mail a letter because the Abilene post office was closed? And you could not cash a check because the sign on the bank door informed you that employees would not be available for service on Feb. 18.

Though ACU considerately gave its students Martin Luther King, Jr. Day off, the university has neglected to pay equal attention to other various holidays, Presidents Day included.

Until 1971, the country recognized not just one but two days of the month, Feb. 12 and Feb. 22, as national holidays because these dates mark George Washington and Abraham Lincoln’s birthdays. But during his presidency, Richard Nixon decided that celebrating one day in February, which became known as Presidents Day, would suffice. And so the government now recognizes the third Monday of February as a national holiday, a holiday students at ACU spend in class.

If the university seeks to be a fair, unbiased institution, when did it become acceptable to pick and choose which holidays are worthy of celebrating?

Does the multitude of veterans and individuals currently serving in the U.S. military not deserve our recognition as a university by canceling class on Veterans Day? And it seems a bit ironic that a holiday like Labor Day, which was established to recognize the efforts and achievements of the American workforce, would be spent doing more work.

Though history professors teach students the significance of the nation’s presidential legacy, and the Department of Political Science advocates governmental involvement and civic responsibility, the university sends contradicting messages by overlooking Presidents Day.

With the hype of the 2008 presidential election, students, and the culture at large, have communicated concerns and interest about the presidency in this country, and ACU should, likewise, model respect for the president by celebrating the holiday, class-free.