Letter to the editor regarding ACU’s iphone initiative.

Apple’s new iPhones allow students to be more “connected,” but are iPhones the symbols we want to saturate and define our campus?

ACU has had tremendous economical success over the last few years, apparently because of faithfulness to God. Our school is the third most successfully invested university in the nation and has received unprecedented contributions our donors.

With such generosity, no wonder ACU has been able to spend millions on symbols that represent our “Faith and Excellence.” iPhones will be the next symbol to permeate the cultural of ACU and will define it much more than any renovation or statue. Nothing sends a message to visitors like 5,000 students running around with iPhones that are needed for our education.

Jacob’s Dream is impressive, but James Bond is not popular because he has an impressive angel statue. It is his cutting edge characteristics that attract others to the feathers in that peacock. I know “Faith and Excellence” comes at an Ivy League price, but when did the teachings of Jesus motivate ACU to become the top-cock?

When the No. 1 factor in students’ success and likelihood to graduate college is the income of their parents, iPhones will send a definitive message about who goes here and more specifically about who does not.

For a school so economically “blessed,” ACU charges a significantly disproportionate amount of tuition for Christian families living in Texas, especially in West Texas.

If our extremely high tuition prices haven’t separated less fortunate students and families from our Christian flock, then campus wide iPhones will certainly show them which flock they belong to (or don’t).

Socio-economical discrimination is just as systemic and destructive as racial discrimination and it begins with symbols. Let’s be Christians, not top-cock capitalists.

Matthew Walker
graduate student from Abilene
mxw03a@acu.edu