By Bailey Neal
The banner is up, and so are students’ expectations as the 92nd ACUÂ Summit week approaches. ACU has invited a series of renowned speakers to lecture on topics and struggles Christians may face.
The consensus is that many students attend Summit solely for the Chapel credits, said Alena Weeks, sophomore psychology major from Abilene, and Tyler Nolen, junior information technology major from Flower Mound.
Whether that is the case, event coordinators have tried to make Summit more relevant to students in the past couple of years, while still appealing to the community at large.
Weeks said she is excited about the event and curious about seeing the advertised changes to the series.
“This is only going to be my second Summit,” Weeks said. “I thought last year was pretty good, so I’m hoping that this year is going to be even better.”
She said she is most looking forward to hearing from Donald Miller, the author of Blue Like Jazz.
Nolen said he is also excited about listening to Miller’s lectures.
“I go to Summit to listen to certain speakers – this year, Don Miller is a big one.”
Donald Miller is the author of several books, many of which are studied in ACU courses. One of his books, Searching for God Knows What, was this year’s Freshman Common Reading.
His appearance at ACU is the seventh stop on his A Million Miles tour, which began in Vancouver on Sept. 15.
Twenty-three possible Chapel credits still appeal to students.
“I won’t lie; more Chapel credits would be awesome,” Weeks said. “But it would be nice to just go to hear what these people have to say.”
While in the past, Chapel credits have proven most influential, it seems opportunities to hear relevant, well-known speakers are becoming a factor in students’ decisions to attend Summit lectures.
“If the school could get more well-known people to speak – more familiar names – maybe we would think, ‘Oh, I’ve heard of them. Let’s go,'” Weeks said.
