With Sing Song weekend looming, family, friends and alumni are making the annual trek to Abilene – and not on foot.
“This weekend is by far the most traffic-intensive weekend of the year,” said ACU Police Chief Jimmy Ellison.
Between 8,000 and 9,000 additional people will arrive on campus between Friday and Sunday, although not all for Sing Song. The Board of Trustees will meet this weekend, and strong financial supporters of the university will be honored at the President’s Circle Dinner.
Similar to previous years, campus parking lots will be open on a first-come, first-served basis, instead of being divided into student, faculty and staff and visitor lots. After a parking lot has reached capacity, it will be barricaded until the event is over. Exceptions are the lot in front of the Teague Special Events Center and the lot north of Edwards Hall, which will be closed to all but those attending the President’s Circle Dinner.
ACU Police Sergeant Bob Delony said the best way to ensure students get a good parking spot – or indeed any parking spot – is to plan ahead, be mindful of the time and get to school early.
The ACU Police Department does not expect the influx of visitors to impact students going to classes Friday because the events do not begin until Friday evening after classes have ended.
“The impact on student parking is not as bad as other events,” Ellison said.
ACUPD will be using all officers, personnel and student employees at its disposal to ensure event traffic does not turn into a debacle. The police ask students and visitors to follow their directions because they have a well-engineered plan, Ellison said. They also urge students to remember this is perhaps the premier weekend for ACU, and they need to be respectful of visitors. Visitors are just as much a part of the university as the students.
Despite the vast number of guests, ACUPD expects the weekend to go smoothly as long as everyone slows down, watches for pedestrians and adheres to the plan.
“Comply with our instructions, and we will do our best to get you in and out quickly,” Ellison said.
