Faculty and staff have taken over certain sections of Moody Coliseum on Mondays after a push from the president, but we don’t mind having them there.

Schubert expressed an expectation at the beginning of the semester for faculty and staff to regularly attend Monday Chapel. This change may make finding a seat on Monday more difficult, but this effort to create a greater sense of community among everyone at ACU is a worthy endeavor.

The president gave faculty and staff permission to close their offices for 30 minutes on the first day of the school week to join the rest of the ACU community in Chapel, leaving them few excuses for not attending. This is a simple and well-planned solution, making it as convenient as possible for faculty and staff members to attend Chapel – a tradition as old as ACU itself.

Students should also make it a point to attend on Mondays and take advantage of this opportunity to listen to topics with faculty and staff – especially considering this change came partly from student opinions.

The Chapel guy Mark Lewis noticed, while reading last semester’s Chapel surveys, that many students were requesting more Chapel attendance and participation by members of faculty and staff.

Schubert’s expectation for faculty to attend on Mondays makes the students’ desire attainable. Students, faculty and staff shouldn’t take his gesture lightly. They should appreciate Schubert’s directness, keep in mind the importance students place on faculty and staff attendance, and show up with a smile.

This well-formulated change, if taken seriously, has the potential to create deep dialogue between faculty, staff and students, expanding the Chapel experience out of its traditional 30-minute time frame and into the classroom.

Although some faculty and staff members may disagree with being told to attend Chapel once a week, they should at least be relieved they aren’t required to wait in a seemingly endless line to swipe in and out.