The President’s Circle dinner occurs on the weekend of Sing Song every year, giving alumni and donors yet another incentive to come to Abilene this Valentine’s Day weekend. This year the President’s Circle dinner will be a little different.

“Instead of a guest speaker, we will have some coffee house-style conversations with faculty and students,” said Rendi Hahn, the advancement campaign coordinator at ACU.

The President’s Circle consists of those who have donated more than $1,000 to ACU in that calendar year. This dinner is an opportunity for the top-donors of ACU to be honored for their generous gifts.

In previous years, the dinner has been a night full of entertainment that has included a wide variety of ACU’s dance teams such as SHADES, Omega and Sanctify, as well as theatrical performances from the ACU Theatre Department.

Hahn said this years’ dinner will primarily feature President Schubert who will have words of gratitude and inspiration for the donors.

“This is probably our premiere event on campus for recognizing these wonderful friends of the university,” said Vicki Britten, director of advancement services at ACU.

The event has been an ACU tradition since 1969.

“There are still people living that have been members every year since 1969,” Britten said.

As the director of university events, Jennifer Ellison is responsible for coordinating, planning and designing special events such as this dinner.

“Each year I design an event completely different from the previous one,” Ellison said. “Every President’s Circle Dinner has it’s own personality and this year is no different.”

She turns the Teague Special Events Center into a venue that is “pretty magical” Britten said.

“Our donors give because they’re passionate about the mission of ACU, so we want them to see first-hand where their funds are going and who they are impacting,” Ellison said.

Student ambassadors will sit at each table to represent the student body of ACU.

“They love being on campus and they love seeing the students”¦they bleed purple and white,” Britten said.