U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) visited ACU’s campus last Thursday.
The senator was able to take a tour of the new Maker Lab and Learning studio, and talk with faculty and students to discover what enables ACU to send out so many employed graduates.
According to Forbes.com, the real unemployment rate is 14.7 percent as of January 2014. While that is a staggering number, even more unprecedented is the impressive 95 percent of ACU business graduates who have a job upon receiving their degree.
“It struck me, listening to these students and their professors talk about the unique culture that ACU brings,” Cornyn said. “These students aren’t just another number or name. They’re real people and they connect in very real and personal ways with their professors, in a way that helps nurture their palates and encourages their success. And of course the great network of alumni that I know has been a great outlet for internships and jobs.”
Though the visit was brief, it impacted not only Cornyn, but the students he met as well.
Betsy Hernandez, senior business management major from Abilene, was shocked with how different Senator Cornyn’s visit was from what she had expected.
“It wasn’t what I was expecting at all,” Hernandez said. “It was a lot more relaxed than I thought. It was really cool that he would just randomly go out of his way to meet people.”
Junior advertising and public relations major from Abilene, Brantly Houston, echoed Hernandez.
“I thought it was really cool that he saw something special about ACU and our graduates,” Houston said. “You could tell he really wanted to know what ACU is doing and why we do it. The fact that he wanted to come and find out what that was all about was really cool.”
Overall, the visit was classified as a success by both parties, and now Cornyn has a better perspective on why ACU is so successful with the placement of it’s graduates.
“This successful model is unique to this culture of caring where teachers and students have a real relationship” Cornyn said. “I’ll have to think more about what lessons I’ve learned here today, but I think this is a great model for Texas and for the rest for the country.”
