The College of Arts and Sciences is asking for professors from each of the 12 departments to donate items for the time capsule that is being put together by students and the dean of the department, Greg Straughn.
The purpose of the time capsule is to create a snapshot of the department as it is now before all of the new construction is completed. Around 20 students are helping gather items before the capsule goes into the ground.
“We have three committees working on this,” said Lulu Vega, sophomore psychology major from San Antonio and one of the students involved. “One group is involved in the engineering part of it, then there’s the media part and then content.”
Originally, the group wanted to make the capsule using the 3D printer in the Maker Lab but the material wouldn’t have been sustainable underground, so they purchased an industrial strength one.
“We want to include stuff from ACU’s culture now so people can look back on it 50 years from now,” Vega said.
This process has taken months to plan and just as long to get the word out. The deadline for faculty to contribute items is Friday, March 11 but the team can receive items the week after Spring Break.
“The goal is to bury it during the Undergraduate Research Festival in April,” Vega said.
Contributions from professors will be artifacts, photographs and letters from students and from department members to future students. As of now, the team has received positive feedback from the departments.
“The toughest part would probably be narrowing down the materials that will go into the capsule,” said Chelsea Kigh, sophomore psychology major from Arlington.
Kigh also says that the college has been great at helping contribute.
“CAS has been amazing, when we ask of something they deliver, when they get the chance out of their busy schedules they are pleased to help us make this project happen,” Kigh said.
The time capsule will also have a dedication ceremony as well as a plaque over the area where it’s buried.
“I think it’s important to commemorate what ACU was and what it’s becoming,” Vega said, “It’ll be interesting to see what it’s like 50 years from now.”
