ACU recently received one of the largest gifts in its history toward the Partnering in the Journey scholarship campaign. Lacy and Dorothy Harber gave $20 million toward scholarships for students in the College of Biblical Studies, making it the university’s second-largest scholarship endowment gift.

The Harber’s gift was announced during Sing Song Weekend, but amidst all the noise of the weekend and the emphasis on the Vision in Action campaign, the big announcement was easily overlooked. It seems to us that a gift of this size and nature would be a really big deal, but outside of the President’s Circle dinner, there hasn’t been much noise about it.

Over the last few years, the university has asked for donations to the new football stadium on ACU’s campus. With the Vision In Action campaign, there have been elaborate reveals in Chapel and hype videos about how incredible the addition to campus will be. And while football is good and fun, we’ve been making too big of a deal about being Division 1 and not a big enough deal about giving more students better financial aid. However, with an endowment the size of the Harber’s, even more students will be able to attend football games in the new stadium.

When the Harber’s gift was announced, Dr. Schubert said, “It’s hard to put into words how meaningful and significant this gift is, but know this: Scholarships change our students’ lives. And our students change the world.”

Maybe it is hard to put into words how meaningful the gift is, but perhaps the louder and more often that message is projected, the easier it becomes.

Schubert’s words should remind us that it is gifts like these, the ones that really do make attending ACU financially possible for students, are the ones that change students’ lives.

This is exciting news: more students will have the opportunity to attend a great school like ACU.

You’d think they’d throw a parade for something like that.