Several weeks ago, President Schubert, in a school-wide email, disclosed that students will be eligible for a 40% refund from this semester’s meal and rooming expenses.

While the expenses from students’ meal plans will be refunded by May 1, boarding expenses will only be applied in the form of a scholarship at the beginning of the 2020 fall semester. However, the effects of having neither these meals and housing, nor the money with which they were paid for has sparked the vocality of students in the past few weeks.

Among those sharing their opinion is freshman psychology major, Amelia Little, from North Richland Hills, Texas.

“It’s an unfortunate, unpredictable situation, but a significant number of students are pinching pennies together trying to afford going to school at ACU,” said Little. 

Students also mentioned their concern for professors during these trying times.

“If professors pay gets cut, schools will have a harder time retaining them, and it will cycle until higher education as a whole is damaged,” said Cecily Powell, Freshman Bible and English major from Nashville, Tennessee.

The transition for students has been difficult, but on the other side the computer screen, professors have been drafted into a world of teaching with the entirely new course styles, communication methods and academic expectations.

The virus has taken so much from our normal way of life and has forced problems on all of us, many of which do not have one right answer.

Nevertheless, for the lucky students who are especially conservative when spending Bean Bucks, all remaining will be transferred to campus cash. This detail will leave those like freshman engineering major from Trophy Club, Texas, Grant Hinshaw, with a comfortable chunk of change to buffer a visit to the online campus store.

“My bean bucks being converted to campus cash really helps,” Hinshaw said. “Now I pretty much have a $400 gift card.”