Students have different reactions to how the university is handling coronavirus in the community; however, many of those reactions have been positive so far. 

“Personally, I feel like ACU has done a phenomenal job of handling COVID-19,” said Austin Britten, sophomore psychology major from Abilene. “This was proven to be especially true with the quick response to the spike we saw about a month ago.” 

That spike had a reported high of 119 active cases on campus but has since come down to smaller numbers. In the wake of the outbreak, ACU canceled all events and became stricter on smaller meetings but has since restored many events such as Litmas and Praise Day Chapels. In addition to the events, a lot of cases that have been seen so far were traced to off-campus events. 

“I think that I am expecting a certain level of raised numbers simply because I know many students attended Halloween parties,” Britten said. “I’m not as concerned about ACU sponsored and supervised events though.” 

The main way the university has been coping with coronavirus on campus is the Do Your Part campaign, emphasizing the importance of masks, social distancing and other precautionary measures needed to curve the spread of the virus. 

“The majority of students are doing their part in my personal opinion, however, it only takes one person to spread like wildfire,” said Jax Hernandez, sophomore biology major from North Richland Hills. “I think that the university’s mask campaign is a case of having their heart in the right place but poor execution. I think that the university needs to do a better job of explaining the purpose of a mask this way the general student and faculty population understands where and when masks are or are not truly needed.” 

To keep up to date with case numbers within the ACU community visit acu.edu/coronavirus.