The Abilene Zoo will open exclusively for students, faculty, staff, and alumni in the area from 6-9 p.m. on Tuesday.

Craig Fisher, associate vice president for advancement and alumni, encourages people to come out for the gathering before everyone leaves for summer and seniors graduate.

“It’s a busy spring, coming off of the sports events, sorority and fraternity orientation, Sing Song weekend, midterms and getting ready for finals,” Fisher said. “We tried to find an opportunity in the spring to have a night to just hang out.”

The Office of Alumni Relations strives to bring the whole community of ACU together and Jama Cadle, assistant director of alumni relations and university relations, believes this event is a great fit.

“We did it last year and had a lot of positive feedback so we thought why not do it again,” Cadle said. “It was really cool to see people interact with each other.”

Cadle said this is one of her favorite events because of the number of different groups coming together. Last year around 700 people attended.

This event was conceived during COVID-19 in 2020 as a way for the community could be together in an open space.

“We were trying to think of ways outdoors during the pandemic to engage our community together,” Cadle said, “something that is fun and lighthearted and can just bring us together. It makes us rethink the way we do things.”

Participants can look forward to free admission, carousel rides, zoo train rides, and a giraffe-feeding station. Food will be available for purchase inside the zoo. 

Fisher is using this opportunity to show the community all the things outside of campus to enjoy.

“We want to make sure our students are aware that there is really cool stuff to do in Abilene,” Fisher said. “The zoo is one of those and it’s a really cool place to go outside and soak up the night.”

The Abilene zoo is the No. 1 tourist attraction in Abilene and the only zoo in between Fort Worth and El Paso.

The goal of the alumni office is to make sure the community feels thanked for everything they have done this year.

The Alumni Office asks you to register for the event.