By Kelline Linton, Chief Copy Editor
Fifty freshmen crowded into the Walling Lecture Hall on Thursday with books in hand, ready to converse and interact academically even though classes had not yet started. They were participating in the first session of the Freshman Common Reading, an optional activity that centered on the analysis and discussion of the book Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore.
The book details real-life events about diverse people who come together through the power of God to dramatically impact each other.
Although the Freshman Common Reading is not for class credit, 400 students and 80 faculty members have already requested the book. Some freshman classes, like Bible and University Seminar, also will use the book in their curriculum.
The Common Reading program consists of two freshman group sessions during Welcome Week, a faculty discussion in the Adams Center and an ongoing online forum that anyone can join at acuoffthepage.wik.is. The group forum and blog site encourages students “to go beyond the written words of the book, to take its ideas to the next level and to translate these reading experiences into action-in short, to go Beyond the Page into real life.”
The program concludes with a visit by the authors Sept. 9. Both Hall and Moore will sign books and answer questions beginning at 2 p.m. in Hart Auditorium. This event is open to only ACU students, faculty and staff; the rest of the Abilene community can meet the authors at 7 p.m. in Moody Coliseum.
Freshman participants can also enter a contest centered on the reading by creating and turning in work inspired by the story, like a poem, essay or short film. All submissions are due by 3 p.m. on Aug. 29, and the winner of the contest will receive a $500 scholarship; second and third places will receive $250 each.
Dr. Charles Mattis, dean of the First-Year Program, and Steven Moore, assistant professor of English, led the two Freshman Common Reading sessions on Thursday and Friday. They discussed the main themes of the book, including friendship, race and prejudice, homelessness and prayer.
“This book really struck me because it had so many different themes, it relates to really important issues that are current today, it’s relatively easy to read and it’s real and authentic,” Mattis said. Kaytlin Wiseman, freshman communication major from Glen Rose, liked the book because “it was about real people in our area; it’s a true story with real places you can actually visit.”
The Common Reading was an academic activity that stimulated conversation and interaction. “We were trying to introduce students to the intellectual life at ACU; you get to know people a whole lot better if you talk about deeper issues. We discussed deep important issues that matter to God and matter to the world,” Mattis said.
Amanda Arzigian, freshman physics major from Edgewood, N.M., thought the book went well with ACU’s mission to change the world.
“It really got me to think,” she said. “I saw ways I could live differently and how some things are neither good nor bad but just different.”
Fifty freshmen attended the first discussion session, and about 40 students attended the second session.
“[The first session] blew me away in terms of the questions, comments and insights. Normally when you do something like this, people are shy, especially on the first day,” Moore said.
The First-Year Program paid for the books and the authors’ upcoming visit. Mattis had wanted to start a program like this for some time and thinks eventually the Common Reading may be used in the new cornerstone course.
“What a great opportunity to be with 1,000 other people that have similar concerns for the world,” Mattis said.
Any freshman or faculty member can still request a free copy of the book, and anyone else who wants to participate in the program can buy the book in The Campus Store.
“The whole campus is invited [to participate],” Mattis said. “I just can’t afford to buy books for everyone.”
