The school year will officially begin on Monday with the 119th Opening Assembly.

The Opening Assembly will consist of a reading of Paul’s sermon on Mars Hill, singing, music performed by the Big Purple Marching band, Dr. Phil Schubert, president of the university, announcing the start of the school year and an address by Justice Jeff Boyd, a member of the Texas Supreme Court who graduated from ACU in 1983.

The Opening Assembly allows the ACU community to unite together as school starts to celebrate the upcoming year and bless the students, said Craig Fisher, the director of alumni relations.

“It’s an excellent opportunity for us to celebrate the beginning of a year and to do so with praise and worship and with honoring and blessing our students,” said Fisher. “It’s a great opportunity for our alumni to come back and to watch and be a part of that. We livestream it, so that many folks that are all over the world that are part of ACU can still experience it.”

Opening Assembly is coordinated by the Office of Alumni Engagement and the Office of the President as a way to signify the importance of the assembly, said Dr. Ryan Richardson, vice president for student life.

“The very first Opening Ceremony Chapel has largely been planned through our Office of Alumni Engagement and the President’s Office,” said Richardson. “Because Opening Assembly is kind of a time for our entire community to be together, to acknowledge before God that we’re starting this new semester and so it transcends student life, it’s a bigger deal than that.”

The Opening Assembly will begin with the traditional parade of flags, during which each student participant will carry a flag representing the state or country they are from. This year’s parade will make up of 46 state flags, 51 flags representing countries and, for the first time, a flag will represent the Navajo and Cherokee Nations.

Fisher hopes the students will feel encouraged by the knowledge that people worldwide support them on their journey as ACU students.

“I hope they take away the realization and the excitement of what an amazing community I believe Abilene Christian is,” said Fisher. “We are from all over the world, and we’re here together to learn and to grow together and to experience what ACU has to offer.”