The Optimist
You are here: Home / News

Grad School adds master’s degrees, online options

by

By Nathan Driskell, Student Reporter This fall, three new master's degrees will be available to graduate students at ACU: a master's in higher education, emphasizing college student affairs; a Master of Arts in conflict resolution and reconciliation; and a Master of Education in leadership of learning. These degrees are now open for ... [Read More…]

Soulforce realizes difference at ACU, praises the university’s cooperation

by

By Jonathan Smith, Editor in Chief Members of Soulforce said they knew something was different about their stop at ACU minutes after setting foot on campus. They said even being given name tags to wear made them feel like their visit to Abilene was official - something they did not feel during their previous six stops. The university welcomed the ... [Read More…]

Evening forum evokes mixed student reactions

by

By Mallory Sherwood, Managing Editor Students and faculty left the final event of Soulforce's Equality Ride visit with mixed feelings. The open forum discussed sexuality and the media with most of the focus on Brokeback Mountain, a three-time Academy Award-winning film that told the story of two gay cowboys in Wyoming during the 1960s. Although ... [Read More…]

GSP cyclists raise money, awareness for Osteogenesis Imperfecta

by

By Jaci Schneider, Copy Editor One hospital visit, one Price is Right contestant, about $8,500, and more than 1,200 bicycled miles came together to make a spring break to remember for 20 men of Gamma Sigma Phi. The students bicycled from Abilene to Malibu, Calif., to raise money for the research of Osteogenesis Imperfecta, an incurable disease ... [Read More…]

University prepares for day of peaceful dialogue

by

By Jonathan Smith, Editor in Chief With months of preparations, planning and organization behind, the campus now awaits Sunday's arrival of the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender activist group Soulforce on its Equality Ride tour. Dr. Royce Money, president of the university, said he thinks students and faculty here are prepared for Soulforce's ... [Read More…]

GLBT group expects warmer welcome in Abilene

by

By Mallory Sherwood, Managing Editor After six failed attempts to publicly speak on religious campuses chosen because of their supposed enrollment ban of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students, members of Soulforce Equality Ride anticipate a better reception during their visit Monday in Abilene. Thirty-four Equality Riders left March 5 ... [Read More…]

Delta Theta returns with renewed sense of purpose

by

By Mallory Sherwood, Managing Editor Delta Theta was reactivated Wednesday, six months after pledging was halted. Administrators stopped pledging midway through October after the club's advisers resigned because they didn't agree with the direction the club was headed, said Dr. Wayne Barnard, dean of Campus Life. "The women completed a self-study ... [Read More…]

Students curious to see reactions to Soulforce

by

By Sarah Carlson, Arts Editor As the university awaits the visit from Soulforce's Equality Ride, many students are anxious about the visit's outcome and whether opposing opinions will lead to violent behavior. ACU is one of 19 religious and military institutions along Equality Ride's route and the first after six stops to open its doors to the ... [Read More…]

GSP members bike to California to raise money for the Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation

by

By Mallory Sherwood, Managing Editor Twenty members of Gamma Sigma Phi will embark at 2 p.m. Friday on a 1,200-mile bike ride across the southwest on route to Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif. Riders expect to arrive in California by mid-morning Monday after riding continuously from Abilene, all so they can raise money for a foundation ... [Read More…]

You are here: Home / News