It’s no secret attending Abilene Christian University is an expensive endeavor.  While average tuition at most private universities sits around $38,050, ACU tuition tops out at a whopping $41,500 per year, not including room and board or textbooks per year. This price also does not include housing, textbooks or a meal plan. The average room ... [Read More…]

Every year, the start of the fall semester is plagued by flyers, emails, social media posts, tables and more filled with students promoting organizations and vying for new members.  Oftentimes, these efforts to reel people in are targeted to freshmen, specifically through events like ACU Fest and Join Week.  While these events are not a bad ... [Read More…]

Experiential learning is the buzzword you hear the most from within the ACU community whether that be from departments, administration or the marketing team.  ACU is advertised to be a small school with a tight knit community that provides more experience than any state school can and to some extent that is exactly right.  However, when ... [Read More…]

Updated Feb. 7, 2022:  To the Optimist Editorial Board: Since December, ACU’s administration has been meeting with sponsors, officers and members of Galaxy to conduct intentional training around diversity, community membership and leadership. Galaxy’s infractions resulted from deeper cultural concerns that highlighted the need for ... [Read More…]

In one semester on campus, at least four students were hit by cars, and two of those incidents resulted in hospitalization. After the multiple accidents and consistent, fearful caution coming from students crossing the busy streets each day, surely the university would be working to take drastic measures to prevent this from happening.  What did ... [Read More…]

Hiking in the shadow of the Teton mountain range, visiting hidden independent mountain book shops and long driving days through open ranges singing at the top of your lungs to Fleetwood Mac with the windows rolled down, all with your best friend, sounds like a dream. I lived it all, and a dream it was but I promise it was real. My best friend ... [Read More…]

With rushing season in full swing, students have been faced with the stress of rush events, rankings and the competition that tends to accompany Greek life as they continue to balance their studies and extracurricular activities. Greek life can serve to fulfill an amazing purpose and provide community to students, particularly at ACU, where it's ... [Read More…]

As the semester moves forward, you will see articles published by the Optimist Editorial Board. Such pieces are not indicative of one persons opinion, but rather a combination of opinions and beliefs of the Optimist Editorial Board. We felt it was beneficial for you to get to know us each individually before you hear our voice ... [Read More…]

As we look back on a school year that will certainly go down in history, we can see the negative effects that hybrid or online learning has had on students academically and socially. With a considerable amount of classes being either online or hybrid this year and most social events being canceled or modified to fit CDC guidelines, this year ... [Read More…]