At the 51st annual President’s Circle Dinner on Feb. 23, university leaders imagined ACU’s next half century and beyond. Twelve students were asked a simple, but big, question: What would you like to have accomplished in 50 years?
Their answers were inspiring and varied, from wanting to revolutionize the world’s access to energy, to growing the way churches do discipleship and ministry, to working as a nurse practitioner, to empowering children as a grade school teacher. Watch:
“Each of these students is being prepared to be the kind of difference-maker our world needs at a time when ACU is reaching new heights,” said Dr. Phil Schubert (’91), president of the university, said at the dinner, celebrating members of the President’s Circle giving society and members of the Heritage Society. “They each represent what ACU is: A place where students can thrive, no matter their background or where they come from.”
In addition to the relationships they’ve made as students and the world-class education they are receiving, the students highlighted in the video all pointed to guidance from faulty and experiential learning opportunities as being key to their growth as leaders and as Christians.
“There is such an electric passion from the professors on this campus, that they care so deeply for serving the world around them and what they do, and I don’t think it’s an experience I can get anywhere else,” said Jordyn Arendse (’19), teaching and learning graduate student from Colleyville, Texas.
“I had the opportunity to study abroad in Leipzig, Germany,” said Riley Simpson, sophomore management major from Dripping Springs, Texas, “and that was just one of the kinds of experiences at ACU where professors draw you into something deeper than what’s happening in the classroom.”
“Attending the Leadership Summit with the College of Business Administration was one of the best things that could have happened to me,” said Olive Tuyishimire, senior engineering major from Kigali, Rwanda. “I loved getting to hear from different people in different fields on how they incorporate God in their daily lives.”
ACU is the highest-ranking university in Texas in a U.S. News & World Report benchmark focused on student success. The university achieved Top 20 status in three of eight high-impact categories among 1,500 universities evaluated for “A Focus on Student Success” and is the only Texas institution to be ranked in five of the categories.
“Our focus has always been on students and their success,” Schubert said. “But the level of national recognition we received for our student success initiatives reinforces we are on the right track.”
“So many great things are happening in this community,” he continued. “The next 50 years and beyond are limitless for ACU, and for our students. Lives are changed and communities are blessed through them – and through you.”
Learn more about ACU’s student success initiatives here.
Visit acu.edu/presidents-circle to learn more about the President’s Circle.