Moving into your dorm with help from the university president. Watching a West Texas sunrise while singing praise songs. Sharing a home-cooked meal at your professor’s house.
These moments define the first-year experience at ACU, where relationship-building is as essential as class attendance.
This intentional community-building begins on move-in day, when students are immediately welcomed into the ACU family. Faculty, staff and upperclassmen unload cars and carry belongings up stairs, creating an atmosphere of celebration rather than drudgery.
After a goodbye blessing with families, Wildcat Week officially begins. Students are immediately welcomed into one of ACU’s most meaningful traditions, the Candlelight Devo, which will bookend their university journey.
“Wildcat week serves as the foundation of the student experience,” says PJ Martinez, dean of student engagement. “It equips first-year students through them learning the ACU traditions, experiencing Abilene, a place they’ll call home for the next 4-5 years, and meeting people who are on a journey similar to theirs.”
Throughout the week, students participate in concerts, service projects, communal worship and creative activities. Martinez points to ACU Fest as a highlight, where students connect with local churches, non-profits and businesses, as well as more than 75 student organizations.
“A sense of joy” permeates the event, Martinez says, as incoming students meet alumni and begin to understand the strength of the ACU community.
All of these activities are intentional, “designed to create a sense of belonging from the very beginning of a student’s college experience,” says Lillie Goode, Student Director of Wildcat Week for 2026.
“By the end of the week, it is our hope that ACU starts to feel like home because of the relationships, traditions, and shared experiences new students develop during those first few days on campus.”
That community doesn’t end when classes begin. Students stay with their Wildcat Week groups throughout the first semester in Cornerstone, a foundational course that shapes the rest of their ACU experience. Led by faculty from across disciplines, the class invites students to explore the purpose of a liberal arts education.
Additionally, Cornerstone faculty involve students in community-building activities, such as service projects, shared meals and class outings to ACU events. Each class has a dedicated peer mentor, an upperclassman who guides students through their first semester.
For Merit Gamertsfelder, a business management major and Cornerstone peer leader, the transition from Wildcat Week to Cornerstone is critical in building community: “Cornerstone helps freshmen get connected with others right off the bat. Wildcat Week plays a big part of this too, establishing friendships first and then growing into them in the classroom.”
Seeing the same small group several times a week in the classroom and beyond helps students build confidence, Gamertsfelder says. “At first everyone is shy and timid, but by the end they have all become comfortable and have let their inner selves shine.”
Together, Wildcat Week and Cornerstone propel students through their first year with a foundation of belonging. As Martinez puts it, “Once Wildcat Week is done, the growth and the enjoyment doesn’t end – it’s only beginning!”
– Kayla Hewitt
May 1, 2026