Abilene Christian University

The Churches of Christ in Abilene founded it as a Christian university for West Texas. Childers Classical Institute opened in the fall of 1906, with 25 students.[7] It initially included a lower school starting in the seventh grade.[8]

When Jesse P. Sewell became president of the institute in 1912, the school began using Abilene Christian College on all its printed material. In 1920, the school formally changed the name.

The Optimist, the university's student-produced newspaper, was founded in 1912. The Prickly Pear, the school yearbook, was founded in 1916. The campus literary-arts magazine (now The Shinnery Review, formerly The Pickwicker) has been in production since 1933.

ACU's Onstead-Packer Bible Studies Building, Chapel on the Hill and Tower of Light seen from Faubus Fountain Lake

Abilene Christian College first received school accreditation in 1951, when it became an accredited member of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.[9]

Amberton University, previously Amber University, was created as an extension campus of Abilene Christian University. It was launched in Mesquite, Texas, in 1971, moving to Garland, Texas, in 1974. It became a separate institution as Amber University in 1982, and was rechristened Amberton University in 2001. Like Abilene Christian University, Amberton remains affiliated with the Churches of Christ.

On February 22, 1976, the name of Abilene Christian College was changed to Abilene Christian University. The university celebrated its centennial in the 2005–06 school year. In July 2015, the university signed a lease for an expansion campus located in Addison, Texas.[10] Called ACU Dallas, the new campus began offering several new graduate programs, including an MBA and Ed.D. in organizational leadership.[11]

• The Prickly Pear. From 1916 to 2009, this was the yearbook. The name was taken from Opuntia, a species of cactus native to the Abilene and West Texas area, commonly referred to as "prickly pear".[20]

Jacob's Dream statue and display on the ACU campus. The artwork is based on Genesis 28:10–22 and graphically represents the scenes alluded to in the hymn "Nearer, My God, to Thee" and the spiritual "We Are Climbing Jacob's Ladder" as well as other musical works.

• Sing Song. Since 1956, this annual competition in mid-February has featured student groups of 30–100 people, singing themed a cappella medleys, usually satirical. Originating as a fundraiser for the school, the modern event has developed into a major show for which each group assembles costumes related to their act's theme, such as Peter Pan, the British Royal Guard, Coca-Cola, Adam and Eve, or forest fires. Often the costumes involve a mid-performance quick-change to a second costume—such as the 1987 acts in which grapes turned into raisins or bananas peeled to reveal Carmen Miranda—or elaborate choreography within the risers, as when the 1983 freshman class act recreated a Pac-Man screen and manipulated their costumes so that the character appeared to move around the screen.[21][22][23] The men of Galaxy and the women of Sigma Theta Chi currently hold the records for most wins of a men's club and women's club, respectively.[24]
• Summit. Referred to as Lectureship until the 2008 school year. Begun in 1918, this annual program gathers thousands of attendees for lectures and workshops on religious topics connected with a biblical theme that changes each year. After many years of following directly after Sing Song, the lectureship moved in 2006 to a September event, in part to spread out the events that bring the most visitors to campus and also to take advantage of the more stable autumn climate, as winter storms and rain had hindered attendance on multiple occasions.

ACU is one of only seven faith-based institutions with a press.[25] ACU Press, founded in 1983 to print books about Churches of Christ theology, is now a member of the Association of American University Presses, printing books about Christian Higher Education, West Texas History and Christian Living as well as theology.[26] Along with its trade imprint, Leafwood Publishers, the press publishes an average of 36 titles per year. Among its notable authors are Rubel Shelly, Rick Ostrander, Darryl Tippens, Edward Fudge, Larry M. James and Walt McDonald.

The school established an NPR station, KACU, in 1986. Initially, the community was concerned that the school might use the station for proselytizing, and for the station's first ten years, an advisory board composed of community members served to monitor the station against this possibility.[27]

The Optimist, a converged student media operation, produces student-led news media.

On October 18, 2008, the school hosted a live broadcast of Minnesota Public Radio's long-running A Prairie Home Companion radio show from the campus' Moody Coliseum.[28][29]

In August 2022 the ACU applied to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a construction licence for a molten salt research reactor for which it plans to achieve criticality by December 2025.[30]

Abilene Christian Athletics wordmark

Formerly a charter member of the Division I Southland Conference, Abilene Christian joined the Lone Star Conference (LSC) of Division II of the NCAA in 1973.

In 2007, the LSC included 33 ACU current and former student athletes in its 75-member all-sports team commemorating the conference's 75th anniversary.[31] Through 2009, ACU is fourth in NCAA history in team national championships won with 57, trailing Division I schools UCLA, Stanford, and USC, and tied with Division III school Kenyon College.[32]

In 2012, Abilene Christian received NCAA permission to compete in Division I FCS football and was under consideration for reattachment to the Southland Conference.[33] On August 25, 2012, Abilene Christian's board of trustees accepted Southland's invitation to rejoin the conference effective with the start of the 2013-14 academic year.

On Wednesday, August 23, 2017, the NCAA Board of Directors voted to pass ACU through to full Division I status, thus making them eligible for postseason play.

In 2021, ACU left the Southland for the Western Athletic Conference.[34][35][36] After the 2022 football season, ACU football joined the newly formed United Athletic Conference, a merger of the football leagues of the WAC and the ASUN Conference. The two all-sports conferences had partnered in a football-only alliance in the 2021 and 2022 seasons.[37]

The school has a number of student organizations called "social clubs" that are equivalent to a fraternity or sorority on other college campuses.[42]

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  Zona Luce Building – original 1929 school house, now home of the Nursing department
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  ACU Police Headquarters on Campus Court
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  Sewell Auditorium – built in 1929, original home of daily chapel
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  University Church of Christ on EN 16th St
• 
  McDonald Hall for freshman women (replaced by Bullock Hall)[55]
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  Nelson Hall for freshman women
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  Gardner Hall for freshman women (replaced by Wessel Hall)
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  Sikes Hall for freshman women
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  Williams Performing Arts Center, built in 2003
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  Brown Library
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  ACU Tower of Light and Bible Building Atrium

• When James Cox's wife became ill, his brother, Alonzo B. Cox, filled in for him to finish the term.

• Stevens, Dr. John C., No Ordinary University: The History of a City Set on a Hill, Abilene, Texas: Abilene Christian University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-89112-031-9.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Abilene Christian University.

• Official website

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