Former name | Childers Classical Institute (1906–1920) Abilene Christian College (1920–1976) |
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Motto | People With A Purpose |
Type | Private university |
Established | 1906 |
Religious affiliation | Church of Christ |
Academic affiliations | CCCU NAICU [1] |
Endowment | $773 million (2023) [2] |
Chancellor | Royce Money |
President | Phil Schubert |
Provost | Robert L. Rhodes |
Academic staff | 200 |
Students | 6,219 [3] |
Undergraduates | 4,196 |
Postgraduates | 2,023 |
Location | , , United States |
Campus | Urban, 208 acres (84 ha) |
Colors | Purple and white [4] |
Nickname | Wildcats |
Sporting affiliations | NCAA Division I FCS – WAC |
Mascot | Willie the Wildcat |
Website | www |
Abilene Christian University (ACU) is a private Christian university in Abilene, Texas. It was founded in 1906 as Childers Classical Institute. It is affiliated with Churches of Christ.
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. [5] It initially included a lower school starting in the seventh grade. [6]
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.
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. [7]
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. [8] Called ACU Dallas, the new campus began offering several new graduate programs, including an MBA and Ed.D. in organizational leadership. [9]
The university was officially segregated, for white students only, until 1962, [10] when Billy Curl became the first black student to enroll. [11] The university currently bars employees, but not students, from dating people of the same sex. [12] In 2016 the university recognized Voice, an LGBT student association. [13]
In 2022, ACU announced major changes to the academic structure that resulted in the creation of three new colleges. While the total number of colleges went unchanged, the reorganization was implemented to assist the University in marketing itself as a national university. [14]
College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
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College of Biblical Studies |
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College of Business Administration |
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College of Health and Behavioral Sciences |
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Onstead College of Science and Engineering |
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Academic rankings | |
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National | |
U.S. News & World Report [15] | 320 (tie) of 394 |
Washington Monthly [16] | 435 of 442 |
WSJ / College Pulse [17] | 501 (tie) of 600 |
ACU is institutionally accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. ACU's business programs are professionally accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International), the Engineering program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, the Social Work programs are accredited by the Council on Social Work Education, the Education programs are accredited by Teacher Education Accreditation Council and the Marriage and Family Therapy programs are accredited by Commission on the Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education. The Department of Journalism and Mass Communication is accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications. The ACU School of Nursing is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). ACU Graduate School of Theology is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools (ATS).
ACU is one of only seven faith-based institutions with a press. [23] 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. [24] 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. [25]
The Optimist, a converged student media operation, produces student-led news media. [26]
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. [27] [28]
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. [29]
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. [30] 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. [31]
In 2012, Abilene Christian received NCAA permission to compete in Division I FCS football and was under consideration for reattachment to the Southland Conference. [32] 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. [33] [34] [35] 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. [36]
The school has a number of student organizations called "social clubs" that are equivalent to a fraternity or sorority on other college campuses. [41]
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy.(October 2023) |
The Lone Star Conference (LSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in the South Central states, with schools in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arkansas, with two members in the Pacific Northwest states of Oregon and Washington competing as affiliates for football only.
The Southland Conference, abbreviated as SLC, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it participates in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). The Southland sponsors 18 sports, 10 for women and eight for men, and is governed by a presidential Board of Directors and an Advisory Council of athletic and academic administrators. Chris Grant became the Southland's seventh commissioner on April 5, 2022. From 1996 to 2002, for football only, the Southland Conference was known as the Southland Football League.
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Wallace Bullington, known as Coach Bully, was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas for 39 years as football player, assistant football coach, head football coach and athletic director before he retired from the university's athletic staff in 1988, but not before leading the school to its first national championship in 1973.
Abilene Christian Wildcats refers to the sports teams of Abilene Christian University located in Abilene, Texas. The Wildcats joined the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) on July 1, 2021, after having spent the previous eight years in the Southland Conference. The nickname "Wildcat" is derived from the mascot of the team.
The Abilene Christian Wildcats football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the Abilene Christian University located in the U.S. state of Texas. The team was a member of the Southland Conference through the 2020–21 season, but joined the Western Athletic Conference in July 2021, coinciding with that league's reinstatement of football as an official conference sport. After the 2022 season, the WAC fully merged its football league with that of the ASUN Conference, creating what eventually became the United Athletic Conference, and ACU accordingly moved its football team to the new league. The school's first football team was fielded in 1919. The team plays its home games at the on-campus Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium.
The Abilene Christian Wildcats men's basketball team represents Abilene Christian University (ACU) in Abilene, Texas, United States. The Wildcats joined the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) on July 1, 2021, after having spent the previous eight years in the Southland Conference. Before this move, ACU's most recent conference change was in the 2013 offseason, when the Wildcats made the jump to NCAA Division I and rejoined the Southland Conference after a 40-year absence. They are led by head coach Brette Tanner and play their home games at Moody Coliseum.
Robert L. Rhodes is the provost at Abilene Christian University.
The 2013 Abilene Christian Wildcats football team represented Abilene Christian University in the 2013 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by second-year head coach Ken Collums, the Wildcats compiled a record of 6–5. Abilene Christian played their home games at Shotwell Stadium in Abilene, Texas.
The Abilene Christian Wildcats women's basketball team represents Abilene Christian University (ACU) in Abilene, Texas. ACU joined the Western Athletic Conference on July 1, 2021, after eight seasons in the Southland Conference. The Wildcats are currently coached by Julie Goodenough.
The 2016–17 Abilene Christian Wildcats men's basketball team represented Abilene Christian University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Wildcats were led by sixth-year head coach Joe Golding and played their home games at the Moody Coliseum in Abilene, Texas as members of the Southland Conference. They finished the season 13–16, 7–11 in Southland play to finish in a five-way tie for eighth place.
The 2012 Abilene Christian Wildcats football team represented Abilene Christian University as a member of the Lone Star Conference (LSC) during the 2012 NCAA Division II football season. Led by first-year head coach Ken Collums, the Wildcats compiled an overall record of 7–4 with a mark of 4–4 in conference play, tying for fifth place in the LSC. The team played home games at Shotwell Stadium in Abilene, Texas.
The 2012 Lone Star Conference football began on August 30 when West Texas A&M lost to CSU-Pueblo and ended with West Texas A&M loss against Winston-Salem in the NCAA D2 Semi Final on December 8. It was Abilene Christian and Incarnated Word last season before they moved to NCAA D1 Southland Conference.
The 2006 Abilene Christian Wildcats football team was an American football team that represented Abilene Christian University (ACU) as a member of the South Division of the Lone Star Conference (LSC) during the 2007 NCAA Division II football season. In their third season under head coach Chris Thomsen, the Wildcats compiled an overall record of 10–3 record with mark of 8–1 in conference play, placing second in the LSC's South Division. Abilene Christian advanced to the NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs, where the Wildcats defeated [Mesa State in the first round before lost to Chadron State in triple overtime, 76–73, in the second round. The team played home games at Shotwell Stadium in Abilene, Texas.
The 2009 Abilene Christian Wildcats football team was an American football team that represented Abilene Christian University (ACU) as a member of the South Division of the Lone Star Conference (LSC) during the 2009 NCAA Division II football season. In their fifth season under head coach Chris Thomsen, the Wildcats compiled an overall record of 9–3 record with a mark of 6–3 in conference play, placing fourth in the LSC's South Division. Abilene Christian advanced to the NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs, where the Wildcats defeated Midwestern State, 24–21, in the first round, before losing to Northwest Missouri State in the second round, 35–10. The team played its home games at Shotwell Stadium in Abilene, Texas.
The United Athletic Conference (UAC) is an NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) conference. The conference is a merger of the existing football leagues of the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) and Western Athletic Conference (WAC). The UAC covers the southwestern, western, and southern United States with member institutions located in Arkansas, Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah, with a future member located in Georgia.