The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 90, No. 37, Ed. 1, Sunday, February 17, 2002 Page: 3 of 22
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REMOVAL OF A.C.C.FROM ABILENE AS LAST RfcSP
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REMOVAL OF A.C.C FROM ABILENE P.VuST nF.S0.T-
"'''Secdrid oj 'three parts'. 'Vm
J Tic Optimist continues its '
- look at the history of ACU focus- . piinrpipf I 1(11 ' ' .. 7
- ing on various aspects of campus .. V.
life and their origins. . -"
" ': NEWAC.C.EHESECu
. Paul A. Anthony - " -' -v
Chapel
W. UU oepi. llt 13UO 1U U.IU.
'" more than 200 attended the first - -
; Opening Chapel in Abilene his-
v': torj'. All Hail the Power of Jesus'
Name was the first song mak-
ing its singing at every Opening
Chapel the oldest tradition on
campus.
HI Chapel has rarely changed
' it's always been mandatory for
students to attend. Originally
;j( conducted in the auditorium in
in the Administration Building it
" shifted to Sewell Auditorium
J when'ACC moved in 1929. Forty
r years later it moved to Moody
Coliseum.
Opening Chapel has always
brought to campus distin-
(II guished members of the ACU js jY r
. and Abilene communities "
including city and state offi-
cials former university presi-
w dents and the Board of Trustees.
d
sc SA
The Students' Association is
" one of the oldest organizations
on campus. Organized as
js' United Student Activities in
i 1921 the body "had no powers
JV concerning the government of
students" according to the 1923
$jj Prickly Pear. Soon after the club
Jc changed its name to the
Students' Association and
f organized parties and get-
togcthers among the students.
j The Prickly Pears of the time
Z described the organization as
IT "being an association in name
$ only."
v It wasn't until the late 1920s
J when SA developed a Constitu- the Year and championships
lion ana created a stuaent aaungDacKto tne iujus
( handbook that the governing
p. body actually governed.
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""The Administration Bulding on the downtown"
v " f T X ao'uj iihj iihiu vvihii cicMM. 111119 mail I vjl
tw y"ft.vincluded the school's name and a cross.
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COLLEGF AUDITORIUM BUILDING IS SWEPT BY FIRj
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COURTESY OF THE PRICKLY FEMI' t I UTTjii
The Lectureship Tent shown here in 1962 between Sewell Theatre and East North 16thStreet was a stable of the annual
-'Bible Lectureship once ACC moved to its new campus. The tent was used for selling books and other materials. &1U.C jJ to
5 '.AST VMZ
M ll fir
.ui t-; rtbPiTmmy buildikg i 5ftjT bv fi;j
Jn- Cufimisl
I? Clubs
The university's football
team made national headlines
in the 1950s. The 1950-51 foot-
ball team was the only 1 1 -game
winner in the nation and one of
only eight undefeated untied
college football teams that year.
Likewise rivalries between
U There were originally two
t clubs on campus named the
fa Hardings and Zellners to which
& students were automatically ACC and McMurry College were
h-r assigned upon registration. But heated throughout the two col-
they soon gave way to optional lege's histories. Homecoming
A social clubs. bonfires raged dozens of feet
W Among those still in exis- high. Football and basketball
1 tence from the downtown cam- carries were nacked with hun-
'- pus: Ko Jo Kai organized as the dreds and thousands of rabid from portable toilets to stolen
Did you know?
The Ad Building on the
downtown campus was lit with
an electric sign that said
"Abilene Christian College" and
was topped by an electric cross
until it burned down in 1929. In
the 1950s the new Ad Building
was once again fitted with neon tj
lights spelling out "ACC" that lit
up at night. iv
The Homecoming bonfire
was one of the most popular
traditions on campus. Up to 40
feet tall some years everything
Hi-A Club in 1919; The W Club
organized in luzu; uaia organ
fans.
But the sports program had a
ized in 1920: Sub T-16. orean- rockv start. When President
ft ized in 1923; and Delta Theta Jesse P. Sewell watched a foot-
!w organized as Lucky 13 in 1925. ball game between the Institute
The longest-running social and Abilene High School in
mascots was burned before the
Homecoming football game.
But afterTexas passed a law reg-
ulating outdoor bonfires the
tradition looked to bcin trou-
ble. But the SA president went
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J club on campus is Ko Jo Kai. But 1912 and heard an ACC player to the city offices and convinced
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COURTESY OF DR. JOHN C STEVENS .
"!? Chapel was con.ducted in Sewell Theatre from the opening of the new215:j
campus in 1929 until the completion of Moody Coliseum in 1968.
K Sub T-16 had no members for
y two years during World War II
say "Kill 'em!" he promptly out
lawed all athletic competitions
leaving Frater Sodalis as the with other schools for the" 1913-
longest-standing mens social 14 school year.
S club having been chartered in
h 1943.
J Currently 16 clubs reside on
campus the youngest of which
K are men's club Delta Chi Rho
i and womens club Alpha Kai
Omega both chartered in 2000. "
The ban was lifted however
to allow baseball and basketball
to continue. But football did not
return until 1919. Football was
again canceled during World
War II.
i Sports
cj
Although the university's
athletics program has been
J mocked for its general and
J1 largely misconceived inepti
tude some programs have a
Publications
officials to let ACC's bonfire
continue; it finally ended in the
1960s.
Lectureship is perhaps the
oldest tradition on campus
excepting the events at Opening
Chapel. President Whiteside
began inviting prominent
Church of Christ preachers and
elders to speak at what he called
a special Bible Study Week in
1910. Lectureship became an
official entity in 1918 under
President Sewell.
John G. Hardin's $160000
gift in 1934 saved the university-
from foreclosure during the
Great Depression. The school
had bought the Abilene Heights
The Optimist first published
in August 1912. The first article
was a column by President R.L.
Whiteside that spanned most of
the front page. The Optimist ran
everv Frldav until the 19M)s.
jj long history of respect and sue- when it began publishing a property and planned on selling
J cess. Wednesday paper as well. some of the property for hous-
; hirst among these is tne track ine rricKiy fears nrst year- ing in me area currently soum
y and field program which was book came out in 1916 and has and west of East North 16th
Y voted by Texas Monthly Mag- been published in each of the 86 Street. But when the stock mar-
' azine to be the Texas sports years since. The first Prickly ket collapsed the school had no
H- dynasty oi tne zum ceniury. rearwasnonzomaianuuseuoy money wim which 10 pay on us
7 Becun in 1922. track and field manv as a scraDbook in which
to staple newspaper articles and
photographs. Subsequent years
adopted a more traditional
form.
3
M mU. !
' Begun in 1922 track and field
K came into its own several years
'. later and ever since has fea-
f tured gold-medal winners
'!' Sports Illustrated Sportsmen of
mortgage and no one bought
the lots. When Hardin gave Tils
gift President James P. Cox was
so excited he declared a holiday
in the middle of Lectureship.
iHct
'The bonfire was a Homecoming tradition built by the -freshmen until theJllScl
Texas legislature interfered in the 1960s. It was as high as 40 feet and was
lit the night before the Homecoming football game. 4
1 - ' . I h nlt& A. C.
An
t. JUesday the Optimist looks at how faculty and students have reacted to historical events.
$"''- i i ntyii' r y ii ' T "'
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CiriMurf-t V?umI I i 1 'J t i
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The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 90, No. 37, Ed. 1, Sunday, February 17, 2002, newspaper, February 17, 2002; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101755/m1/3/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.