On Oct. 1, that funding stopped.

Congress voted to cut around $1.1 billion in federal funding for public media as part of a rescission package. This is because NPR and other public media platforms have been accused of having a liberal bias, according to a press release from President Donald Trump in May.

So, why does this matter?

Well, hidden away on a small corner of campus, we have 89.5 KACU, a student-run local NPR member station, that lost 31% of funding for the coming year. This equals out to around $150,000, said Heather Claborn, the station manager and news director for KACU.

She believes the main goal of the package Congress passed was to hurt NPR on a national level; however, this was not the result. Instead, NPR only lost a small portion of its funding, but the local member stations are experiencing devastating losses.

Many of these smaller stations were already struggling to maintain their staffing and funding before the vote; now they will need to make up a lot of that lost funding from their own listeners, Claborn said.

“For a lot of the big stations, it was like four or five or maybe 8% of their budget. To lose 31% of your budget is a big hit,” Claborn said. “We can’t just ask listeners to come up with $150,000.”

These local stations are important because they are a part of the community around them and help keep residents informed, and this closing of local news is part of a larger concerning trend throughout the U.S.

A study done by the Local News Initiative found that the number of news deserts is quickly rising and getting bigger. At the end of 2025, there were 212 counties in the U.S. without any local news sources and 1,525 counties with only one local news source. This results in roughly 50 million Americans living with little to no local news sources.

Since the CPB funding cuts in October, we have seen more legacy media cut their staff and limit reporting.

In early February, the Washington Post cut 30% of its employees, which amounts to over 300 of the 800 journalists in the newsroom, according to the New York Times. This reduced the Post’s metro section and international section, and completely eliminated its sports section.

The Post, which was founded in 1877, with the motto, “Democracy dies in darkness,” has played a pivotal role in American politics. Perhaps most notably, it’s the breaking of the Watergate scandal and the publishing of the Pentagon Papers in the 70s.

For many, these legacy outlets may seem distant and unimportant from the problems facing Americans, but in the end, journalism helps everyone, and when we see news organizations face cuts, we should be concerned. Local news provides valuable information and accountability to its readers. When there is no local news, there is no one reporting and holding local governments accountable.

Dr. Ronald Morgan, professor in the department of history and global studies, is a longtime listener of KACU. As a historian, he emphasized the importance of quality journalism.

“In politics, players are telling us their version of what they want us to think in order to gain their political points and carry out their agendas,” Morgan said. “Journalists say I’m going to go to Gaza and tell you what’s happening. I’m going to go to Sudan and tell you what’s happening. I’m going to go to a factory in South Side Chicago and tell you what we’re seeing there. News has to be separated from financial and commercial self interest.”

When government and those in power do not do there job, or fail to represent the beliefs and needs of their people it is journalists who help hold them accountable.

If you are reading these words, you are already doing something right. Go pick up a paper or turn on your radio and continue to invest in quality journalism.

The post Federal funding cuts hurt local journalism, Americans appeared first on The Optimist.

Prediction markets are quietly reshaping college athletics. As of Feb. 27, contracts tied to university games generated $13,642,070 in trading activity across the two most popular prediction market platforms. Not point spreads. Not parlays. Financial contracts are tied directly to the outcomes of Wildcat games.

Prediction markets, such as Polymarket and Kalshi, are relatively new, both having been created in the last eight years.

Polymarket is a crypto-based prediction market where users buy and sell shares in event outcomes. If a trader believes ACU will beat Southern Utah, they can buy a contract that pays out if it does. Each share resolves to either $1 or $0, depending on the result. It resembles stock trading more than traditional sports betting.

Kalshi operates differently. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission regulates it, and Kalshi markets itself as a legal exchange for event contracts. Users trade contracts tied to everything from inflation rates to election outcomes. In recent years, sports contracts have become a growing part of that ecosystem.

The branding is important, though. These platforms call it trading, not gambling. But when money is tied to whether a college athlete makes a shot or wins a game, the distinction starts to blur.

Data collected on Feb.27 shows how embedded these markets already are. More than 20 men’s and women’s basketball games appeared on Polymarket this season, with more than 36 on Kalshi. Several men’s basketball matchups generated six-figure trading volumes.

These were regular-season conference games. Not March Madness. Not a national spotlight.

The platforms sell contracts for the university’s football, baseball and women’s basketball games as well, though most recorded significantly lower volumes.

This raises an uncomfortable question: Who is trading these contracts?

Prediction markets appeal to college students because they feel accessible and analytical. Setting up an account can take minutes, sometimes with little verification needed. Polymarket requires cryptocurrency, while Kalshi functions more like an online brokerage. For students who are comfortable with fintech apps like Robinhood, the interface feels familiar.

Legally, the landscape is complicated. Kalshi operates under federal commodities regulation. Polymarket has faced federal scrutiny, including a 2022 settlement with the CFTC over unregistered event-based contracts. Sports betting laws are typically governed at the state level, but prediction markets rely on federal financial regulation instead.

The NCAA prohibits all sports wagering. Its rule book states, “NCAA rules ban participation in sports betting activities and prohibit providing information to individuals involved in or associated with any type of sports betting activities concerning intercollegiate, amateur or professional athletics competition.”

That includes betting on other schools. Compliance offices would likely view trading a sports event contract as wagering under NCAA rules. Because Texas does not have fully legalized statewide online sports betting, federally regulated contracts tied to college sports create additional complexity.

College athletics has already seen how gambling pressures can affect integrity. In 2023, the University of Alabama baseball program was linked to suspicious betting activity involving inside information. Iowa and Iowa State athletes have faced charges connected to online wagering violations. In response to the rise of prediction markets, the NCAA has urged lawmakers to suspend prediction markets entirely across sanctioned sports.

The university’s student-athlete handbook addresses gambling directly. It states that “participating in any form of sports wagering, including placing, accepting or soliciting bets on any youth, intercollegiate, amateur or professional sporting event, is strictly prohibited.”

The listed consequences include a one-year suspension, loss of a season of eligibility, potential loss of scholarship, expulsion and permanent ineligibility to compete at ACU. The handbook’s NIL section also prohibits student-athletes from endorsing or entering into compensation agreements connected to sports betting.

While prediction markets frame their activity as financial trading, if interpreted as sports wagering under NCAA or university policy, participation could carry serious consequences for athletes.

Beyond legality, a cultural shift is underway. College athletes, many not on full scholarships and still juggling academics, now perform in a landscape where their box score affects not just fans but financial markets. Hundreds of thousands of dollars can trade hands based on a single conference game.

The normalization may be the most important part. No flashy campus ads are promoting these markets. No stadium sponsorships. Just quiet digital contracts moving money in the background.

Because prediction markets position themselves as financial tools, they have largely avoided the intense scrutiny aimed at sportsbooks like DraftKings or FanDuel. Yet the economic reality looks similar. Money rides on unpaid college athletes.

The money is already there. The markets are live. And on campuses like ACU, the conversation has barely begun.

The post Prediction markets are dominating college athletics, but no one is talking about it appeared first on The Optimist.

We’re just months away from graduation, a moment we’ve worked toward for upwards of 20 years. But beneath the excitement, there’s a sense of unease. We send out dozens, if not hundreds, of applications into what feels like a digital void, wondering if a human will ever see them.

The applause on graduation day feels certain; a job offer, less so.

This feeling isn’t just in our heads. The Class of 2026 is preparing to enter a uniquely challenging environment, one shaped by a cooling economy, unprecedented government instability and a technological revolution rewriting the rules of work.

But this isn’t a story of despair. It’s a call to be strategic. We can turn this widespread anxiety into a powerful competitive edge.

A Job Market in Retreat

The first step is to understand the terrain. The latest numbers paint a picture of a labor market that is not just slowing down but contracting in key areas. The September 2025 ADP National Employment Report, a key measure of the private-sector job market, serves as our primary indicator.

The U.S. private sector shed a net 32,000 jobs. This stands in stark contrast to the 194,000 jobs gained just one year ago and defied economists’ forecasts of a 50,000-job gain.

This wasn’t a one-off anomaly. September marked the second consecutive month of job losses, a pattern not seen since the pandemic-induced recession of 2020. Further eroding confidence, August numbers were revised downward, from an initial report of 54,000 jobs gained to a loss of 3,000. This pattern of negative revisions suggests the underlying economic momentum is weaker than it first appears.

As ADP’s chief economist noted, job growth has been “whipsawed by uncertainty” stemming from a combination of “skittish consumers and AI disruptions.”

For us, the graduating class, the most alarming data lies beneath the surface. Job losses are concentrated in sectors that have traditionally been the primary entry points for new graduates.

The leisure and hospitality sector lost 19,000 jobs, professional and business services shed 13,000, and financial activities cut 9,000 positions.

The only significant area of growth was education and health services, specialized fields that aren’t a fit for every major.

There is a clear divide between large and small companies. Small businesses, those with fewer than 50 employees, cut a staggering 40,000 jobs in September. In contrast, the largest corporations, those with more than 500 employees, were the only group to see significant job growth, adding 33,000 positions. This is a critical distinction.

Large corporations often have rigid hiring structures, formal internship-to-hire pipelines and a preference for candidates with established experience. Small businesses, on the other hand, are frequently more agile and willing to take a chance on promising new graduates.

With this source of first jobs contracting, a primary pathway into the professional world is closing. The data doesn’t just show a cooling market; it points to a recession for entry-level white-collar roles.

The AI Revolution at the Entry Level

As if a contracting economy weren’t enough, we are also one of the first graduating classes to face the full force of the generative AI revolution.

AI is automating the tasks that once formed the foundation of a first job. A recent Stanford study found that since the widespread adoption of generative AI, employment for early-career workers ages 22 to 25 in the most AI-exposed occupations has seen a 13% relative decline.

Tasks like basic data entry, customer service inquiries, basic research and routine coding are now being handled by algorithms. Entry-level job postings have fallen by 35% since early 2023, with some of the hardest-hit fields including marketing (down 75.6%), HR (down 72.3%) and engineering (down 72.2%).

Beyond eliminating roles, AI has become the new gatekeeper of the hiring process itself. An estimated 64% of recruiters now use AI-powered systems to screen résumés, schedule interviews and predict a candidate’s likelihood of success.

These algorithms scan for keywords, skills and years of experience, creating an automated barrier that can filter out qualified candidates who don’t fit a preprogrammed mold.

For years, we’ve heard about the “experience paradox”: You can’t get a job without experience, but you can’t get experience without a job.

Today, that paradox is being systematically enforced by algorithms. Employers increasingly list “entry-level” positions that demand three to five years of experience.

At the same time, AI is eliminating the very roles where we would have gained those first few years of experience. The AI recruitment tools are then programmed to screen for the exact experience that we are now being blocked from acquiring.

The job search is no longer just about being qualified; it’s about having a strategy to get past the bots.

The flip side of this disruption is that AI fluency is becoming a nonnegotiable skill. While some jobs are disappearing, new ones are emerging for AI specialists and data scientists. More importantly, for the jobs that remain, proficiency with AI tools is now an expectation. Companies like Adobe now want to see applicants demonstrate how they use AI to improve their work during the interview process. The challenge isn’t to compete against AI, but to prove we can work with it.

High Investment, Uncertain Returns

For the first time in more than four decades of data collection, recent college graduates face higher unemployment rates than the general population. In the second quarter of 2025, unemployment for graduates ages 22 to 27 reached 5.3%, up from 4.1% two years earlier.

Even for those who find a job, the struggle isn’t over. 41.1% of recent graduates are underemployed, meaning they are working in jobs that do not require their college degree. After years of work and financial investment, nearly half of our peers may not immediately use the degree they earned.

This job market is unfolding against a backdrop of persistent inflation. The average cost of a four-year institution is more than $38,000 per year, having more than doubled since 2000.

This strain has a real impact on our well-being. In a recent survey, 66% of students said inflation has negatively affected their financial health, and 60% said it has harmed their mental health.

This economic anxiety is even shaping our academic paths, with over half of students reporting that inflation has influenced their choice of major, pushing many toward fields perceived as more financially secure.

The implicit promise of a college education, that a degree is a golden ticket to a stable career, is being actively questioned by the market. Employers are shifting from degree-based to skills-based hiring, with nearly two-thirds using this approach.

We can no longer present a diploma as evidence of value; we must present demonstrated, in-demand skills. The question is no longer “What was your major?” but “What can you do?”

A Guide to ACU’s Career Resources

This is where concern turns into action. The old model of passively applying for jobs is obsolete, but ACU offers tools to build a proactive career strategy.

The Career Development Office provides résumé and cover letter feedback, interview practice and job-search guidance through the Skills First platform. Job and internship opportunities, along with advising appointments, are available through 12twenty. To help students gain experience, ACU partners with Parker Dewey to offer paid, short-term “micro-internships.”

The most powerful resource is the ACU Alumni Network, a global community of more than 132,000 graduates willing to help fellow Wildcats get a foot in the door.

Control Our Response

We are graduating into a perfect storm of a contracting private sector, an unstable public sector and rapid technological change. The anxiety we feel is justified.

But these challenges are not insurmountable. If the COVID-19 pandemic taught us anything, it’s adaptability. Graduates who succeed will understand the new rules and respond intentionally.

The Class of 2026 faces a unique test, but it has the tools, community and mindset to meet it. We can’t control the conditions we’re graduating into, only how we respond.

The post Graduating into uncertainty: The job search facing the class of 2026 appeared first on The Optimist.

Fraternities and sororities have been a part of ACU’s culture since 1919 and were formerly known as “social clubs” until 2015, when the name was changed to Greek life.

According to an Optimist article from 2015, when the university made the name change, it was to “help prospective students and their families understand ACU’s unique social club system.”

While they are called fraternities and sororities, they are not nationally chartered like most of the universities across the country. Ever since the clubs have existed, they have never been nationally chartered.

Calling them fraternities and sororities can feel misleading to new students who have no knowledge of ACU culture. When people hear Greek life, they often think of the nationally chartered organizations that have some similarities with ACU’s version but also many differences.

Robin McPherson, senior coordinator for Greek life, said there was no change in the way things operated when the name was changed, and it was just semantics.

“The terminology is more recognizable to students,” she said. “So therefore, whenever they are coming here and they’re trying to determine whether they want to go to a big school. And maybe the one thing hinges on, well, I want to be part of Greek life, and they don’t know what a social club is.”

Also, the words Greek life often come with unwanted stereotypes of people thinking about partying, binge drinking and hazing.

Some of the differences between ACU and other universities include not being nationally chartered, not having chapter houses and not being able to pledge until the second semester of freshman year.

Despite these, there are some similarities between social clubs and fraternities and sororities, like the community aspect and alumni network, although it is much smaller at a private university.

The ACU website fails to mention how its clubs are different from public universities. However, the website does acknowledge the fact that they used to be called social clubs.

While the purpose of the change was to help new and prospective students better understand how ACU’s clubs work, it makes it more confusing since the term Greek life is associated with the fraternities and sororities at public universities.

Other Church of Christ–based universities like Harding University, Lipscomb University and Lubbock Christian University all call them social clubs.

This gives a better idea to students and parents of what “Greek life” looks like at these universities.

Even though there are similarities between social clubs and fraternities and sororities, it is not enough to call them that at ACU.

ACU’s social clubs are a unique part of its culture and history, and while the clubs themselves are not changing the way they operate or how they act, the change in name changes the legacy that alumni have left behind.

Since the name change was just to essentially conform to what other universities do, there was no need for ACU to change what social clubs are called.

Calling fraternities and sororities what they are — social clubs — fits the ACU culture better and gives new and prospective students an improved idea of what to expect from them when they come here.

The post Change Greek Life back to social clubs appeared first on The Optimist.

During the 2023–24 academic year alone, SGA passed 40 resolutions. Then, in 2024–25, they passed another 39. Some of these actions were small but meaningful, such as replacing faded flags on the Luns, improving toilet paper quality across campus, and maintaining campus facilities. Others had a bigger impact, such as helping raise the on-campus minimum wage to $8 an hour.

“I don’t think people know that you would still be getting paid $7 or $7.50 if not for SGA,” said Adele, a senior criminal justice major from Midland. “Your minimum wage was raised because of SGA and partnerships with other key players.”

Every semester, SGA also allocates thousands of dollars to student organizations, including over $30,000 last spring. They help with fundraising, marketing, social media, and even equipment rentals, offering both financial and practical support to keep campus activities thriving.

Behind the scenes, senators meet weekly to debate and vote on legislation. They spend hours researching, consulting with administrators, and serving on committees focused on everything from academics to Greek life. Executive officers, including President Tamil Adele, meet with university administrators regularly, often weekly, to advocate for student needs.

What many students don’t realize is that SGA members also sit on university board committees, giving students a direct voice in major campus decisions. Their input has helped shape projects such as the ACU letters outside Moody Coliseum, the LED board near the Campus Center, and improved Wi-Fi across academic buildings.

Beyond facilities, SGA has also championed diversity and inclusion initiatives, partnered with campus offices like OIEB on rebranding efforts, and created better lines of communication between students and leadership. Even campaign week events with free food, giveaways, and community-building activities are designed to give back to students and show that SGA funds are being used responsibly.

So the next time you wonder what SGA is doing, take a closer look around campus. From the technology you use to the organizations you join, chances are SGA helped make it happen.

SGA may not be perfect, but they are far from powerless. They are a group of students working hard behind the scenes to make ACU better, one resolution, one conversation, and one improvement at a time. If you want to see what they are doing next, follow their updates on Instagram or attend a weekly senate meeting.

Thank you, SGA, for making a difference.

The post SGA is making a difference appeared first on The Optimist.

This is especially true for college students worrying about when their next assignment is due, figuring out which internship is the right fit, and wondering what their friends’ plans are for the weekend.

In all of this, it’s easy to forget what a privilege it is to go to a school where our faith is intertwined in everything we do. Yeah, it’s required in some areas like Chapel and Bible classes, but those are still blessings. And the professors’ ability to discuss their faith in the classroom and explain how you can use your faith in your career is a rare experience.

As a part of the required classes to graduate, students must take 15 hours of Bible classes. Some may view this as unnecessary or a burden, but it shouldn’t be. Getting the opportunity to study the Bible in depth is a privilege that many people do not have.

It’s a chance to deepen our faith and understand the Bible on a deeper level.

Even in areas where you wouldn’t expect faith to show up, like investing in stocks, the management of the STAR fund is by the student-managed fund course. In this class, students manage the investment fund and use aspects of their faith to invest in companies that practice good ethics.

Reed Tilly, senior accounting major from McGregor, this year’s fund manager, said the class created its own investment policy and invests through ACU’s core mission, which revolves around Christian morality and seeking the best output for humanity.

Tilly also said that the class is an amazing opportunity because it equips students to understand what it is like to be a Christian in business, and it prepares students to defend their faith in the workplace.

While other schools may have similar student investment funds, they do not provide students with the opportunity to have their faith integrated into it and learn how to defend their faith in the workplace.

Dr. Jody Jones, the professor of the class, said students here have a rare opportunity not seen much across the country.

Missions are something that students across campus feel called to do. Here, the students go on mission trips like Wildcat Academics on Mission. This opportunity combines academic study with mission work around the world. The most recent trip featured engineering and speech pathology students going to Rwanda.

Every Monday and Friday, students walk to Moody Coliseum at 11 a.m. to gather for chapel. To some, this is a chore, but having the opportunity to take time out of our day to gather for worship is something to be grateful for.

Once we graduate and have jobs, we won’t have a time set aside to worship in the middle of the day like we do. So, we should appreciate the fact that we have it now.

In the four years we have here, we need to take a break every now and then, through all the busyness, and slow down to look at the blessings that we have at ACU.

The post Look around, appreciate the small things appeared first on The Optimist.

You’ve made it. You are all grown up and ready to head out on your own as an adult. Ready to start what many may call the best four years of your life. That is, unless it is your first year of college, you are under 21, unmarried, and it is a weekday.

First-year students living in dorms have a curfew requiring them to be back in their dorms at midnight, Monday through Thursday; otherwise, they must pay a fine. The exceptions to this are if you are over 21 or married. The curfew is checked by RAs who walk into each room and make sure the residents are in the dorm, said Lane Voskamp, the Wessel Hall senior resident assistant.

“There’s a tension when it comes to curfew,” said Voskamp, senior graphic design major from Aledo. “RAs are going to come into the room at night, which is just a little creepy and feels like an invasion of privacy, but I know from being an RA that’s when good conversations happen.”

Students are in charge of getting themselves to class, doing their homework, eating food, and many other important areas of their life, but are not trusted to stay up past midnight. In the long run, this may only be delaying the inevitable, Voskamp said.

“But I understand the desire to provide a safety net or caution to a freshman’s first experience here,” Voskamp said. “But also at the same time, it’s almost like we’ve done freshmen a disservice. I don’t know if you experienced this in your sophomore year, but for a lot of people, it’s like, ‘Oh, I have no boundaries. Now I’m going to do whatever I want.’ And then they crash and burn sophomore year because they didn’t learn it freshman year.”

Having to be back in her dorm at midnight last year made it harder for Tori Sarin, a now sophomore interior architecture and design major from Flower Mound. But this year she has enjoyed having the freedom to figure out her own schedule, she said.

“Most of my work is projects,” Sarin said. “I work like 20 to 30 hours on these projects, and a lot of the equipment and a lot of the stuff I use, I have to use it at the art and design building,” Sarin said. “I’m really not pushing that boundary, of staying out incredibly late, I am responsible for my time and my sleep schedule, and I know what I need, and I know I need to be back and asleep by midnight or 12:30 p.m. every night.”

For many freshmen, this is more rules than they had at home, said Hank Haentsch, freshman finance major from Fort Worth, who did not have a curfew his senior year of high school.

“I get where the school is coming from,” Haentsch said. “They want to have more structure for the incoming freshmen,” Haentsch said. “I think for most people coming into school, they already were in high school without a curfew anyway, and they learned how to manage.”

Ultimately, with her work in Residence Life, Voskamp said she felt like a curfew is more likely to hinder people from making good decisions than it is to help those who are not, and people will make mistakes, but that is not always a bad thing.

“But you learn, it’s an opportunity for people to learn,” Voskamp said. “I think there would be hard parts of that, but I think hard life lessons are a part of life, and there’s value in them.”

The post Freshmen curfew causes more harm than good appeared first on The Optimist.

ENTR 120 introduces students to the basics of business start-ups. Each semester, students sell products at the Venture Out Market on campus, applying what they’ve learned. Business ideas are pitched, a handful are selected, and student “CEOs” are assigned teams of peers to launch the chosen projects.

The Griggs Center for Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy provides each group with seed funding, and students must repay the loan while also reaching a profit benchmark to earn an A. This model teaches accountability, but it also creates pressure. Some students even report buying back their own products, or asking family members to do so, just to meet the profit requirement.

“I know some people who spent like $200 to make their profit so they could get an A in the class,” said Kaden Barker, junior finance major from Pratt, Kansas. “It’s the first pay-to-win class.”

Former teaching assistant for the class, Mason Hejl, said the professors and TA’s are aware that some groups buy their own products or have their parents buy them so that they can pass.

“While it’s not encouraged, the whole point is to sell and to make money for your business,” Hejl said. “And sometimes students have found that one easy way they can make money is to have friends, family or themselves purchase it.”

Valeria Mavo, junior interior architecture and design major, from Austin, said she heard a student sold his own Xbox on the last day of the project so that he could meet his profit goal. Even though his Xbox was completely unrelated to his business.

So, where do the profits go? 

Hejl said half of the profits fund scholarships for students in the College of Business Administration, while the other half supports local nonprofits through the Griggs Center’s philanthropy board.

“They work with the city of Abilene to help give money to local nonprofits who’ve requested grants,” Hejl said. “I got to sit on the board, and it was one of my favorite classes because we got to meet as a team and talk about what it means to give.”

This setup clearly benefits the community, but it raises an ethical question: if students generate the profits, shouldn’t they have more say in where the money goes?

Grades alone don’t always motivate students, especially at the end of a long semester. Several students said they would work harder if they could see a tangible reward for their efforts.

“So as a way to motivate the students, I think the money should go towards the students as well,” Mavo said. “If you don’t see the money, there’s no motivation, because you’re not seeing the product of the things that you work for.”

The concern isn’t only about fairness. In real-world business, profit management is as important as product development or marketing. Giving students partial control over their profits would reinforce that lesson. For example, each group could split earnings evenly, then donate half to a philanthropy of their choice. That way, students would both learn responsibility and feel rewarded for their work.

At the very least, students deserve more agency. Even if returning profits directly is not feasible, allowing groups to choose where their portion of the donation goes would strengthen both their motivation and their sense of ownership.

The post Motivation requires more than grades in entrepreneurship class appeared first on The Optimist.

Students pay attention during a Young Democratic Socialist of America Chapel (Photo provided by Ben Mercer)

I believe the formation of groups with varying backgrounds and beliefs allows campuses to learn from each other and move forward. Higher education institutions are at their best when ideas are challenged and re-evaluation takes place. Fresh ideas and perspectives allow universities like ACU and others to flourish rather than sticking with the same systems and processes. YDSA and other student organizations across ACU and the country offer students opportunities to have their voices heard.

One of the founding members of ACU’s chapter is Hansen Penya, senior sociology major from Abilene, who helped to create the group in the spring of the 2022 school year. YDSA and other organizations like it believe in equality of voices with YDSA specifically working to improve the lives of working people. Penya, alongside Ben Mercer, junior social work major from Harker Heights, collaborated to found the first-ever democratic socialist organization at ACU.

ACU’s chapter is actively working to be a part of the national organization comprised of 104 chapters. The national organization started slow with 25 chapters in 2016 up to 84 in 2019 and now 104 in 2023. Universities around the country have been discussing how to adequately represent more radical ideas and allow students freedom of speech and expression within the limitations of the First Amendment. Penya and others like him believe in the power of free thought on higher education campuses to better the minds and ideals of others and to create new spaces for people to express themselves.

Through this Q&A with Penya, you will hear more of why it is important for diverse voices to be heard across campuses, like ACU, and how YDSA will continue to operate.

Mullins: How did the ACU YDSA chapter come to life? What’s your role and who is the faculty sponsor?

Penya: In my sophomore year, I was approached by Ben Mercer and he had the intent to start a chapter of YDSA, so when he came to me asking if I wanted to help start that chapter at ACU, I immediately said yes. We quickly started facing some negative backlash from higher-ups on campus mainly because they thought we were an activist organization. They thought “activism” had a negative connotation and that any organizations that call for activism aren’t permitted. So there was a discussion and, eventually, the organization was approved by Student Life and then by Dr. Schubert. We are the only organization that has gone to the Office of the President and signed off and permitted to be on campus because of his approval.

Mullins: What’s the biggest difference between democratic socialism and a social democracy?

Penya: Democratic socialism is one of the ways by which socialism can come about. There are people who would classify themselves as libertarian socialists or who believe in a form of communism also rooted in anarchism, which is a really interesting concept. The difference between socialism, democratic socialism, and something like a social democracy is there are no countries in the world right now operating under a socialist economy. Rather, there are social democracies. So countries like Sweden, Finland, and any of the European states that have a robust social safety net would be considered social democracies that are still rooted in capitalism and are rooted in a capitalist organization of the economy but have a pretty robust state of support for social needs like health care and education. No countries operate under a socialist organization of the economy and, again, social democracy is rooted in a capitalist organization economy which is the primary difference. Socialism calls for the ending of capitalism as an economic organization and calls for the workers to be the ones who own the capital and the means of production rather than having it be separated into a hierarchical structure as we have in capitalism.

Mullins: What’s the biggest misconception of YDSA?

Penya: I believe the biggest misconception people have of democratic socialism is that everyone who subscribes to this way of thought is an extremely politically left social justice warrior. We’re seen as people who are crying in every comment section of conservative thought and making ourselves out to be a victim and that we’re evil and not Christians. That’s just not true and is probably the biggest misconception I would say is faced by people who fall into this political group.

Mullins: How would you respond to other political groups on campus?

Penya: I’m glad that ACU allows for different opinions to be voiced. We should be respectful of other people and recognize, as humans, we have rights, and there are some forms of dignity that are essential to living a way of life, especially in a Christian institution that seeks to follow Jesus’ messages.

Mullins: What do you want people to know about YDSA?

Penya: Our primary concern is with making our community, city and country as fair and just as it can be to the most amount of people possible. The end goal is for everyone to be able to have their basic needs met and for them to live comfortably. Our message and our values genuinely align with what we hear from Jesus in the New Testament.

Post Q+A analysis: After this interview, I believe it is immensely valuable to have different perspectives and voices across higher education institutions, especially private institutions. Within institutions, like ACU and other private Christian universities, it is important to hold conversations with others of differing beliefs and do our best to meet them where they are and come to a common ground. Despite facing backlash for its initial chapter development, Dr. Schubert signed off on the group once conversations took place to rename the wording of the group. Because of these facts, YDSA worked and fought to be formed and took the appropriate steps to be formed.

YDSA is doing its best to form communities of ACU students to have conversations about political and non-political topics they face each and every day. Penya even acknowledges in his responses there are those on campus who have different beliefs, yet he feels compelled to do his best to understand and meet them where they are. As a student on a private Christian campus, I believe it is imperative we do our best to listen to those who differ from us in opinion rather than being closed minded. We are all better for listening to those with varying opinions. That’s how we make each other better.

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As a young woman who has navigated the challenging terrain of college life, I can testify to the often underestimated and embarrassing effects of menstruation on academic performance. My experiences, like those of countless others, have shown that menstrual leave is not a luxury but rather a step toward gender equity in education.

Now in my fourth year of college, I have become all too familiar with the dilemma of whether to talk about my period with professors. This particularly goes for the male ones. Even for the ones who are seen as gentle father figures, this topic is awkward and historically taboo. ResLife and the Human Resources Department of ACU confirmed that there are no policies in place for menstrual leave and claim that students must use their allotted absences for days of severe menstruation. 

Because of this, I have often begrudgingly woken up for classes, only to find my clothing soaked through with blood. From that point, it becomes a monthly routine not unique to me but common to an entire gender.

Trying to get ready for school on time, cleaning clothes and sheets before stains settle in all while battling a hormone-induced rage of a mental state and abdominal pains rumored to be as painful as a heart attack. I can’t stop thinking about how many more absences I can afford, and how I have to make it to class. 

These dreadful mornings are often ended by spilling hot, spiteful tears and defeatedly assuming the fetal position. My thoughts begin to shift as I fear that my professors will think I am inept or unmotivated. In reality, I am nursing myself in the most painful moments so that I can power through at my jobs and make rent for the month. I have spent approximately 1,134 days of my life living this experience and am just an average 21-year-old woman. 

For those who prefer to not lie about their absence or complain to professors about their feminine plights, it seems there is no way to win, especially when this is life for up to two weeks out of the month. 

For those like myself, attending class becomes an easy battle to lose, especially when the rest of the week is followed by homework for five classes and three demanding jobs that are crucial to making ends meet.

I get periods twice monthly, in which my blood flow is often so heavy that I can’t make it 30 minutes without changing my pad or tampon. If I waited longer, I would bleed through my pants. Constantly stressing out about this, while suffering through excruciating cramps, is a commonly experienced misfortune. According to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, menstrual irregularities like mine occur in an estimated 14% to 25% of women of childbearing age.

As a final blow toward the twice-monthly war that seems to occur in my body, a special email is sure to arrive in my inbox. 

“This message is to inform you that you have been marked ABSENT,” the email says. 

It seems to snicker at my weakness while I count once more how many absences I can afford before being withdrawn by my stricter professors. In these moments, I find myself super grateful for the rare professor who eases up on marking absences. 

Students should not have to describe their gory struggles as I have just done. ACU should offer at least three days off monthly for the worst days of menstruation. 

This isn’t that crazy of an idea. According to the American Bar Organization, Spain’s recent menstrual leave bill requiring three days of menstrual leave might inspire other countries. Those who accept this leave are available for compensation by the government. 

“Looking forward, it is anticipated that other countries and/or jurisdictions will consider introducing statutory menstrual leave,” said Maya Alfaisal, the American Bar Association author.

“In fact, on February 14, 2023, the Congress of Mexico City approved to submit a menstrual leave related proposal to Mexico’s Federal Congress, which, if passed at the federal level, would concern all menstruating employees in Mexico,” Alfaisal said.

By creating menstrual leave policies, ACU can set an example for the rest of the country, and give us ladies something we’ve been needing for a long time.

Periods may be a punchline, but they’re also a part of life. It’s high time to say goodbye to the days of pretending we are just ‘sick’ once a month!

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