Milestones

“There is beauty here, the beauty of space and of freedom, and the beauty of the wind feeling its way along the brown, grassy swells and ruffling the yellow ridges. It is strong, stark beauty, having so few ornaments that each…must play an intense part in the composition, subtly forcing the eye out to the horizon and up to the sky.”

• 1927 - 1990s – Abilene Christian is supported by generous gifts from farmers and ranchers such as F. O. Masten who said, “No farmer or no nation is richer than his or its soil.” Buildings named for these benefactors include Edwards and Gardner residence halls and Bennett Gymnasium.
• 1929 - Abilene Christian College moves from downtown Abilene to outside the eastern city limits in what became known as Abilene Heights or more informally, "The Hill." D.T. Travis (’31) plants cottonwood trees on the lawn of the Administration Building. Six of these trees are alive today.
• 1990s - Byron Patterson and his staff in Landscape and Grounds green the ACU campus with trees and xeriscaping.
• 1990s - Kevin Watson and campus operations personnel significantly reduce the campus ecological footprint with water and energy saving measures, recycling, and waste stream reduction.
• 1998 - The student group CURE (Christians United to Respect the Earth) is established, sponsored by Dr. James Cooke, sponsors in the first Earth Day at ACU.
• 1999 - The ACU Global Stewardship Task Force is established and sponsored by the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities and the Evangelical Environmental Network. A campus statement on the environment is penned by six faculty:  Fredrick Aquino, Jim Cooke, David Dillman, Paul Morris, Carolyn Thompson and Michael Sadler.
• 2004 - President Royce Money signs the Evangelical Environmental Network’s statement, “An Evangelical Declaration on the Care of Creation.”
• 2006 - President Royce Money establishes an Environmental Task Force to review progress in environmental sustainability and investigate further additional possible initiatives.
• 2007 – President Royce Money and Corey Ruff, Landscape and Grounds Manager, accept the Donna Albus Beautification Award on behalf of the University. Presented by the Abilene Chamber of Commerce, the award acknowledges the planting of over 2,000 trees on campus, xeriscape/native plant selection, limited once weekly watering and the use of effluent water.
• 2008 - ACU participates in Focus the Nation, a national conversation on climate change, and holds its first residence hall competition for smart energy use called ACU Unplugged.