We are ACU

A message from Vice President Fr Anthony Casamento csma: While we may talk about and try to live our mission, we don’t usually take the time to celebrate intentionally, until now.

A point of distinction between ACU and almost every other university in Australia is our Catholic identity. And what defines this distinction is our mission - underlying all of our endeavours from our teaching and research to our community engagement and even team sports. And while we may talk about and try to live our mission, we don’t usually take the time to celebrate intentionally.

This is about to change!

Later this month, we will host our first-ever ACU Mission Week (28 August-2 September) featuring a range of events and activities both online and on-campus which showcase both who we are and what we do at ACU.

Watch a short video on our theme for Mission Week: We are ACU 

There will be a wide variety of events for both staff and students to participate in with music, food stalls, competitions, giveaways and guest speakers. You can see our schedule of events in this ACU Mission Week article from today’s Bulletin, but I’d like to draw your attention to a few which you may wish to join and can look forward to:

• A Community Engagement showcase highlighting the fantastic work of our engagement team does to assist with the university serving in our local community and the research that backs this approach. The event will also give you more information about our Community Engagement Time Release (CETR).
  
  
• Our libraries will host, The Saint John Bible: From Inspiration to Illumination, an event that will explore the unique work of art that unites an ancient Benedictine tradition with the technology and vision of today. Be immersed in the exquisite beauty of the limited heritage edition of The Saint John Bible and hear from Director of the Saint John's Bible Mr. Tim Ternes. A guided imagery discussion will follow to ignite the spiritual imagination of people of all faith journeys.
  
  
• A We are ACU festival event featuring keynote speeches from Young Australian of the Year 2022 Dr Daniel Nour, and local ACU alumni speaking about the importance of mission and how ACU impacted their vision for mission in their own lives. The blessing and lighting of our Mission Week candle will also afford everyone present a moment to come together in prayer for ACU and personal intentions.
  
  
• The First People’s Directorate will host a Coffee and a Yarn discussion and informal dialogue about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples constitutional recognition and the upcoming Voice Referendum.
  
  
• Campus Ministry will host an online viewing and panel discussion on The Letter documentary, based on Laudato Si (the encyclical letter Pope Francis wrote to the world about the environmental crisis).

Look out for more news about Mission Week events in your local campus Workplace group and be sure to join in some of the fun events throughout the week.

I look forward to the energy and excitement that will come from our community joining together to celebrate that because of our mission, we are ACU!