Archive for November, 2011

GCU Arena will be filled with the sights and sounds of the holidays on Saturday night as Pandora’s Unforgettable Holiday Moments on Ice brings a unique kind of show to campus. The big question: How can an arena with a permanent basketball court become an ice rink for skaters to perform those triple lutzes and double axels? The answer: careful planning and preparation, as well as some really cool equipment.

GCU doctoral learners took a break from the intensity of residency for a taste of campus life on Wednesday. The Kachina Ballroom at the Squaw Peak Pointe Hilton in Phoenix became GCU Arena for an hour as learners were treated to a midweek Chapel. Ryan Maguire, GCU’s online ministry coordinator and staff chaplain, provided the message and a smaller Chapel band — consisting only of Campus Music Minister Gabe Salazar and band members Jeannette Montenegro and Jason Richard — provided the music.

After a knee injury sidelined Caelen Hiller, she feared not being able to play volleyball every again. When reconstructive surgery infected her with MRSA, the situation threatened more than her volleyball career. Two years since her month-long stint in the hospital, she has fought back and doesn’t take a single moment on the court for granted. “Every day is a blessing,” she says.

Alpha Psi Omega is the theatre club on campus. They’re behind the scenes, on the stage and all over campus. Take a look at this group and what they’ve been up to in 2011!

A funny thing happened to GCU student Lindsay Fernandez on her way to winning the crown of Fiesta Bowl Queen last year.
She liked it. “I’m not the typical titleholder,” says Fernandez, 23, a commuter student from Peoria who is majoring in health-care administration and nursing. She was the first student from GCU to ever make the finals of the Fiesta Bowl competition.

Was that a Suns game on Saturday night? With purple everywhere and a loud crowd of 4,702 including several guests with ties to the local NBA team — Jerry Colangelo, Al McCoy, Dick Van Arsdale and Josh Childress among them — the men’s basketball exhibition game between GCU and Arizona State University had a playoff-type atmosphere. It was the place to be for hoops fans, and the Antelopes hung with the much bigger Sun Devils well into the second half before falling, 89-69.

When you find yourself in new or highly competitive situations like what you experience in college, you may feel a change is in order. It took me 50 years to realize a funny dynamic about life and the changes you can make. The most profound changes in life can be the little ones – the tweaks.

In today’s tough economic times, it’s hard to stay positive, especially for leaders in the business world. But that is exactly what Dr. Ken Blanchard says is the most important thing for today’s leaders. “You have to be the bearers of hope,” Blanchard told a packed Ethington Theatre at Friday morning’s CEO Lecture Series, put on in partnership with AZ Business Magazine. “That doesn’t mean you have to be deceitful or not tell the truth about what’s going on. But if you aren’t positive, your people won’t be positive.”

GCU’s recent growth as an institution was on display Friday for a record number of high school students from across Arizona at the annual Health Sciences and Nursing Day. An estimated 2,500 students — an increase of 1,000 over 2010 — visited campus, attending a number of breakout sessions and touring points of interest such as the cadaver and simulation labs. About 60 high schools were represented, from as far as Prescott, Bisbee, Tucson and Nogales. Dr. Cheryl Roat, associate dean for the College of Nursing, had a standing-room-only audience for her early morning talk on “The Top 10 Reasons to Be a Nurse.”

GCU and ASU face off in a cross-town showdown Saturday November 5, 2011. GCU students get pumped up for the first Men’s basketball game in the new arena! Can you Hear the Thunder?