Archive for June, 2019

Gina Meyer, a member of the College of Education staff and adjunct faculty since 2008, died of breast cancer on Tuesday. She will be remembered for always looking for ways to incorporate innovative technology tools to bring the course content alive for her online students, advocating for her students, serving as a resource for the online adjunct faculty … and how much she loved GCU.

Three new apartment buildings on Grand Canyon University’s campus will add 1,800 beds for returning students when construction is completed later this summer. The new apartments add to a growing population of students living on campus, a four-fold increase since 2012.

Breaking into the professional world can be difficult, especially in the arts. But even with their graduation from GCU fresh on their minds, several dance alumni already are thriving in their first big jobs. “I hope that the world receives them and loves them as much as we have here,” Dance Director Susannah Keita said. “I’m a proud dance mom.”

Jacqueline Thomas competed in the Miss Arizona competition regularly during her time at GCU, finishing second in 2018, and now she has taken the next step. She won the title last weekend and will represent Arizona as she vies for the Miss America title. She credits GCU’s Honors College for helping her succeed. “Everything that I did once I joined the Honors College, from internships to jobs to other extra-curricular activities or opportunities within the Miss Arizona organization, was all because of the foundation that the Honors College laid out for me,” she said.

In this week’s Fitness Facts, Connie Colbert provides the details about gluten intolerance — the symptoms, strategies for dealing with it and foods to avoid.

In this week’s Mental Health Vitamin, Dr. Deb Wade is selling lemonade — but with some advice that’s even more refreshing. When life hands you lemons, here are some techniques that might not make your problems go away, but they figure to lessen the impact of those challenges.

The new Learning Lounge at the Milwaukee Brewers’ training complex in Maryvale has created an interesting partnership between the employees who work there as well as the University and a Major League Baseball club. Shari Stagner, GCU’s Director of K12 Outreach, is teaming up with the Brewers’ Thad McGrew and Andrew Daugherty to come up with new ideas that will benefit local students.

When Grand Canyon University’s Associate Professor Kimber Underdown submitted her video for a shot at becoming a member of Flipgrid’s new Executive board, she never thought that she would be selected. Yet in early June, Underdown was notified that she had in fact been selected. Underdown will be one of 24 executive board members in the world for the video platform, and she was both surprised and excited about the opportunity. “It’s really exciting because I do love the technology, I have gone to the Flipgrid Live last year, I presented there last year and so I feel like I know them and they know me,” she said. All 24 for the executive board members will be publicly announced and celebrated at Flipgrid Live Tonight at 7 p.m.

Jonny Diaz was on a path to become a baseball player, like his older brother, Matt, who played for such teams as the Atlanta Braves and Kansas City Royals. But after just a year of playing ball in college, Diaz found other doors opening for him and has since found his way in Christian music. Diaz will bring his easygoing sound to GCU Arena on Sunday as part of the three-day Elevate Music Festival. The festival kicks off at 7 tonight.

“We’re the better neurons!” one student declared at GCU’s Biovision Day Camp after playing a few rounds of the Neuron Game. Sixth through ninth graders not only made like neurons but were wowed by the colors of light streaming through spectroscopes, gandered at 3D printers and more at the camp. It was just one of a quartet of STEM-savvy Thunder Vision offerings, with a different science and tech focus each day (Robovision, Ecovision and Cybervision among them) offered by the University’s K12 Educational Development. More than 500 students are attending the one-day camps, which wrap up today.