Archive for April, 2022

It was a long journey for many dedicated online students to make it to their final destination: graduation. Thousands of online students earned their degrees and walked the GCU Arena stage this week for Commencement, many with inspirational stories to tell: moms and dads who struggled to do their homework in between taking care of children and full-time jobs, those who lived through hurricanes and illnesses, and those who didn’t let a disability stand in the way of their academic goals. They celebrated with family and friends, and with us, through their social media posts, a few of which we’ve compiled here.

The success of the 11 Spring Commencement ceremonies wouldn’t have been possible without the behind-the-scenes work by the Event Services team and the dedicated volunteers from other departments. But the workers have a secret for you: They enjoy themselves as much as the graduates and their guests. Here are six anecdotes that demonstrate the joy that filled GCU Arena for six days.

Photos by Ralph Freso GCU News Bureau The Event Services team and volunteers from other Grand Canyon University and Grand Canyon Education departments team up to make Commencement special for graduates and their guests. It’s a lot of work — some of which the visitors see, but much of which they don’t. Here’s the story.

Photos by Ralph Freso GCU News Bureau The final ceremony of Spring Commencement was Thursday morning for online students who earned bachelor’s degrees from the College of Nursing and Health Care Professions. Here’s a replay.

Stefany Caicedo was in a coma for 49 days after a car accident in 2012. She had to learn everything again, from talking to walking. Ten years later, she stood in the sunshine outside GCU Arena with her Georgia family as the proud owner of a bachelor’s degree in educational studies. “God saved me from something horrible. I’m not supposed to be here. If he put this in front of me, I’m going to do this,” Caicedo said.

The impressive lineup of student speakers this week included a solid talk Wednesday morning by Breana Lee, who praised the way GCU handled the pandemic and had interesting advice for graduates about the importance of being constant in faith and other areas. Here’s more about what she said plus the final submissions from graduates detailing their journeys to their online degrees.

Photos by Ralph Freso GCU News Bureau The Wednesday afternoon of Spring Commencement at Grand Canyon University featured graduates of the online programs in the College of Education (bachelor’s degrees), College of Arts and Media, and College of Theology. Here’s a story on one of the graduates at the ceremony, Stefany Caicedo, and here’s a replay of the ceremony.

Photos by Ralph Freso GCU News Bureau The Wednesday morning ceremony of Spring Commencement at Grand Canyon University featured graduates of the Colangelo College of Business. Here’s a story with highlights of the student speech by Briana Lee and a video with graduates’ comments about the online program, and here’s a replay of the ceremony.

One graduate responded to discussion posts while she was in labor. Another had to take a leave of absence during Hurricane Harvey but pushed through. Still another continued on her journey after her mother passed away from West Nile virus a few months after her father died. Despite all that life threw at them, GCU’s online students reached the finish line and completed their degrees.

Rehema Stephens could have rested on her laurels after an outstanding career as a basketball player, both as a scoring leader for UCLA and later in the WNBA. But she went on from that career to get three master’s degrees, the latest from GCU on Tuesday, when she was the speaker of the afternoon Commencement for College of Education master’s degree graduates. “Don’t settle, keep ascending,” Rehema said in an interview. “Once you find that area, that passion, success will find you and money will find you.”