P17
March 2013
Junior multicultural
director preaches
hard work, diversity
S
ince she first volunteered for student government in the sixth grade,
Grand Canyon University junior
Samara “Samy” Carlon
never has lost sight of
how to grow as a leader and connect with other students.
She serves as a diplomat for diversity, helping students understand unfamiliar cultures
and view the world from an alternative perspective. As multicultural director for the
Associated Students of GCU campus government, Carlon supports more than 130
international students.
Her duties include spreading cultural awareness through events such as an international
education week and monthly farmers’ markets featuring ethnic cuisine not commonly
found in the campus cafeteria. Carlon also serves as vice president for GCU’s chapter of
the DECA business club and formerly served as treasurer for the Latino Student Union.
Carlon’s family moved to Arizona from Mexico City when she was 4. She knew that
finding a university she could afford would be challenging.
“I was one of those kids that always loved school, and it really hit me hard when I
realized how difficult (going to) college would be,” said Carlon, a double-major in
business management and sociology who is known around the campus for her work
ethic and endearing personality.
“College was always something I had envisioned, but the ‘how’ was becoming more
difficult,” she said.
Carlon, 20, initially applied to Arizona State University but was deterred by expensive
out-of-state tuition. A counselor at Peoria High School encouraged her to apply to
GCU, where she earned a $10,000 scholarship for her grades.
“I was like, there is no way I could get paid to do something I love,” Carlon said. “I felt
like God was calling me (to GCU).”
Carlon served as senior class president at Peoria High and immediately became
involved in GCU student government. She ran as a vice presidential candidate as
a freshman and joined the ASGCU activities team as a sophomore. She now works
in GCU’s Ken Blanchard College of Business to help manage event-planning for the
Blanchard speaker series.
Stacy Garrett
, director of professional studies and academic excellence for the
business college, said Carlon “emerged as a leader right away.” She has since developed
as a trusted representative for GCU undergraduate business programs, Garrett said.
Carlon’s schedule keeps her busy, though perhaps her biggest contribution to GCU
is her service to the campus Hispanic community. Since joining the Latino Student
Union two years ago, Carlon helped increase Latino student involvement on campus,
and she leveraged her position as multicultural director to help other students
understand the often-polarizing political issues that impact many Latinos.
GCU senior
Viridiana Hernandez
assisted Carlon in bringing Latino heritage
events to campus and campaigning for current Phoenix District 5 City Councilman
Daniel Valenzuela
, a firefighter and first-time political candidate who two years
ago became the first-ever Latino representative of his vastly Latino district.
Hernandez said Carlon’s position as multicultural director gives her the ability to serve
the Latino community that makes up nearly one-third of the campus student population.
“With Samy being in her position, you see (Latino cultural representation and
education) on the walls and you see it happening on campus,” Hernandez said. “It’s
good to see something around campus that talks about other cultures.
“Seeing (Samy’s efforts) around GCU makes a difference to the individuals of other
cultures that see it.”
■
– by Cooper Nelson
LEADING
y
EXAMPLE
Diversity is more than a buzzword for Samara “Samy” Carlon, GCU’s
student government multiculturalism director. Photo by Darryl Webb
‘H.M.S. Pinafore’ part
of Guild fundraiser
The GCU Guild, a volunteer organization
established in 1994 to support and encourage
students through prayer, scholarships and
campus activities, will hold its annual fundraiser
in conjunction with the Ethington Theatre
production of “H.M.S. Pinafore.” The Gilbert and
Sullivan musical is the final production in the
theatre series for 2012-13.
The fundraiser will start with a silent auction at
4 p.m. on Sunday, April 14, followed by dinner
at 5 p.m. in the Arena and the performance at
7 p.m. in Ethington. Tickets are $60 per person
and $500 for a table of 10. Proceeds will go
toward the GCU Guild Scholarship Foundation
and the Student Emergency Fund. For tickets:
The dance program has grown in numbers and quality under Susannah Keita, evidenced by its winter concert,
“The Road Less Traveled,” last December. Photo by Darryl Webb
GCU’s choirs (above), under the direction of Assistant Dean
Juan Hernandez, have packed First Southern Baptist Church
for their annual Christmas concert. Photo by Darryl Webb
“He’s really intense about the College of Fine Arts and
Production, but he’s equally so about its function in
the University as a whole, and he doesn’t stop there,”
says Kary, who recently played Ebenezer Scrooge in
a strong Ethington production of “A Christmas Carol”
and will direct “H.M.S. Pinafore” in April.
“In his mind, theatre at GCU (is) a viable part of the
Phoenix arts landscape.”
Pensis allows that there are certain limitations for a
college theatre troupe, such as its inability to play
a range of ages in a production. He compares the
difference between college and professional theatre
to the one between college and pro sports, and says
he’ll take college-level passion every time in both.
“This has got to be bloody good theatre, period,”
he says. “We’re a college producing the best that it
possibly can, and we’ll let the chips fall where they
may. I’d never say (to a student), ‘You’re doing well –
for a college actor.’”
Last spring,
Christina Cullers
got a taste of the
perfectionist in Pensis when she played the female
lead in the musical “The Boy Friend.”
“Working with him is intense,” says Cullers, an opera
singer by training. “He’ll get you to where he wants
you to go. He was relentless in pulling me to do my
best. He has every piece (of a production) mastered,
and he’s invested in you as a student.”
Indeed, Pensis thinks nothing of spending an hour
and a half with an actor, one on one, to get it
just
so.
“If you didn’t understand,” he says, “you might think
that person was being picked on. Sometimes it’s an
actor who has accomplished things but hit a plateau.
When we get close to a performance, I have to remind
myself to praise what’s working.”
He also has to remind himself that plenty of things
are
working.
“The goal is to represent Grand Canyon in the best
way that we can and to reflect as much honor and
achievement as possible,” Pensis says. “We’re in the
ballpark. We still have lots more work to do. We’re
going to grow and mature and continue to progress,
and that’s exciting.
“I don’t want to do three steps forward and two steps
back. It’s full speed ahead.”
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