1 6 • GCU TODAY
P
op quiz: Why is Grand Canyon
University’s nickname the
Antelopes? What’s the significance
of purple? And what’s the backstory
of how Thunder got his name?
Don’t know? Don’t worry. Most students
and employees know very little about this
part of University history — and they’re not to
blame. Records are mostly anecdotal, found in
old school yearbooks and passed down from
longtime employees and alumni such as Faith
Weese, chief University relations officer; L.E.
“Sharky” Baker, Class of 1956; Mildred Brazell,
wife of former baseball coach Dave Brazell;
and late theology professor Dr. J. Niles Puckett.
For a GCU history lesson, we spoke with
Sharky’s nephew, Senior Associate Athletic
Director Keith Baker. The alumnus and
32-year University veteran qualifies as the
resident campus historian and knows the
answers to those questions, including how an
often mocked beast of burden nearly became
GCU’s mascot.
“We were close to being the Donkeys,” he
said. “The Grand Canyon University Donkeys
is not nearly as marketable (as Antelopes), in
my mind.”
Antelopes have represented GCU well. The
“Lopes” nickname, which has become iconic in
Arizona and the Southwest, led to the creation
of GCU’s beloved mascot “Thunder,” which is
rooted in the rumbling sound of an antelope
herd migrating across the plains, and the
“Lopes Up” hand symbol, a hit on campus and
beyond (you’ve seen the billboards, right?).
Antelopes, like GCU, are elegant and
graceful yet powerful and speedy. They have a
keen sense of what’s ahead.
The antelope also is steeped in GCU
tradition — the pronghorn antelope is native to
the Arizona Strip, north of the Colorado River.
GCU nearly chose a beastly
nickname, but now no one can
steal our Thunder
B Y C O O P E R N E L S O N
Antelope-ology
