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GCU MAGAZ I NE • 2 1
VIDEO
Get an overview of the campus construction projects and an inside
look at the Student Life Building in these videos at
news.gcu.edu.element this month: the state-of-the-art
stadium that now adorns the west side
of campus.
Men’s soccer coach Schellas Hyndman can
hardly contain himself as he sits in his new
office under what he calls “arguably the best
soccer stadium in the country.” Above his
desk is a rendering of the stadium, a gift from
GCU President Brian Mueller when Hyndman
arrived early last year. Like a good game of
soccer, Hyndman notes, it took an endless
amount of teamwork to master that goal.
“In 31 years of coaching, you put together
all the time that I’ve personally spent with
presidents of universities, and it may have
amounted to just a little over an hour,”
Hyndman said. “My first meeting with
President Mueller was probably 2½ hours.
His level of enthusiasm is one you can
appreciate.”
Since then, the former FC Dallas coach has
sat down with Mueller regularly to talk about
their vision for the intimate stadium setting,
which encompasses 41,000 square feet and
has grass berms on three sides. Now that
vision is ready to come to fruition with music,
fireworks, halftime shows and, of course,
great soccer.
Hyndman promises that the atmosphere
will be electrifying. And as the only Division I
men’s team in the state, the potential of GCU
soccer is bounteous.
“At the collegiate level, these moments are
called soccer games, but at GCU they will
become events,” Hyndman said. “It’s going
to be a great home field, with great fans and
all of the plans and all of the ambition that
the University has about creating a larger
community.”
The new soccer stadium is only a speck of
what GCU has built in just the last year. By
the end of the year the University will have
10 new facilities recently completed or under
construction. So let’s pass the ball on to the
next project.
Just east of the soccer stadium is the
Student Life Building, a new four-story
modern office space at the intersection of the
Promenade and Lopes Way. The initial upside
to this building is the fact that it is located at
the Promenade Circle, which historically has
been considered the heart of campus.
On the first floor are the busiest
departments — Canyon Activities Board,