GCU Today Magazine - November 2017

26 • GCU MAGAZ I NE J ohn Thornton is already making plans for the fourth season of Lopes on the Road — a chance for Grand Canyon University alumni, students, faculty and fans to cheer the Lopes to victory nationwide. The Seattle resident, who is studying online for his doctoral degree at GCU, remembers his first Lopes on the Road experience — a year ago, when the men’s basketball team played at Seattle University, a 30-minute drive from his home. His online experience has made a GCU fan out of Thornton. “It’s to the point everybody I know gets a GCU pen from me,” he said. “My wife is even changing careers and went to GCU. My son is a high school senior, and he has just been accepted at GCU as a ground student.” Thornton and his family attended the game together, and it made him even more excited when he saw a couple hundred more Lopes in the crowd. What started in 2015 with 86 participants has grown to 1,382, and GCU hopes to continue expanding Lopes on the Road. The joint GCU Alumni It’s a unanimous decision: Lopes on the Road judged a success B Y J E A N N E T T E C R U Z Supporting evidence