Alumni

Brian Smith was a junior at Alhambra High School when he applied to then-Grand Canyon College. He was elated to be accepted. Unfortunately, his family moved back to Ohio and he was unable to attend. He held onto his admissions letter from 1975 for more than 40 years before he decided to pursue a master’s degree in Nursing at GCU. He will carry the letter across the stage with him at Online Commencement.

In 1999, the political situation in Venezuela declined to the point where Carlos Macias and his family knew they had to get out. Most of his family fled to Spain, but Macias had a different path out through soccer. He landed in Arizona, bounced around through a vastly different culture and finally found his solitude at GCU. Macias strongly believes that God opens doors to blessings, and now he spreads that message to his high school soccer team and the Major League Baseball players who call him pastor.

Like the laces of a tightly wound baseball, a powerful bond has developed between GCU baseball and the firefighting community in the Valley. More than a dozen former Lopes baseball players have transitioned into local firefighting. The lessons they learned as student-athletes have transferred exceptionally well to their service-oriented and challenging careers, and they are drawn to the plethora of similarities between baseball and firefighting. Reprinted from the August issue of GCU Magazine.

Like the laces of a tightly-wound baseball, a powerful bond has developed between GCU baseball and the firefighting community in the Valley. More than a dozen former Lopes baseball players have transitioned into local firefighting. The lessons they learned as student-athletes have transferred exceptionally well to their service-oriented and challenging careers. They are drawn to the plethora of similarities between baseball and firefighting. Reprinted from the August issue of GCU Magazine.

The August issue of GCU Magazine, available here, features two in-depth looks into two important issues at Grand Canyon University: the recently completed transition back to nonprofit status, and the importance of diversity on campus. Also featured are stories on women’s basketball coach Nicole Powell, who recently was inducted into the National Federation of State High School Associations Hall of Fame, and on a group of Phoenix-area firefighters who are former Grand Canyon baseball players. And you can get an inside look at campus trends and developments with the annual GCU INsider.    

Members of the GCU community — a student, a faculty member, an online staff member, a campus staff member and an academic leader — reflect on the meaning of Independence Day and describe how they will celebrate with family and friends.

Under the terms of a transaction that closed on July 1, 2018, Grand Canyon Education sold Grand Canyon University to a nonprofit entity that will retain the GCU name. The transaction returns GCU to its historical roots as a nonprofit university and ensures the long-term legacy of both GCU and GCE.

Jim Carter was a kid from south Phoenix who had no clue where he was going to go. Then he met Dr. Dave Brazell, who was starting a baseball team at what was then Grand Canyon College. Brazell invited him to try out. That led to him graduating with a degree from GCU then going on to become an attorney and a judge.

There are families that are heavily involved in Grand Canyon University, but the Knotts family has taken it to the next level. Three of Bill and Jenny Knotts’ four children are GCU graduates, and the fourth is a current student.

Time after time over three days of commencement, Grand Canyon University volunteers sought to make the experience special for the graduates. One of the ways they do it is the “tunnel walk” after each ceremony — applauding the grads as they walk out of the Arena after the ceremony. It was just one of many memorable moments.

The MBA program at Grand Canyon University was so beneficial to Mario B. Avery, it played a key role in his success with projects he tackled as mayor of Fairburn, Ga. — such as a fall festival that grew to attract 25,000 people. “It would have been virtually impossible for the city’s staff and myself to successfully manage an event this size without using some of the valuable tools I acquired from GCU,” he said.