Alumni

When his daughters Mackenzie and Madison headed to school for a new year, Kevin Scruggs knew that someday he would want to see those moments again. So he filmed his daughters on those first days of school, every year — and they’ve gone viral. The videos, put together in time-lapse montages, have been viewed by more than 100 million people. “You get tears. There is a lot wrapped up in that video,” said Scruggs of his latest video of younger daughter Madison, who is an incoming freshman at GCU (Mackenzie graduated from GCU in April). “As a dad, you get to see her life play out in a minute.”

There is very little known about the mysterious “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” that has formed and continued to grow every year, but two GCU alum’s and their fellow expedition boat crew are determined to show the world what is really going on in the ocean. COFAP Graduates Joshua Munoz (class of 2015) and Corbin Marshall (Class of 2016) have both found homes in Hawaii since graduating, and will be embarking on a journey with several scientist, French-born long-distance swimmer Ben Lecomte and several others on what they are calling “The Vortex Swim” starting Tomorrow and continuing until September. Lecomte will be swimming for eight hours a day for 100 days to make up a total of 300 nautical miles, all while his crew collects data, tracks plastic movement and studies the effects of the plastic on surrounding ocean life. Munoz and Marshall will be aboard documenting the whole expedition via photography and videography, all while also taking shifts manning the helm and assisting with data collecting. Links to follow the journey of Munoz, Marshall and the rest of the crew throughout the process will be located within the story.

It seemed like only a matter of time before L.E. “Sharky” Baker would add Grand Canyon University Hall of Fame inductee to his long list of accomplishments. He graduated from GCU back in 1956 with a degree in Physical Education and Social Studies and went on to not only be a teacher/coach for several high schools but also a principal, Payson Unified school district superintendent, the president of GCU’s alumni association and scholarship foundation, and a regular at GCU sports events. “He loves the University,” said his wife, Leona. “He said, ‘I am what I am today because of GCU.’”

The most unusual scene of commencement played out Friday afternoon when a 14-man mariachi band performed for one of the graduates near the 33rd Avenue entrance to campus. It was the perfect surprise, but pulling it off was a challenge for the graduate’s fiancee as well as the Events team.

Graduates of the GCU online program routinely tell incredible stories of perseverance, but Jocelyn Word of Stockton, Calif., took it to the next level. She has done it while raising four children as a single mom and after overcoming a brain aneurysm and the loss of two jobs. “I feel absolutely amazing,” she said.

There were plenty of proud parents in GCU Arena on Thursday for commencement, but none of them were as incredulous as Jesse Dalla Riva’s folks. Their worries of five years ago during his battle with drug addiction have transformed into stunned amazement about what he has accomplished. “It’s complete redemption,” said Jesse’s father, Frank.

Monday night marked the final Canyon Worship Songwriters Showcase for Katie Brown and Harrison Russell, and the two stars of the Worship Arts program went out with a crescendo — they performed side by side for two songs. The way one of those songs came together is an interesting story, and so are their thoughts about their experiences in the program and where it’s headed.

Areahna O’Rea spent more than two years preparing her startup idea, Ninjobi, for the Canyon Challenge, and it paid off Wednesday morning when she took home the $5,000 awarded the winner of the competition. Not only was her presentation well done — one of the judges, Dan Schultz, described her job-placement application as “something unique.”

GCU alumni Felipe Reyes, Dylan Santos and Kevin Llamas created FADES, an app designed to make getting a haircut easier. Their ultimate goal is to link customers with mobile barbers. “It’s going to take some time (to educate people to use the app and to go mobile), but people weren’t doing taxes on their phone not too long ago, either,” Reyes said.

Saturday’s Hall of Fame ceremony showcased several of GCU’s most inspiring stories from alumni who have made a impact on their communities and careers throughout the years. One of this years inductees was Reginald Freeman, who received his masters from GCU in 2008. Since Freeman has surpassed numerous milestones in the Firefighting field and continues to give back to his community in Hartford Connecticut. This year’s other inductees included Randi (Johns) Riggs, Hagir Elsheikh, George Holm, and Sharky Baker.