Alumni

It was an emotional day when GCU alumna Samantha Bedore started her first day of a residency in physical therapy at HonorHealth in Scottsdale. She had walked through those same doors to see her grandfather, who was dying. Now she was there to help others. “I just hope I can give people the care that my grandpa received,” said Bedore, an Army veteran who shares more than one trauma that led to her purpose.

Women can be leaders too, if they set their mind to it. That is why Miss Arizona and Honors College Alumna Jacqueline Thomas’ LLC and blog Lady Leaders partnered with GCU’s Honors college to host the Empowering Female Leaders Panel. Thomas brought several strong GCU women in leadership positions, such as the College of Nursing and Health Care professions Dean Dr. Lisa Smith, Executive Vice President of GCU Sarah Boeder and Vice President of Faculty Operations Kelly Palese, to help empower young women on campus to unlock their leadership potential. “Lady Leaders is committed to providing tangible resources, tools and mentors for women,” Thomas said. “Now that I have been blessed with this network and resources, I want to be able to give it back. That’s the soul purpose for these lady leader panels.”

Eight-year-old Shiann Sloan has been through a lot in her young life. She was born with a birth defect in which organs from her abdomen were formed outside her body, she has chronic lung disease and has a hole in her heart. She also is partially deaf and so music therapy has become a big part of her life. Shiann got the surprise of her life when she had the chance to meet Daigle at her recent concert at GCU Arena, thanks to GCU alumna Kelly Schindler and her work with HopeKids Arizona.

The Theatre Department earned 20 ariZoni Awards nominations for last year’s productions of “Peter and the Starcatcher” and “Ring Round the Moon,” and Christina McSheffrey was selected as one of three winners of the 2019 Zoni Scholarship. “I think it just speaks volumes about the education they’re receiving and how we try to work as much as possible to help them be ready to move on to either grad school or into entertainment as a profession,” said Claude Pensis, College of Fine Arts and Productions Dean and also an ariZoni Nominee. The award ceremony is scheduled for 8 p.m. Monday in Scottsdale.

Dr. Joseph Hattrick, who received his doctoral degree from GCU earlier this year, will appear on “Wheel of Fortune” on Friday night. Interestingly, he said the pressure of defending his dissertation prepared him well for the stress of solving word puzzles on the popular game show.

Editor’s note: This story is reprinted from the August 2019 issue of GCU Magazine. To view the digital version, click here.  By Ashlee Larrison GCU Magazine When Karsten Kem first came to Grand Canyon University as a freshman, he had one thing in mind: He wanted to get involved. “I dove right into campus,” he said. “I was so excited to come here.” He didn’t waste any time following through on that goal. He worked on the intramural staff. He became a Resident Assistant. He joined the Havocs, GCU’s nationally acclaimed student cheer section, and eventually was named president of the group before graduating in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in Finance and Economics. The Cave Creek, Ariz., native then transitioned from student to full-time employee, and this year he was named Alumni Relations and Engagement Manager. Again, he’s not wasting any time pursuing his goal: He wants other alumni to remain engaged with their alma mater, too. “The community aspect of GCU is just so big, and that’s why I ultimately wanted to end up working here,” he said. The hiring of such a high-profile graduate has brought to the Alumni office his knowledge of the campus, his love […]

Editor’s note: This story is reprinted from the August 2019 issue of GCU Magazine. To view the digital version, click here.  By Ashlee Larrison GCU Magazine GCU’s Office of Alumni Relations is working to make graduates new and old feel connected to their alma mater, no matter where they live. There are GCU alumni chapters in Phoenix, Houston and Seattle, and another one is in the works for Las Vegas. Each chapter is independently led and operated. The only requirements are to have a minimum of four events and report back to Alumni Relations and Engagement Manager Karsten Kem and his team. “It’s a really exciting way to connect,” Kem said. Another way for out-of-state alumni to connect is Lopes on the Road, featured at selected away games involving GCU teams. LOTR sites in 2019-20 include Saint Mary’s (Moraga, Calif.), UC Riverside, Cal Baptist (also in Riverside, Calif.), New Mexico and Portland, to name just a few. Back in Phoenix, Alumni Weekend on Sept. 27-28 will include a game at GCU Stadium featuring former GCU soccer players and plenty of other alumni festivities, including a group outing at the GCU men’s soccer match against Incarnate Word. Members of the alumni […]

Alicia Burns, Director of Operations for Grand Canyon Education, is a frequent GCU volunteer. Commencement is her favorite, but she also loves Welcome Week, Habitat for Humanity and any other community outreach.

The highlight of the GCU summer was Joseph Allen winning the Golden Buzzer on “America’s Got Talent.” But he also was a standout performer while on campus. Catch Allen on “AGT” as the second week of the live shows gear up.

Jazz preservation, That’s what Dance Director Susannah Keita and the rest of GCU’s Dance department hope to accomplish by putting such a strong emphasis on jazz dance within their program. Few Dance programs offer jazz dance to their students, making GCU’s dance program a unique and sought after program for students looking to study jazz dance. Recently Keita was even able to present at the National Dance Education Organization’s jazz conference this summer. “We want our dancers to be prepared for the commercial dance world and the concert dance world,” Keita said. “Jazz can be in either.”