Alumni

The seven student designers whose behind-the-scenes brilliance created Ethington Theatre’s recent production of “Tartuffe,” plus three members of the talented cast, have been selected to compete in the second round of the prestigious Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival regional competition in February.

As graduates face down their last month as GCU students, the Career IMPACT Center and the Alumni Relations office organized a week of events to make it memorable. Soon-to-be grads took advantage of an exciting mix of career workshops, networking opportunities and festive events this week before crossing the stage in December.

It was GCU night Wednesday at Paul’s Car Wash, — celebrating its 10th year of raising money for Big Brothers Big Sisters Central Arizona — and purple-clad helpers were on the scene washing cars for a purpose. Among volunteers were women’s basketball players and their coach, Nicole Powell, the Cheer, Dance and Pep Bands, and plenty of student and staff volunteers.

With more than 2,500 registrations for Family Weekend, expect the GCU campus to be bustling Friday to Sunday. Just some of the highlights? How about a 60-second shopping spree at the Lopes Shop, where a grand prize winner can grab as much as they can (with Thunder by their side for inspiration), along with a fall festival, bowling, Thunder Run 5K, cheer clinic and, of course, Midnight Madness.

This week’s edition of Antelope Intros features a horse lover with an interesting name history and a board-game player who was on a New York City talk show.

Gianno Caldwell, a 2010 GCU graduate, was named this week to the post of political analyst for Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network. Born on Chicago’s Southside, Caldwell cut his teeth in the school of hard knocks and thanks God for his opportunities.

Dean Claude Pensis of College of Fine Arts and Production is GCU’s longest-serving employee and celebrates his 35th anniversary this week. As humble as he is effective, Pensis is revered by colleagues and students and is the driving force behind GCU’s successful theatre program.

Tim Campbell, a Grand Canyon University nursing graduate who works at a hospital in Yakima, Wash., has an interesting hobby: He climbs mountains. Really, really big ones — including Denali, the tallest peak in North America.

Ivan Nechunaev, a former All-American swimmer, reached another milestone when he became the first GCU graduate to be accepted into The Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania. But what he plans to do with that prestigious degree is even more significant.

GCU’s Speech and Debate team will hit the tournament season running this year with 11 returnees and a new director, Michael Dvorak, who has coached GCU speech competitors for two years. Dvorak, a College of Humanities and Social Sciences faculty member, brings 10 years of expertise and a history of winning to GCU’s four-year-old team.