Campus Life

Sean Moore certainly had his finger on the pulse of his Chapel audience Monday when he talked about the words on everyone’s lips these days: “Please, God, make the pandemic go away.” That’s not the proper prayer, Moore said. We should not just say we have faith — we must live it. “God shouldn’t have to read off His resume, shouldn’t have to go through all the things that He has done for people over the years for us to trust Him,” Moore said.

It just gets better and better for College of Fine Arts and Productions when it comes to the annual ariZoni Awards. This year, the college won eight awards, seven for last year’s production of a “A Year with Frog and Toad.” “I feel like I can believe that it’s just going to get better and better in terms of what we do and our reputation across the country,” said COFAP Assistant Dean William Symington.

Jodi Hickerson of Mission Church in Ventura, Calif., has a way of making what happened 2,000 years incredibly relevant to today. Monday at Chapel, she broke down in detail how Jesus forgave Peter denying Him three times and, instead, made him the leader of His church. “Shame has a powerful enemy, and that is the grace of God,” she said.

The list of speakers for Money Week, GCU’s annual instructional in financial literacy, includes four recent alumni who have gone into the financial services industry. They were eager to give back to the University because of their experience at GCU, and current students following in their footsteps helped organize and are facilitating the virtual event.

The outdoor stage for the production of “The Comedy of Errors” was a major success. Counting the livestream viewers, the five performances averaged more people than the 311-person capacity of Ethington Theatre and were well-received by the in-person audiences. “A lot of audience members commented on how fun it was,” said William Symington, Assistant Dean of the College of Fine Arts and Production.

No matter what’s happening in the world, not even after the events of the last seven months, we should trust in God and not worry about a thing. That was Brian Kruckenberg’s Chapel message Monday as he challenged the audience to truly live by that principle. “We have to put our hope and our faith and our trust in Jesus,” he said.

A new season of Ethington Theatre plays begins Wednesday night with Shakespeare’s “The Comedy of Errors.” In addition to debuting on the new outdoor stage, the production will showcase some original musical pieces adapted written by instructor Michael Kary and composed by theatre student Ryan Ardelt.

Funny how being unable to attend classes in person for six months makes them that much more appealing. Whether they were returning to GCU or fresh out of high school, students were eager to resume the classroom experience this week. “It’s completely different being here as a student,” said one freshman. “It’s a big, amazing school, and there’s a completely different atmosphere than most colleges.”

“There are a lot of things that I am unsure of. But tonight, what I do know, is that we are at a place that has allowed an opportunity for diversity and awareness and inclusion to be possible,” said Donald Glenn, Director of the Multicultural, Diversity and Inclusion Office at Sunday’s One Love Awareness Walk. About 500 students and others in the campus community joined in the event, symbolic of GCU’s commitment to love, compassion, respect and dignity this semester. The walk, which introduced the campus to the newly expanded office, culminated Welcome Week events and helped usher in the new semester as students begin in-person learning today.

Photos by David Kadlubowski and Elizabeth Tinajero GCU News Bureau Grand Canyon University students were treated to a wide range of activities during Welcome Week, including Night at the Movies on Friday night and the Welcome Fest on Saturday night.