Campus Life

Members of the College of Education are praying for Joe Popma, an adjunct faculty member since 1994 who is battling cancer. Popma, who has been teaching for 66 years, worked as faculty in GCU’s first distance learning program, which delivered content via VHS tape, and helped develop GCU’s first online program, M.Ed. in Education Administration. He also was a faculty supervisor for teacher candidates as well as principal interns.

Students did a number on GCU’s math professors Thursday on the Promenade as they hurled pies in their face to recognize National Pi Day. The event, which also included a bake sale, complete with pies of a different kind, was organized by GCU’s new Math Ed Club to celebrate math. Associate Professor Ben VanDerLinden acknowledged how the United States performs poorly when it comes to math but is looking to the next generation of math teachers, like the ones in the club, to change that course. “These guys care,” he said.

Monday’s Chapel talk by Jay Pathak of Mile High Vineyard in Denver was a great example of how effective storytelling can bring home a message. Pathak gave two wonderful examples, laced with humor and poignant results, of what it means to be a good neighbor.

The first GCU-supported video gaming tournament turned out to be a big hit. GCU’s Esports Program was expecting about 50 to 70 students to show up, but the turnout was about 350 spectators and gamers for the Super Smash Showdown on Saturday at GCU Arena. “The event was so packed that despite our estimates, the event ran from 5 p.m. on Saturday past midnight (the original event end time) to 1 a.m.,” said Albert Lee, Esports Program coordinator.

Public safety is more than just safety for GCU Police Officers Mark Potts and Bill Green, who don’t pass up an opportunity to help students. Not only did they start a bicycle registration program on campus, but they have reconditioned abandoned bikes and donated them to students — and to nonprofit organizations. They make an air compressor available in the Grove Parking Garage to anyone who needs to fill their tires with air, carry tools with them in case anyone has car or bike trouble, and even have donated tennis rackets and painted faded pingpong tables in Thunder Alley. “We enjoy the opportunity to take care of them (the students),” Potts said.

Lopes Leap to Teach always draws a lot of school district representatives eager to hire GCU students. The vibe at Thursday’s event centered on the importance of creating teachers who are leaders and can fit into a faculty well — a specialty for GCU’s College of Education. Howard Paley of the Isaac School District said he has found that GCU students are “much more willing to accept a broad variety of colleagues. … They’re looking for a good team.”

It was in 2017 when the Sports Medicine Club first volunteered for Run to Fight Children’s Cancer, offering to help with first aid. It also was the year spectator Perry Harris suffered a heart attack. He might not have survived if not for the quick thinking of Sports Medicine Club students and their advisors, and for nearby athletic trainers. Three years later and the University ran through its first Special Event Medical Emergency Exercise on Tuesday behind the GCU Innovation Center at the 27th Avenue complex. Ten departments trained for a medical emergency by running through a mock scenario. “A situation can occur at any time,” said Canyon Health and Wellness Clinic registered nurse Ian Youngblood, one of the mock scenario participants. Nurse practitioner Bethany Whitson added, “That’s why we do the drills.”

It’s hard to imagine that anyone at Chapel on Monday doesn’t know the story of David and Goliath. But Jodi Hickerson used that story to challenge us to identify the giants we struggle to overcome and asked, “Do you believe our God is greater than our giants? Because that was the difference between David and all the other men who ran away.”

Photos by David Kadlubowski GCU News Bureau GCU celebrated homecoming Saturday with a wide array of activities, including an alumni golf tournament, Breakfast with Thunder, the GCU Hall of Fame inductions, the tailgate and derby kart races, and the crowning of the homecoming king and queen during the basketball game.      

Students have been training in the cyber field at the University’s 27th Avenue cyber range since 2017. But these days, the hands-on range, now dubbed GCU’s Cyber Center of Excellence, is being fully being operated by the University and Grand Canyon Education in association with their established partner, the Arizona Cyber Threat Response Alliance. Along with its new name, the facility is emphasizing GCU’s culture at the range and incorporating the University’s “Hackers with Halos” approach to the cyber world. The range will open its doors for an open house from 3-6 p.m. Tuesday, when the campus community can drop in and do a little wifi hacking, password cracking and other cybercrime-fighting activities.