Campus Life

Orientation Central introduces you to the faces and places around GCU you’ll want to know before school starts in the fall. Meet Tim Griffin, who’s our Campus Pastor. A former chaplain for NASCAR, he’s lived life in the fast lane! Hear what he has to say about his role, life at GCU and advice for freshman year.

There’s no such thing as a sleepy summer for Chuck Howard, who is already planning for a banner second year for the Student Recreation Center. The 55,000-square-foot facility has gotten a workout since opening last October to GCU students, faculty and staff.

GCU’s Mallory Freeman writes about her week in Lexington, Ky., where she represented Arizona at the Henry Clay Center Student Congress and experienced what Kentucky hospitality is all about.

By Doug Carroll Communications Staff A completely redesigned website for Grand Canyon University is less than a month from being up and running. The new-and-improved www.gcu.edu, in the works for most of a year, officially will debut during the week of June 27, according to Senior Marketing Manager Suzanne Lyons. An extensive review of the site will take place during the week of June 13. “We’ve constructed this website in such a way that it can grow with the University,” Lyons says. “I think people will like the way it has integrated our online, campus and prospective students. There will definitely be a sense of community.” Visitors to the site will notice dramatically improved navigation, and the site’s flexibility will allow changes to be made swiftly. Components such as photo slideshows and video will be much more prominent. The site also will emphasize Search Engine Optimization (SEO), to help with marketing to prospective students. “We looked inside and outside the education space at what made a good website, and we also responded to what our internal staff said they wanted,” Lyons says. “We asked, ‘What would be the student’s expectations when they came to our site?’” Community outreach efforts such […]

GCU’s tornado-relief team of three — Enrollment Counselor Aaron Johnson, Community Outreach Manager Jose Moreno and Communications Specialist Jennifer Willis — hit the road Thursday morning for southwestern Missouri. They’re planning to stop in Amarillo, Texas, for the night and be in Joplin, Mo., by late afternoon Friday. The generous donations of GCU employees and the Phoenix community filled a van and a U-Haul trailer with clothing and toiletries. The rest of the donations collected will be transported by semi to Joplin in the next week to 10 days. Gift cards with a total value of more than $1,200 also were donated and are being taken along by the team. A special ’Lopes Up to staffers who helped sort clothing and supplies and load the van and trailer Wednesday afternoon and evening at McKinley Hall. The can-do crew included Chad Troxel, Chrystal Phillips, Lanae Benser, Geneva Dellabitta, Atiya Bynum, Ericka Rodriguez Vazquez, James Orosco, Tristan Crooks, Sean Piper, Clinton Harris, Heather DiFrancesco and Ami Francisco.

The clothing and supplies drive for residents of Joplin, Mo., displaced by the May 22 tornado received news coverage Wednesday morning by Channels 3, 10 and 12 from US Airways Center in downtown Phoenix. The Suns and Mercury collected toiletries for the drive at the arena’s Casino Arizona Pavilion. GCU was represented by Thunder, members of the Event Services team and Community Outreach Manager Jose Moreno. Boxes were donated by Quick Product Solutions. GCU’s team of three — Moreno, Enrollment Counselor Aaron Johnson (a Joplin native) and Communications Specialist Jennifer Willis — will leave for southwestern Missouri early Thursday morning in a van packed with donations. You can follow them via daily updates on Herd on Campus.  

Online learning is a unique experience. Online students do not have the chance to hang out in the hallway before class. They do not get lunch in the cafeteria. They do not get to play volleyball on the sand courts by the pool. A group of online students wanted a deeper connection with Grand Canyon University despite never setting foot on its campus. How have they done it? Facebook, of course.

Grand Canyon University gave a rousing sendoff Friday afternoon to the Class of 2011 and to Chase Field in downtown Phoenix, in the final Commencement to be held at the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks. With the opening of the 5,000-seat Arena in September, Commencement will be on campus next spring. An estimated 2,200 degree candidates participated Friday in the ceremony at the baseball stadium, which hosted GCU for the third consecutive year. The University conferred more than 8,000 degrees, and those included the first members of its College of Doctoral Studies.

With Tonja Smith, GCU’s corporate travel manager and senior event planner, the engine is always running. There is no “off” switch. It’s running when she shows up for work at 5 a.m. in Annex II, ready to jump on the phone and dash off emails from her cubicle. It’s even running when she’s delivering a baby and the Antelopes’ head baseball coach is trying to reach her to make a change in plans for a trip. (True story. Happened four years ago, and she got kicked out of the hospital’s recovery room over it.)

The April 2011 issue of FYP is now available at locations around campus including the Student Union, the Promenade, Latte Dah, Canyon Cafe and more. Get your copy at locations all around Grand Canyon University or click here for the PDF version.