Campus Life

In a first-person “My LopeLife” account, Caleb Duarte tells what being “The Host” at GCU has meant to him, personally and spiritually. Reprinted from the February issue of GCU Magazine.

GCBC welcomes a new 16-oz. Stampede can to the campus for students who need that extra boost. It is the first of many plans to expand the Stampede brand.

The sun wasn’t even up and the temperature was a frigid 40-something degrees. But that didn’t dissuade more than 200 Lopes from showing up, ready to paint and landscape, for the semiannual Serve the City. And for just the second time, Parent Council members, along with other parent volunteers, served alongside their children to make a difference in the Canyon Corridor, helping move GCU and partner Habitat for Humanity of Central Arizona closer to their 700-homes-renovated goal.

GCU Arena has a stately new feature right outside its doors. The Jerry Colangelo sculpture was unveiled Saturday, but the man who has had such a positive influence on the state — and on GCU — was far more concerned about whether it “can serve as some kind of inspiration for the students here, that anything is possible in life.” GCU Today has the details on how the sculpture came to be.

College life has been difficult for Austin Forney, yet wonderful. The junior has soared with feelings of inclusion and ached with the pain of isolation. Through it all, he has relied on the support of his mother, Melissa Pullon, and a mix of students and adults on campus who have lent a helping hand. In turn, Forney has helped out, sending hearts soaring with his musical selections for The Gathering in 2017-18 and as disc jockey for athletics events in 2018-19. This is the final part of a three-part series.

GCU Theatre Department’s moving play, “Who Will Carry the Word?,” brings the somber truths of what happened in Auschwitz to a group of French Resistance fighters to the Ethington Theatre stage. Claude Pensis and a powerful female cast showcase Charlotte Delbo’s haunting story.

When students identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) struggle to fit in socially, GCU leaders collaborate with solutions. In Part 2 of GCU Today’s series, Dr. Tim Griffin, Pastor and Dean of Students, Dr. Sherman Elliott, Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and the father of a son on the spectrum and Student Disability Services director Beth Jamison discuss their experiences supporting students on the spectrum.

As Grand Canyon University grows, more students arriving on campus are identified with autism spectrum disorders. Efforts to welcome and include these students occur naturally on a campus where students look out for each other. Intentional efforts are expanding all across campus, from faculty members to Student Disability Services staffers who have implemented a new program, ASD Connection, to boost social and academic support. Part 1 of GCU Today’s series on the University’s approach to students on the spectrum includes the viewpoint of Austin Forney, a GCU junior who shared the highs and lows of navigating college life.

The February issue of GCU Magazine has been distributed to the purple bins across the main campus and at 27th Avenue, and it features an in-depth look at the GCU enterprises that have become game-changers for both students and local residents.

Grand Canyon University announced Tuesday that it is extending an invitation to conservative commentator Ben Shapiro to speak on its campus.