Campus Life

By Theresa Smith GCU News Bureau Long lines of students sitting on the grass or the pavement, endlessly playing cards, snacking, talking and dozing? If it sounds like madness, it is — Midnight Madness. Grand Canyon University students seeking premium seats for Midnight Madness are tailgating and tenting, as organized by the leaders of the Havocs, GCU’s nationally recognized cheer section. “Camp Elliott grows every year and people do it because they like it,” said Havocs Co-President Shelby Langston.  “Yes, they want a good spot for Midnight Madness, but they also enjoy being outside with their friends and changing it up.”  Camp Elliott, coined for Daniel Elliott, the first student to start the tradition, in 2015, will end on Friday, Oct. 5, at 10 a.m. when all students will be given their lineup numbers.  The doors to GCU Arena will open at 11:15 p.m. for Midnight Madness, featuring the men’s and women’s basketball teams, along with their coaches, Dan Majerle and Nicole Powell, and performances by the spirit teams: the Thundering Heard Pep Band, Cheer, Dance and Thunder. The theme for this latest edition of Midnight Madness is mysterious. “They are in for a wild night since The Joker, “Thunder,’’ […]

Many Chapel speakers draw from personal experiences to deliver their message, and Mia Koehne’s message about forgiveness Monday at Chapel was that much stronger because her lapse into pain and brokenness was so deep. She’s so thankful God exposed her sin. “That was His gift to me,” she said.

Dr. Randall Downs, the new coordinator of the Center for Worship Arts, had an idea after he heard the Canyon Worship 2018 album: Why not have the student artists perform their songs out in the community? They’ll do exactly that on Tuesday, Oct. 16, at Harvest Bible Chapel West Valley in Peoria. “With all the talent these students have, we love seeing that displayed,” he said.

When Zach Williams’ wife asked him to get involved in prison ministry, he told her it wasn’t his thing. But after his first visit to a prison, where he and his wife shared their story, he felt a shift in his life, and he started to write the songs he knew he was meant to write. The Grammy-winner recently released his six-song EP, “Survivor,” which he recorded live in Nashville’s Harding Prison, and will share some of those songs at GCU Arena, where he will perform on Wednesday as part of the Air1 Positive Hits Tour.

Memorization drills, current events quizzes, mock debates and daily reading throughout the summer boosted Grand Canyon University’s Matthew Calderwood and Grace Laidlaw to a 10th-place finish in the Georgia B. Bowman Invitational last weekend at William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo. The pair argued successfully about drone use and germ modification.

The Honors College mentorship program kicked off last week with an event where freshmen went from “Uh, wow. College,” to, “I am not on my own.” The college’s FLIGHT program pairs freshmen with upperclassmen who have gone down a path similar to the one they have in mind. Teresita Figueroa, a senior pre-med major who for the past seven years has volunteered at a hospital, took freshman pre-med major Hadassah Gates under her wing.

A mixture of logical debate strategies for pro-life arguments and anecdotes about the sanctity of human life highlighted GCU’s second annual Bioethics Conference, Human Dignity: Clash of World Views. One speaker refused to abort her daughter and refused to use stem cells from fetuses to aid her brain damaged son. Another speaker shared heartfelt steps to ease grief from the loss of a newborn.

Joni Eareckson Tada’s heartfelt talk Monday at Chapel was all about getting up and doing something for people with disabilities. “Christians are the agents of comfort and mercy,” she said, “and when you reach down and help the least and the last of the brethren, you not only give them the Gospel of friends, you’re becoming the Gospel to them.”

Canyon 49 Grill has released new menus for breakfast, lunch and dinner and has expanded its entertainment options. The new menus have a southwest twang and 90 percent of the dishes are made from scratch, including Executive Chef Marcus Maggiore’s special New York strip steak with a house chipotle honey butter and chorizo potato hash. “We upped our game completely and tried to make food you would get in any high-end restaurant approachable to the student body and to our local guests,” Maggiore said. “It’s a chance for us to kind of show off what we can do as chefs, a chance to make the best food we can.” Both student and employees receive a 10 percent discount to the grill. There’s also a free shuttle that runs from campus to Canyon 49 every 20 minutes until 10 p.m.

If you stick to just Mozart, you’re missing out on a lot, said GCU clarinet professor Tim Haas. So for his bass clarinet recital Sept. 27 in the GCU Recording Studio, he’s turning to new compositions, the oldest of which dates back to 2006. The concert will spotlight works inspired by St. Francis of Assisi, a beast, the Lydian scale, and even the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.