Canyon Activities Board

GCU senior Gavin Thompson liked to shop in thrift stores. He knew other people didn’t like to spend the time but liked the merchandise. That’s how his Wear Old secondhand clothes business was launched. His story highlights the path more students are taking in addition to classes — hustling to start their own business.

Move-In gets the year started off right for incoming GCU students, but it has the same effect on the volunteers who help them. Whether they’re helping for the first time or are seniors and have done it every year, they treasure the excitement. “It’s my third year, and it’s always the same energy,” said one.

At last Lopes have found the Jedi Master that will restore peace to the galaxy. Thursday night, students flocked to GCU Arena to witness one of the biggest events of the year on campus, the Mr. GCU contest. Contestants danced, sang and made the crowd go wild with talents that showcased what the contestants had to offer. It was a tough competition but at last, after bringing the crowd to tears of both laughter and emotion with his song about being parked by a lake, senior Brock Frew was crowned the 2019 Mr. GCU. “I feel, one, I’m kind of shaken, two, I’m really tired,” Frew said after being crowned.

Standing alone on the stage, the young man in the tuxedo is anything but unnerved by the spotlight nor the GCU Arena crowd of his peers, 7,000 strong. Caleb Duarte’s suave emcee performances at all major entertainment events on campus have led to the creation of “Canyon Night Show.’’ As he hosts his Valentine’s Day-themed fourth taping of CNS before a live audience at 7 p.m. today at Thunderground, Duarte’s dream of hosting a nationally televised talk show is being sown.

It’s been a big year so far, but there’s more to come in 2018-19. The spring semester will kick off with the grand opening of the new 150,000-plus-square foot Colangelo College of Business Building on Jan. 9 and will barrel forward through April and May with signature events such as the Canyon Challenge, Mr. GCU, the Theatre Department’s presentation of Holocaust drama “Who Will Carry the Word,” Serve the City in February, the Roadshow Tour at GCU Arena, basketball and much more. Check out some highlights from GCU Today’s 2019 Winter-Spring Calendar.

More than 3,000 students turned out for the winter formal, Hanging of the Greens, featuring dining, dancing, crafting snow globes, savoring GCBC hot chocolate in four flavors, letter writing to home with postage paid by the Canyon Activities Board (CAB), and notes to the homeless for the Can you Spare a Story initiative. “It is beautiful how they didn’t just make it a dance,’’ said senior Stephanie Fairchild. “They incorporated the arts and crafts and Can You Spare a Story. That is heartwarming.’’

For Latino Student Union president Leonardo Quintero, the Día de los Muertos celebrations on campus are all about presenting Latino culture to GCU students and staff and implementing it into the culture of the Lopes.

The McFly’s mixed a humorous video, slick hip hop moves, acrobatic stunts and classic pop songs to capture the 11th annual Lip Sync Battle before a roaring, record crowd of 7,000 Thursday night at GCU Arena. The 17 men in McFly’s, channeling Back to the Future, took the stage first among seven exceptional acts.

The College of Science, Engineering and Technology is taking a unique approach in helping their freshmen engineering students “find their God-given purpose,” as CSET Dean Dr. Mark Wooden calls it. As part of their curriculum, those students take a comprehensive personality and career assessment called the Indigo Assessment. “We were looking for something that would help incoming students determine early on whether their choice of an engineering major was truly in line with their internal motivators and capitalized on their unique strengths,” said Wooden.