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GCU News Bureau For the second year, members of the Phoenix Lopes Alumni Chapter volunteered at the “Friday Night Pizza” event at St. Vincent de Paul. Phoenix Lopes Chapter President Vince Licciardi was excited to welcome alumni, all who felt blessed to participate. If you’re a GCU alum in the Phoenix area and interested in volunteering for future events, sign up here to ensure you receive notifications about future events.    

The Serve the Summer list of volunteer opportunities is available, and it includes ways to help children and those stuck in the heat. GCU Day is scheduled for July 23 and will be a great time to raise your hand. This year’s day of service is wrapped into the Back To School Clothing Drive.

Story by Theresa Smith Photos by David Kadlubowski  GCU News Bureau The ball is hoisted by the 6-year-old to the sure-handed 6-foot-7 athlete who playfully dekes the duo of pint-sized campers earnestly trying to guard him. It is a moment among millions at the individual youth session of the Dan Majerle boy’s basketball camp, and it symbolizes the cycle of the Grand Canyon University men’s basketball program. The hustling youngsters improve their skills, connect with the coaches — student-athletes and coaching staff of the 2018-19 men’s basketball team — develop an interest in and love for Lopes basketball, and become fans of the program, if not future members of the team. Exhibit A: the five friends, including two sets of brothers laughing and learning on Tuesday morning at the Lopes Performance Center. Lesson No. 1, according to Ashton Hollenberg, “Do not be a ball hog. Do not shoot if you’re not open.’’ His friend, Evan Engstrom, expressed a similar sentiment. “I’ve learned how to be a good teammate,’’ said Engstrom. “Coach is basically teaching everyone how to be a good teammate and how to share the ball.’’ Brothers T.J. Lyons and Connor Lyons are digging the shooting drills. “It feels […]

Dan Majerle remembers his first basketball camp: “I want to pass that same valuable experience along to more kids who love the game like me.” Youth will get that experience at the Dan Majerle Boys Basketball Camps, the first of which begins Monday.

GCU Strategic Educational Alliances’ Corinne Araza and Marni Landry are flexing their muscles as the University’s Dynamic STEM Duo. They put together a couple of webinars for the National Catholic Educational Association recently to help Catholic schools hone their STEM education techniques (that’s science, technology, engineering and math). But those webinars are just the warmup for a GCU-based series of webinars and podcasts SEA will launch in the fall, in partnership with Teaching Channel Plus, as SEA increases its web presence.

There’s a new GCU-wrapped bus roaming the streets of the Valley, and its driver, Kenny Deitch, says it has gotten a lot of approving honks from motorists. “It stands out in the crowd, man,” Deitch said.

About 50 GCU employees loaded up four passenger vans and headed to the Arizona State Veteran Home on Wednesday for Salute Our Troops. It was where they played Texas Hold ‘Em with the veterans at the nursing care facility, joined in games of bean bag toss and sang in the military branch singalong. But more importantly, it was where they spent time visiting with some deserving military heroes.

“I wanted to pay it back,” GCU Enrollment supervisor Michael Rodriguez said at the GCU Volunteer Fair on Wednesday at the 27th Avenue office building as he signed up at the Big Brothers Big Sisters booth. Rodriguez himself was paired with a Big Brother when he was a kid. BBBS was just one of the 20 GCU-supported nonprofits employees were able to connect with at the fair, an event GCU Community Outreach Manager Debbie Accomazzo calls a “matchmaking opportunity.”

Not many college students get to perform in a venue as big as the 7,000-capacity Grand Canyon University Arena. But that’s not the only boon of performing with the University’s three eight-member Worship Team bands. The student musicians and vocalists also refine their craft, connect with students during Chapel and The Gathering, become family with the close-knit group of Worship Team musicians and, of course, inspire those who listen with messages of faith.

Jose Monarrez is a Students Inspiring Students scholarship recipient. He also came out of the Murphy Elementary School District. So when Grand Canyon University needed learning advocates (LEADs) to help Murphy students, Monarrez was more than happy to do so. He writes about his experience in My LopeLife, reprinted from the April issue of GCU Magazine.