Spirit

Rare tickets to the Lopes NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament were up for grabs to students, and some pulled out all the stops to land one for GCU’s first-ever appearance in The Big Dance on Saturday. Kennedi Greenfield and Faith Clear stayed up late into the night to put together a video plea. “It was a Hail Mary,” Greenfield said. But March Madness dreams do come true.

Photos by Garrett Ohrenberg GCU News Bureau In anticipation of the return of athletics events, the Havocs Hangout brought together students, the Cheer and Dance teams, the Thundering Heard Pep Band and Thunder for a fun event Thursday in the Quad. And, of course, there were T-shirts.      

Usually, GCU’s basketball and Spirit Team head to Desert Ridge Marketplace in north Phoenix to wash a few cars at Paul’s Car Wash. For 13 years, the weeklong fundraiser has raised money for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arizona. But this year, with the event going virtual, CBS 5 Chief Meteorologist Paul Horton came to GCU instead to accept a donation for the organization. It was a visit with plenty of fanfare. “We’re just trying to re-create that Purple Pre-Game Party,” said Community Relations Manager Debbie Accomazzo, who added how GCU’s relationship with Big Brothers Big Sisters is expanding this year.

The GCU Dance team is becoming a national powerhouse. Last weekend in Anaheim, Calif., the team won the difficult Jazz category, which requires artistry and athleticism, at the USA Collegiate Championships. The team also took home the Game Day title after winning that competition at the Universal Dance Association College Dance Team Nationals last month.

The GCU Dance team has a good way to prepare when going into a big national dance competition, like the one in Orlando last weekend. They visualize being in front of the frenzied crowd at GCU Arena. It worked. They won first place for the second consecutive year.

Lope-a-Palooza was “hyped,” in the words of one freshman. That’s a good thing. The Friday night GCU Arena event was full of music and excitement, produced by GCU Spirit Programs for the benefit of new students who want to learn what all the buzz is about, and how to sing the school song. “Each year, this event just gets better and better — this year was no exception,” said Jacque Genung-Koch, Dance Team Head Coach.

God’s love can be found anywhere, despite things like language barriers and difficult sites, that was the take away from multiple mission trips GCU students went on this summer. Students traveled all over the world to help serve and share their love for the lord with communities in need. “God is the same everywhere, and He doesn’t change whether you’re in the United States or in different countries,” junior Karli Burns said about her mission trip to Costa Rica. “It was worth it because it just showed me how much God’s love is universal.”

Through four different trips this summer, 79 Honors College students benefited from some eye-opening experiences in 13 different countries in Europe, Central America and Southeast Asia. “You can see that these students start to think on a global perspective,” Program Manager Dennis Williams said. “They start to think about the world as a whole and start to think about ways that, whatever it is that they do, how they can have an impact in their local community in whatever way, in our nation but even globally.”

GCU Dance coach Jacque Genung-Koch said it was “pretty exciting and super humbling” when her team won the Division I Game Day competition Friday in the Cheerleading and Dance Team National Championships at Orlando, Fla. “We got the chance to do what we do at home, on a national stage. It was exciting to bring what we are, who we are at GCU, for other teams to see and for a judging panel,” she said. The team also finished second in the jazz competition.

The GCU Cheer team earned its best finish ever — second place in the Division I Game Day event — Cheerleading and Dance Team National Championships at Orlando, Fla. “The biggest thing is GCU made a name for ourselves and we really stood out,’’ co-captain Casey Traut said. “We had someone tell us that we started a legacy for this school.”