Colleges

Just a day after GCU’s music faculty hosts the All-Regional Honor Band Audition Workshop, they’ll be nestled in the University’s Recording Studio on Tuesday night for the faculty recital, “Duets.” Adjunct clarinet professor Tim Haas will perform duets with flutist Dr. Jenna Daum, oboe instructor Dr. Rachel Messing, tuba player Kevin Bock, guitarist Dr. Jonathan Crissman and alto saxophone player Dr. Scott Zimmer. Also performing will be GCU alumna Grace Baughman. “We have some major faculty here. I always love collaborating with the faculty because they’re so good,” said Haas of the concert, which starts at 7:30 p.m.

The Colangelo College of Business Dean’s Speaker Series brought another industry leader to campus Tuesday. Students got to hear from Greg Hanover, who told them fascinating tales about his former career as an executive in the National Hockey League. But Hanover’s talks to multiple classes also included a very important message: Be prepared to work long hours and don’t plan on making a lot of money starting out.

The Colangelo College of Business Dean’s Speaker Series kicked off for the spring semester Thursday, and first up was someone who has first-hand experience of what it’s like to go from the corporate world to a startup. Rachel Mertensmeyer explained to students what it takes to succeed besides the guts to take a chance.

Four flights and a four-hour taxi ride, covering more than 9,000 miles to reach her student-teaching assignment, proved to be a minor inconvenience for Ashley Olander, whose desire to experience a different culture led her to a remote mountaintop in southern India where she led seventh grade physical education classes. Olander is one of nine Grand Canyon University students who have embraced international student-teaching. “It is a beautiful opportunity to learn about our world, but most importantly that they see God’s hand at work in our children, no matter if it is in a classroom in America or India or Japan,” said Dr. Kimberly LaPrade, Dean of the College of Education.

When GCU celebrated the grand opening of the Colangelo College of Business Building on Wednesday morning, it was an opportunity to reflect on just how much Jerry Colangelo has brought to the University — and to the entire Valley. As Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey put it, “It’s been said, ‘What’s the difference between Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Phoenix, Arizona?’ And I would say this: Jerry Colangelo.”

Sports Business students were busy last month volunteering at several major events, but that’s nothing new — GCU’s alliance with Position Sports makes those types of opportunities possible regularly. But what’s really interesting is what happens when students fully utilize their chances to participate and learn. “GCU is the place to be if you want to have any sort of experience in the sports world at all,” said Darby O’Leary, who worked events on opposite sides of the country within a week.

It’s a legacy as big as the state of Texas: Kelly Taylor and five other members of her family have been online students at GCU since 2011. “I think the support system with GCU makes working on a degree much easier,” said Tammy Jones, one family member, who encouraged her mother, then 75 years old, and daughter to also become Lopes.

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.

Amber Wagner was majoring in sociology until she auditioned for Dr. Sheila Corley in GCU’s Music Department, hoping to land a scholarship to help pay for college. Corley suggested that Wagner change her major to music, and that set the course for the opera star’s career. Wagner, who just completed performances with Opera Australia at the Sydney Opera House and with the Metropolitan Opera in New York, recently was named to Opera News’ “18 to Watch” list for 2018-19.

Kelsie Sebreros’ internship last summer in New York with Clear Channel Outdoor was the result of her hard work and ingenuity. But it also was a testimonial to the help she received from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. The college’s dean, Dr. Sherman Elliott, said of her experience, “It is very inspirational for all learners.”