Colangelo College of Business

GCU alumni Felipe Reyes, Dylan Santos and Kevin Llamas created FADES, an app designed to make getting a haircut easier. Their ultimate goal is to link customers with mobile barbers. “It’s going to take some time (to educate people to use the app and to go mobile), but people weren’t doing taxes on their phone not too long ago, either,” Reyes said.

Walk just about anywhere in the Milwaukee Brewers’ complex in Maryvale and you’re going to see purple-shirted GCU students working in the concession stands — they make up about 80 percent of the staff. Many of them are hospitality management majors, but they come from programs all over the University and have two things in common: They like to serve, and they’re getting great experience while also enjoying the opportunity to be at a ballpark every day.

Mark Snyder, President of Snyder Nationwide Real Estate, spoke to graduate and Hospitality Management students Thursday about he injects his faith into the business world. “I’m going to do what’s right every time,” he said. “I pursue God daily. God’s the kingmaker, not your talents.”

Saturday’s Hall of Fame ceremony showcased several of GCU’s most inspiring stories from alumni who have made a impact on their communities and careers throughout the years. One of this years inductees was Reginald Freeman, who received his masters from GCU in 2008. Since Freeman has surpassed numerous milestones in the Firefighting field and continues to give back to his community in Hartford Connecticut. This year’s other inductees included Randi (Johns) Riggs, Hagir Elsheikh, George Holm, and Sharky Baker.

Collegiate DECA of GCU students were highly successful in two recent competitions. Cristian Rodriguez, only a freshman, won the Collegiate DECA Stock Market Game, and seven GCU students qualified for the International Career Development Conference (ICDC) on April 13-16.

TEDxGCU drew a sellout crowd to Ethington Theatre and more praise for how the students manage the annual event. Most evident was the way they increased their coaching of the speakers, who truly appreciated it. “I didn’t view them as students. I just viewed it as a professional providing me with very valuable feedback, constructive feedback, on how I can better my story,” said one of the speakers, Amy Kao.

Student enterprises have become an important part of life on the GCU campus, and for good reason: Not only do they provide students with great experience; they also give them a ton of responsibility. “They’re either running the business or they’re part of the business, and they’re doing it in an environment that’s fairly safe because the new business has the backing of a large enterprise,” GCU President Brian Mueller said. Reprinted from the February issue of GCU Magazine.

Hosting the 2019 Cactus League Luncheon on Tuesday was a big step in GCU’s relationship with Major League Baseball. Not only are more and more GCU students working for teams that hold spring training in Arizona; the University is looking for other ways to build the relationship. “I cannot stress enough that this truly is a result of a partnership, and it’s just starting to foster great working relationships,” said Bridget Binsbacher, Director of Operations for the Cactus League.

Wow … as in wow, it’s big and wow, it’s nice. That has been the typical reaction this week as students got their first look at the Canyon Activities Center, which features 10 sparkling new basketball courts, plenty of places to sit and a full-service Lopes Mart. But along with those conveniences comes a versatility that quickly made it a great place to hang out. “That’s the biggest thing – just the magnitude of the number of things we can do,” Campus Recreation Director Matt Lamb said.

John Iannarelli worked some high-profile cases when he was with the FBI — the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the shooting of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the Oklahoma City bombing. He spent some time Wednesday speaking with students about his work with the FBI and qualities that make a good leader. Iannarelli was on campus as part of the Provost Speaker Series.