College of Nursing & Health Care Professions

Graduates of the online program at Grand Canyon University always have inspirational stories to tell, and this year they were equally inspired by keynote speaker Gian-Paul Gonzalez’s talk — and by the celebration that is a GCU commencement ceremony.

If the graduates at fall commencement didn’t know about ninth-grade world history teacher and New York Giants chaplain Gian-Paul Gonzalez before they got to GCU Arena, they sure do now. Gonzalez’s keynote addresses at the five ceremonies were a hit every time, and in addition to all the standing ovations he also was descended upon by a sea of thankful listeners when he came out to watch the “tunnel walk” after the Saturday morning ceremony.

Photos by Slaven Gujic and Travis Neely GCU News Bureau The Friday evening ceremony of fall commencement at Grand Canyon University featured 637 nontraditional graduates in the College of Education and College of Nursing and Health Care Professions (bachelor’s level).      

Photos by Slaven Gujic, David Kadlubowski and Travis Neely GCU News Bureau The Friday afternoon ceremony of fall commencement at Grand Canyon University included 675 nontraditional graduates of the College of Nursing and Health Care Professions (doctoral and master’s level) and the College of Science, Engineering and Technology.  

Brian Smith was a junior at Alhambra High School when he applied to then-Grand Canyon College. He was elated to be accepted. Unfortunately, his family moved back to Ohio and he was unable to attend. He held onto his admissions letter from 1975 for more than 40 years before he decided to pursue a master’s degree in Nursing at GCU. He will carry the letter across the stage with him at Online Commencement.

The CONHCP community reached out in a big way last week by giving sports physicals to more than 300 Special Olympics athletes. It was the second-straight year that the Lopes volunteered for the Medfest event at the the Arizona Recreation Center for the Handicapped, located about 2 miles east of the University on Colter Street. “It gives me goosebumps,” said Stepanie Herrick Kays, an instructor with CONHCP’s family nurse practitioner program. “Children, especially children with low income, if there is something I can do to make their lives better I’m going to do it. If I can give them that sports physical they can’t afford, I’m hopeful going to give them a path. It’s a self-esteem boost and gives them that moment of pride.”

Grand Canyon University employees are top of the class. Community Outreach Manager Debbie Accomazzo knows this, and it’s why she didn’t panic when Habitat volunteering was low a couple of weeks ago. All she had to do was put out one call, and nearly 60 volunteers answered. On Friday, 25 of those trustworthy employees were at a house on 43rd Avenue. It was GCU’s second trip to the home, where employees helped with putting a new roof on the first time and painted this time.

There are times when all someone needs is a little helping hand. That’s the case for Fernanda Munoz, a senor nursing student at GCU and a single mother of two. The nonprofit organization Helping Hands for Single Moms has taken Munoz under its wing, providing her with a scholarship to get her degree and additional services to make her dreams a reality. Munoz says her children are the driving force behind her education: “My daughter, she is so little, and she is so proud of me.”

A mixture of logical debate strategies for pro-life arguments and anecdotes about the sanctity of human life highlighted GCU’s second annual Bioethics Conference, Human Dignity: Clash of World Views. One speaker refused to abort her daughter and refused to use stem cells from fetuses to aid her brain damaged son. Another speaker shared heartfelt steps to ease grief from the loss of a newborn.

The second annual Bioethics Conference, titled “Human Dignity: Clash of World Views,” is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 20, at GCU Arena and the First Southern Baptist Church.