Honors College

GCU students use multiple modes of transportation to traverse campus, from new-age electric bikes to swift skateboards to colorful beach cruiser bikes to old-fashioned lace up roller skates — the Lopes know how to get around.

Story by Ryan Kryska Photo by David Kadlubowski GCU News Bureau Nothing was different about the traffic at the 35th Avenue and Camelback Road intersection on Wednesday evening: cars, trucks and buses, work vehicles and family vans, people crossing the road, the sun in your eyes heading west. But not lost in the heart of it all was a hue. On the north sidewalk, three groups of teen boys carried basketballs, shoes and gym bags across the intersection on their way east to Grand Canyon University. They were headed to the Ball Out Phoenix basketball developmental camp at GCU Arena, where they’d learn drills, listen to speakers who know what it takes to be successful and meet the kid across town who could turn out to be a best friend. The camp is free, and it’s run by a group of students who are bringing the future of Phoenix down the Camelback sidewalk. “I saw a love for the game and I saw how passionate people would get about simply dribbling a ball,” said Elisha Fronda, a junior Honors student at GCU and founder of Ball Out Phoenix. “I kind of had a different level of how it could make […]

The Honors College mentorship program kicked off last week with an event where freshmen went from “Uh, wow. College,” to, “I am not on my own.” The college’s FLIGHT program pairs freshmen with upperclassmen who have gone down a path similar to the one they have in mind. Teresita Figueroa, a senior pre-med major who for the past seven years has volunteered at a hospital, took freshman pre-med major Hadassah Gates under her wing.

GCU is always evolving, with new buildings rising up and offices and colleges moving to new spaces. All the change makes for an interesting first-day of class. The GCU News team fanned out on Monday to talk to students, professors and even the Success Patrol and Academic Career Excellence Centers, who there there to make sure students found their classrooms.

Story and photos by Ryan Kryska GCU News Bureau Grand Canyon University took center stage Friday morning on local news as AZFamily 3TV visited campus for multiple live segments. 3TV reporters Javier Soto and Olivia Fierro arrived at 7 a.m., in time to witness the relentless Welcome Crew volunteers move in the last of GCU’s record-breaking enrollment. “I got to tell you, I’ve been to universities, I’ve been to move-in days,” Soto said. “The excitement here, you can feel it, and I think that’s what’s awesome about GCU.” The Thundering Heard Pep Band, Dance team, Cheer team and the Havocs — a tireless bunch of Lopes — followed the live segments into the heat all morning. Soto and Fierro interviewed President Brian Mueller, Phoenix business icon Jerry Colangelo, men’s soccer coach Schellas Hyndman, students and various others, and they even tried some white pizza and Baja shrimp ceviche from Canyon 49 Grill’s new menu. “These kids are on a whole other level,” Soto said, “and I think that has a lot do with the curriculum and the faculty getting them to buy into it where they have their own thought process. They are thinking beyond the information that they are […]

It was just a few months ago that Grand Canyon University Honors College biology student Adesuwa Osayaren won the title of Miss Africa Arizona. Now she can tout one more title — she was crowned the Miss Nations of the World queen.

You wouldn’t normally expect to find onesies, high-heeled shoes or Burt’s Bees at a college retail store, but you will find those things peppered among the notebooks, binders and a sea of purple T-shirts at the new Lope Shop. The store, which touts Champion and Nike concept areas, a tech area, boutique and more, opened Wednesday at its new 9,500-square-foot space on the Promenade. With its floor-to-ceiling glass display windows and modern, open feel, it’s a far cry different from its much smaller space — only one-fifth as big — on Lopes Way.

For the second consecutive year, GCU made the top 10 of Niche’s Best College Campuses list, scoring a No. 7 ranking (up from No. 8 last year) for its college life — and the accolades don’t end there. The University also is No. 6 on the Best Dorms in America list and No. 7 in Best Online Colleges.

For at least two alumni, GCU was more than a place to learn. It was a place to fall in love. Faith and Thomas Beatty took different paths to campus, but they landed next to each other in a freshman orientation line — and the rest is white doves. “I knew very, very quickly that she was the right one,” Thomas Beatty said. They were married in June.

There’s a student at GCU whose life has not quite gone as planned — yet he’s flourishing. In 2003, the Marine was ambushed in Iraq, resulting in the loss of an eye, a traumatic brain injury and a bullet wound to the arm. His mother says he shouldn’t have survived, “but by the grace of God he did.” The injuries cost him a career in law enforcement and a job with the Kepler Space Telescope Program. But from the ashes, Brent Phillips has created something special with the help of the University.