Colleges

The Masterworks Concert for the fall semester, scheduled for Sunday afternoon in Phoenix and Monday evening in Scottsdale, will feature the return of the Canyon Choral Society, Canyon Chorale and Canyon Symphony Orchestra to performing in public. It is dedicated to Dr. Sheila Corley, who passed away in August. “Her passing is a tremendous loss to our GCU music community, and we are honored to remember her through the performance of this work,” said Dr. Juan Hernandez, Assistant Dean of Music for the College of Fine Arts and Production.

After GCU student Angel Cervantes recently won an Arizona Justice Educators Association Scholarship, he gave credit to everyone else. That includes his parents, who run Hard Knocks Gym in Phoenix, and teacher Kevin Walling, Chair of Justice Studies, Government and History at GCU. “You can learn from everybody – athletes, my mom, mentors in my life have all taught me to have an open ear,” said Cervantes, who wants to be a detective and restore faith in law enforcement in his community.

Photos by Ralph Freso GCU News Bureau For the first time since the pandemic started, dance students were able to perform their Fall Student Spotlight Concert on the Thunderground stage. The event presented 11 live pieces and one film, capturing a wide array of emotions and messages. The student-led production is an opportunity for dance majors and minors to exercise their creative abilities and perform their own choreography in front of an audience.  

One of the doctoral degrees at Monday’s makeup Commencement ceremony was a milestone: Dr. Kelly Maguire became the first learner to officially receive the Teaching and Learning degree. It was quite a culmination to her journey through the program with her husband, Joe, supporting her — just as she had done for him through his three decades in the Marines. “I feel like this accomplishment is equally his,” he said.

Robots moved and grooved in one room Saturday in the Technology Building. Across the hallway, another group shared their research into pediatric brain cancer. In still another room, high school students could hear what GCU’s students were doing to help design and prototype medical products. The breakout sessions were just one part of the STEM Research and Design Workshop.

It’s a semester full of events and experiences returning normal, and the Dance Department’s Fall Student Spotlight Concert is no exception. For the first time since the pandemic started, the student-led production will be in Thunderground on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. “I’m just impressed by all the choreographic talent of our student body,” Director of Dance Bekki Price said. “They have such strong creative points of view, and it’s really unique to get to have the opportunities that GCU provides for our students to showcase that creative process.”

Photos by Rick D’Elia GCU News Bureau Student artists performed their songs from Canyon Worship 2021 in the Canyon Worship Night concert on Thursday on the Quad. Here’s the story.  

For a university that places such a high emphasis on giving back to the community, adding GCU’s first annual Day of Giving to the calendar just made sense. More than 2,000 donations were made during the 24-hour blitz and will help fund a number of valuable causes on campus. “I’m really impressed with how many donors are interested in giving back to the community here,” Director of Annual Giving Cherylann Galdi said. “As Christians, we have a heart for others, and it really showed today.”

Canyon Worship Night wrapped up a big day for the College of Theology, which led the fund-raising efforts among colleges on Day of Giving. But the main thing for the college was giving students an opportunity to hear in person the Canyon Worship 2021 songs, sung by student artists who went through quite a journey to reach the stage on the Quad.

Words were scribbled all over the Promenade Tuesday. It was encouraged — the English Department threw a celebration for National Day on Writing. This teaser will encourage you to read the words that students left, which included bowling and fairies. English instructor Kimbel Westerson, who organized the event, said it’s healthy for students to write when it’s not for an assignment: “They can create; they can do it just for fun.”