Grand Canyon University

College life has been difficult for Austin Forney, yet wonderful. The junior has soared with feelings of inclusion and ached with the pain of isolation. Through it all, he has relied on the support of his mother, Melissa Pullon, and a mix of students and adults on campus who have lent a helping hand. In turn, Forney has helped out, sending hearts soaring with his musical selections for The Gathering in 2017-18 and as disc jockey for athletics events in 2018-19. This is the final part of a three-part series.

Grand Canyon University announced Tuesday that it is extending an invitation to conservative commentator Ben Shapiro to speak on its campus.

According to Ebenezer Scrooge, “Every idiot who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding and buried with a stake of holly through his heart.” Harsh. Don’t count on anyone being boiled in his own pudding on the spirited GCU campus, where employees embraced the joy of the season in their Christmas decorations, from themes on the fourth floor of the 27th Avenue office building that ranged from a Phoenix Zoo ZooLights-inspired aisle of cubicles to a “12 Days of Christmas” aisle, to the College of Science, Engineering and Technology’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and Santa’s Science Lab hallways.

GCU has created a new home for students who enjoy playing esports: The 1,706-square-foot room in the Technology Building features 36 computer-gaming stations, seven PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles, and a tournament station with a 75-inch TV. Around the world, esports revenues continue to skyrocket. “The esports industry is poised to make far more money than what Hollywood makes at this rate, within like the next few years,” said Albert Lee, the newly hired GCU Esports Coordinator and a former esports consultant for the NCAA.