Online Life

Past graduations for GCU had been held at Chase Field in downtown Phoenix and at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, with one large 5- to 6-hour ceremony for everyone at the University. Smaller college convocations were held at large churches near campus.

Read about the Class of 2012 and commencement ceremonies Thursday from GCU Arena in our blog, compiled by Doug Carroll, Michael Ferraresi and Bob Romantic of the GCU News Bureau.

“If you go to college, I’ll go with you,” Leola Mayes of Livonia, Mich., told her daughter Beverly. That was 10 years ago, and next week the two of them — separated in age by 37 years — will graduate as online students of GCU. They’re planning to come to campus for the occasion.

Kate Condie-Clarke, now a testimonial speaker for United Blood Services, says the only thing she knew about leukemia was that it was some kind of blood disorder “and everybody I knew that had either leukemia or lymphoma had all passed on.” She was nearly among that group.

Assistant Professor Tim Kelley says he has fielded at least 80 inquiries, most of them online, about the challenge, which will award a first prize of $3,500 to the best plan for a start-up business. Cash prizes also will be given for second and third places.

GCU’s Canyon Challenge will involve three phases. A two-page executive summary of a business plan will be due on March 23. Two weeks later, select candidates will be asked to submit a full business plan and a PowerPoint presentation. Then five finalists will present their plans before a panel of judges and an audience.

Dr. Steve Gerali says respect has been slow in coming for youth ministry, but that’s changing and an opportunity awaits a well-rounded curriculum at GCU.

Faith Based Marketing Specialist Spencer Fehrenbacher is hitting the road for another Rock and Worship Roadshow, only this time he’s got a new travel partner in Stephanie Cashin — and the effort will be bigger and better. “It’s all about the power of the sun and our beautiful campus,” says Cashin, who will be with Fehrenbacher on a seven-week, 26-city tour covering 17,000 miles, starting Thursday in Biloxi, Miss. “We want to show prospective students how nice it is here (in Phoenix). While students in Chicago and Spokane are freezing in January and February, we have a beautiful, sunny campus to offer them.”

It all began with Mark Glazier and his seven-foot Santa Thunder. The Tempe enrollment manager sent us a photo of the custom-made Antlered One in a Santa suit, standing sentry at his desk, and wondered if we would post it on GCU Today. We did last week, inviting others to send photos of their Christmas-themed work stations. The good news: We heard from several people. The bad news: The cell-phone shots weren’t so hot. So on Wednesday afternoon, we took a field trip to Tempe and Peoria to see for ourselves what the season hath wrought.

Employees at GCU’s Peoria offices received a surprise visit Friday afternoon from a pair of standup comedians, Robert Wagner and Floyd Haas. The occasion was a team-building exercise organized by Regional Director of Operations Reggie Alfonso. “We wanted to change it up,” said Alfonso, who was seeking a departure from the usual activities such as flag football, potlucks and games.