Recent News

The Eta Chi chapter of Delta Mu Delta, the international business honor society, keeps growing by leaps and bounds, and Monday afternoon it officially inducted another large group. The event wrapped up a big year highlighted by achieving Star Chapter status, signifying that it is in the top 5% of chapters.

Being a teacher these days encompasses so much more than leading a classroom lesson. They also are on the front line as community leaders who must support students in many other ways. They furthered their education on trauma-informed education Friday at the Making T.I.E.S. Conference in GCU Arena by learning how to help students who may be experiencing a crisis in their lives, from bullying to relationship struggles, a stressful home life, abuse and more. “Schools are seeing a tremendous need to be informed and ready to help kids of trauma as they enter the classroom,” said Corinne Araza, Director of K12 Development. It was the first conference on trauma-informed educational support organized by GCU.

Honors College students gathered in GCU Arena on Saturday night to celebrate all of their achievements during the 2018-19 academic year. Assistant Dean Breanna Naegeli said the Honors banquet is one of her favorite events of the year. “It allows us all an opportunity to take a moment to reflect upon and acknowledge all the exceptional work and efforts of our students. These students not only take Honors courses and commit to the rigor in the classroom, but they continually go above and beyond outside of the classroom as well,” she said.

It was innovation on parade at the Engineering Building on Thursday, where dozens of computer science, computer programming and mechanical, electrical and biomedical students on about 35 teams presented their yearlong projects as part of the Engineering and Technology Capstone Showcase.

A large gathering turned out Thursday night for the Latino Student Union’s meeting, which featured a talk by award-winning journalist Mary Rabago and a performance Costa Rican accordion player Tatiano Crespo, whose appearance at TEDxGrandCanyonUniversity was such a hit. It was just another sign of the success the Latino Student Union is having with its inclusive approach.

The GCU Robotics Club overcame a lot of challenges in the 2018-19 competition season — challenges that haven’t slowed down the club one bit. The Thunderbots are gearing up for their STEM Bonanza workshop on Saturday for fourth- through eighth-graders. They’ll be making oobleck, a slime-type substance that somehow acts as a liquid and a solid, and they’ll be unraveling codes with wheel cyphers. The Thunderbots are also getting ready to volunteer at the big FIRST Robotics regional competition at GCU Arena April 5-6.

The Theater Department works hard to provide the best opportunities they can for their students. One of those opportunities was in the form of a workshop that took place over spring break to allow students to learn how to prepare for a professional audition outside of GCU. Robert Kolby Harper lead the workshop and helped students get a better understanding of how to feel more comfortable in an audition setting, as well as letting them know that it is ok to be yourself in an audition. “The biggest thing I take away from everything I’ve seen in what we’re doing here is just to be ourselves and try and shed the performance skin that we’ve all been built up to over the years,” said COFAP student Mykhal Polite.

Got stress? Crumple it up and throw it away at the Mental Health Awareness Week table today. Students from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences have put together activities to help promote self-appreciation and calmness, just in time for finals, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. through Thursday on the Promenade. For a little extra unwinding, there will be a “Blast from the Past” event from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday on the Quad featuring Giant Jenga, freeze dancing and crafts. “People can enjoy themselves and relax, especially before they hit finals,” said the event’s coordinator, counseling program manager Kathy Britton.

This year’s Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival showcased how much talent the College of Fine Arts and Production’s Theater Department really has. Three GCU students made it to the semifinals in their respective regional categories, and two took second place. Some students even came home with scholarships and job interviews. “We had teachers as well as students from all kinds of other schools stop us a number of times and tell us how impressed they were with our students,” COFAP Assistant Dean William Symington said.

The Speech and Debate team won four national titles last weekend at the National Christian College Forensic Association’s National Championship last weekend in Salina, Kan. In addition to GCU’s two team titles (one in Speech, one in Debate), Tommee Gleason was ranked as the top overall speaker of the tournament, and Xanthia Clow won the Parliamentary Debate competition and was second behind Gleason in the competition for top speaker.