Recent News

Grand Canyon University’s Honors Institute has emerged as a hub for creative problem-solving. In its second year, the Institute’s students — which could total more than 600 by fall — are already working on projects to generate ideas on how to integrate academics and issues facing the University community. Some of those projects, including a look at how to enhance GCU’s partnership with Habitat for Humanity, will be on display Saturday at Antelope Gym lecture halls and the first-floor meeting rooms at the Student Union.

The crowd at “Tales from the Dugout” Sunday night at the Arena was treated to an hour of storytelling by two prominent baseball players — Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks and Jeremy Affeldt of the San Francisco Giants — and umpire Ted Barrett about how they carry their Christian faith on and off the field. All three talked of how their vulnerability has become a strength.

Matt Clark has an unusual job in the sports world — NASCAR pit crew coach — and also was a television analyst until recently, and he sped through some interesting perspectives Friday morning for Colangelo School of Sports Business students.

Dr. Pete Charpentier, an assistant professor in the College of Theology, has published a new book, “Truth from the Trenches — Using God’s Word to Illustrate Timeless Truths.” GCU Today has the story of how Charpentier was inspired to write it, why COT faculty is encouraged to do this kind of work and what the book is designed to accomplish.

The Canyon Challenge, scheduled for March 24 in the Arena, will feature five mission-driven businesses trying to impress the five judges, who will include Brian Mueller and Jerry Colangelo. And there’s an addition to the $10,000 in prize money awarded by the judges: People in attendees will be able to vote by text to determine their winner of an extra $3,000.

In the final lecture of the school year in the Colangelo College of Business Dean’s Speaker Series, Christian businessmen from the Camelback Society told students what they did at the times they failed in their careers. Brycen Snyder, Aaron Klusman and Ryan House all found themselves out of a job at one point and turned defeat into victory.

By Janie Magruder GCU News Bureau The themes of gravity and physics in a tumultuous world of dance will be explored and demonstrated by students in Grand Canyon University’s Dance Department this week. “Gravity,” featuring 12 works by emerging student artists expressing their creative points of view, is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday in GCU’s Thunderground. The Spring Student Spotlight concerts are free and open to the public. A diversity of dance styles is planned representing a range of choreographic aesthetics from contemporary modern to flamenco. Both choreographed and performed by students, the pieces will display students’ myriad and considerable talents, said concert faculty director Bekki Price, a faculty member in the College of Fine Arts and Production. For example, dance major Miguel Acero not only choreographed “Misconception of the unspoken,” a piece that explores roles in dance, he also made the costumes and worked with classmate Catherine Castellanos to compose the music. The concerts likely will provoke a range of emotions, including, most notably in one piece, humor. “Dance majors Michelle Bissonnette and Caitlin Lively will undoubtedly have the audience laughing with their hilarious piece, ‘The pedagogical practices of imagery in the classroom,’ inspired by their experiences preparing […]

GCU will host “Social NOTworking,” an weeklong initiative to encourage college students to stop visiting social media sites for a week to reconnect with peers. Social events are scheduled for each day this week.

Cancer delivered a punch in the gut last spring to Mia Bryant and her family. But the 7-year-old is fighting back, dutifully taking her treatments and medications and looking forward to the GCU Foundation Run to Fight Children’s Cancer on March 7, where she will be the official race starter. GCU Today has a story about the second-grader and her family and information about how you can sign up to participate in or otherwise support the run, an inspirational event that raises money for cancer research and support of children and their families.

By Rick Vacek GCU News Bureau The new tennis and golf course management programs at Grand Canyon University will give students opportunities to learn all aspects of their respective industries — not just the role of teaching professional. Both 120-credit curriculums will be incorporated into the University’s new hospitality program, also being rolled out in the fall by the Colangelo College of Business. (For more on that program, click here.) The tennis management program, the first of its kind among NCAA Division I schools, will align with the pillars of the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) and will cover the skills needed to manage tennis operations, including facility management, merchandising, event planning and introduction to food and beverage management. The golf course program, which will include access to newly renovated Maryvale Golf Course when it reopens in October, will be the same idea: There will be a heavy emphasis on learning how to be a general manager of a public, private or resort-style course, a role that GCU women’s golf coach Don Powers called “the strength of the industry.” Students who love to play tennis or golf certainly will have a lot of opportunities to do so. They will be taught […]