GCU Magazine

April 2025

Key to community

GCU touts 32 (soon to be 33) modern living facilities, most of them apartment suites built in the last decade. But what really makes those residence halls special isn’t just the brick and mortar. It’s the community built by resident directors, resident assistants and life leaders that encourages students to live on campus beyond their freshman year.

Safety first

The next evolution of the university’s safety initiative ramped up this year with the formation of the GCU-led 27Collab, a coalition of 80 nonprofit groups, churches, schools, businesses and other organizations working to keep the area’s 32,000 K12 and college students safe. The culmination of the group’s work: the opening of a new police substation on 27^th Avenue.

Creative force

Professor of design Chris Murphy had an idea to spark students’ creative juices. What started as an after-class club turned into a student-run design agency that works with real clients. The agency recently won five gold medals at the American Advertising Federation’s Phoenix awards ceremony.

Sister power

Three sets of siblings share sisterly love – and the athletic court and playing fields on Division I teams, including basketball’s Lauren and Sydney Erikstrup, beach volleyball’s Becca and Jessica Drake, and soccer's Abigale and Olivia Leonard. Said Sydney Erikstrup, “Playing with your sister is super special.”

Thrive in 2025

It was a whirlwind year. GCU announced it’s joining a new athletic conference after a stellar WAC year that included both the men’s and women’s teams punching their ticket to the NCAA tournament. The university also partnered in a film and wrapped up its 75^th anniversary celebration, to name a few.

Double duty

Tina Gilson wanted to change the direction of her life, so she joined the Air Force, and she’s reached the pinnacle of her military career, serving as a chief master sergeant and advisor to her commander. But she wanted to do more, so she pursued, not one, but two doctoral degrees.

Hall of Fame

Lynette Stant was raised on the Navajo reservation and dreamed big. She wanted to become a lawyer, but after her first political science course, realized it wasn’t for her. So she became a teacher and has excelled at it. Stant was one of the recent 2025 GCU Alumni Hall of Fame inductees.