Photos by Ralph Freso
Jason Cooper was pushing a cart at Grand Canyon University's Acacia Hall early Monday morning instead of attending the first day of classes and football practice at Colfax High School in eastern Washington.
“I'm missing that, but I wasn't going miss this,” said Cooper, the defensive coordinator and head track coach at Colfax as he stood outside one of the many SUVs parked around the Grove.
Cooper and his wife helped move son Zachary into his residence during the first hour of Welcome Week this morning.
Today marked the first day most students could move into their campus residences, and they were accompanied by parents watching their children take the next step in their lives.
“It's incredible,” said Cooper. “I thought I'd be more emotional right now, but I'm not just because of how busy I am, but it's coming.”
From the physical side, there was plenty of support for Welcome Programs, including from student body president Tucker Hudson, student body vice president Dianne Carla Mae Nasibog, Acacia Hall resident assistant Adrian Realyvasquez and a slew of student volunteers. They did everything from checking in freshmen, to supplying move-in carts, to directing foot traffic and handing out water to combat the rising temperatures as the sun soared.
“Pastor Tim's team is amazing,” said GCU Provost Dr. Randy Gibb, referring to GCU Dean of Students, Vice President of Student Affairs and University Pastor Dr. Tim Griffin. “I think he's got more than 500 staff and volunteers, and they lead this.
“And I love the fact that GCU is so student-peer driven that the student leaders do so much of this, and they bring the energy and excitement, because they know what it was like a year ago or two years ago when they were moving in. They have a heart to serve, and they're serving future students who are coming in to help them get off to a great start.”
That’s encouraging, especially because GCU is reporting a new student ground enrollment increase of 10% from the 2024-25 school year. Nearly 17,000 students will be living in the campus's 33 living areas, which GCU believes to be more than any other private university in the nation.
That includes Gila Apartments, which opened today on the east side of campus. Also new is the living-learning community for cyber students in Encanto Apartments, part of GCU's cyber-focused Overlock Experience.
Acacia Hall was scheduled to move in 217 freshmen today, and Realyvasquez, a junior, understood the importance of putting everyone at ease.
“I remember when I was a freshman, I was a little bit worried, had a few jitters, finally being away from home for the first time and was just kind of scared of what college had in store for me,” Realyvasquez said. “So just being able to be a welcoming face, make them feel like this is where they belong.”
As for the parents, “they feel a little bit more at ease knowing that they're leaving their child in a good place, and just knowing that we'll take care of them, and we'll steward them well in their journey here," Realyvazquez said.
Even GCU mascot Thunder chipped in with the move-in process, carrying large roller bags when it wasn’t meshing with students, members of the Thundering Heard pep band, cheer and dance squads, and a few media members.
GCU is projecting a record ground and online enrollment of 133,000. That includes approximately 25,000 on-campus students – roughly the same population of Hudson’s hometown of Mountain House, California. And it's much bigger than when the Southern Baptist Convention established Grand Canyon College with 16 faculty and 100 students in Prescott, Arizona, in 1949, before moving to Phoenix two years later.
“It's definitely a responsibility I don't take lightly,” Hudson said. “It's one of the greatest experiences of your life. I would encourage everyone to fully embrace all that Welcome Week has to offer and all that GCU has to offer, because it helped me get connected and find my purpose, find my community here, and I haven't looked back ever since.”
Hailey Rice sported a content look after checking in at the front desk of Acacia.
“I'm from Minnesota, so I wanted to go to a warmer climate, and the affordability of the school and the nutrition program that I wanted was here,” said Rice, who learned of GCU through fellow church members and became sold after a Discover GCU trip.
While assisting his daughter, Patrick Rice also felt encouraged despite some mixed emotions.
“We feel good about her choice in colleges,” he said. “She's got a strong faith, so we just feel really proud today. It’s sad to see her take that next step, but then we're happy with the young woman she’s become.”
GCU News senior writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at [email protected]u
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