The clouds hung over Prescott, Arizona, on Sept. 13, 1949, threatening to rain on that day’s parade.
But, with God’s grace, nothing came of it.
It would turn out to be a fine day – a perfect day for a celebration to mark a milestone: the hard-won opening of Grand Canyon College, the first private Christian liberal arts college in Arizona, which today is the largest Christian university in the United States.
It's an educational institution with quite a story to weave about how it came to be.
Just three years earlier, during the 1946 annual meeting of the Baptist General Convention of Arizona at Glendale Calvary Baptist Church (now First Southern Baptist of Glendale), minister L.D. White of Casa Grande Calvary Church dramatically strode down the aisle to the pulpit.
We need a committee to make this dream of a Christian university happen, he said, to the 40-plus convention attendees, then plunked down a silver dollar on the communion table.
J.N. Phillips did the same, as did H.R. Spraker.
Years later, a letter from Dr. Hilton Crow from Tucson captured the excitement: “He (Pastor White) held the dollar in the palm of his hand and slammed it on the table in front of the pulpit. It made a tremendous sound, almost like an explosion,” he wrote, and people who were drowsing off suddenly woke up and some of them began to say, “ … ‘I’ll give $20, $50, $100, $500! The $8,000 was raised in 30 minutes. Excitement reigned! We could hardly believe what had happened!”
Dr. Willis Ray, who would later be named the first president of Grand Canyon, traveled to churches in Arizona and even into New Mexico and Texas to continue to raise the $50,000 to open the college. It was decided that Prescott, Arizona, would be the new college's home.
On that opening day on Sept. 13, 1949, about 400 decorated cars met at the parade gathering site at the old Santa Fe bus depot just after noon, stretching seven city blocks.
The route took those cars around the city square and up Gurley street to the Smoki Museum (which would serve as the college’s library) and the adjacent National Guard Armory building, the first home of Grand Canyon, whose leaders didn’t have time before the college’s September opening to construct any buildings. Tourist manors became student dormitories, and students would use nearby tennis courts and athletic fields, as well as attend class in extra classrooms at First Southern Baptist Church.
The parade was followed by a dignitary-filled opening ceremony and a barbecue for 2,000.
Ninety-five students from 11 states were enrolled to begin their studies at the nonprofit Christian college under the guidance of 16 faculty members.
It was a humble start for Grand Canyon University, which today is celebrating its 75th birthday.
In those 75 years, the university overcame many challenges, the first of which was relocating to Phoenix in 1951. Prescott was not big enough for the students who were enrolled to get jobs to help them pay for college.
That move came with another challenge: constructing the buildings on the 90 acres of farmland two miles outside the city limits that the college had acquired. Students attended classes at First Southern Phoenix and North Baptist churches until the nine nondescript buildings, constructed in a whirlwind by volunteers from churches throughout the state, were ready.
Builder A.A. Wallace had less than a month to complete construction before the new academic year began in September. He didn’t quite make it, though he completed the job in two months.
Bill Williams, who supervised some of the construction, said the buildings “had no aesthetic appeal but had great function.”
But the biggest challenge came in September 2003, when Grand Canyon University – it became a university in 1989 – was on the verge of bankruptcy.
A small group of investors acquired GCU soon after, added an adult online education focus, and recruited President Brian Mueller and other new leadership in 2008, which marked the beginning of the modern Grand Canyon University.
Leaders took GCU to the public markets, and with an influx of capital, began investing in infrastructure. That investment sparked a construction blitz that has seen 72 new buildings and major renovations, including the construction of eight GCU-affiliated parking garages, five colleges, three administrative and support buildings and about a dozen athletic recreation and entertainment facilities. That number doesn’t include the 32 on-campus dining options.
Today, GCU touts approximately 25,000 ground students – a far cry from the less than 1,000 students on campus in 2009 – and about 100,000 online students.
They’re studying at 10 colleges and living in 32 residential buildings on university acreage that has expanded from 90 rural acres on the edge of Phoenix in 1951 to more than 300 acres today in a bustling urban west Phoenix.
They’re enjoying a vibrant athletic atmosphere, including men’s basketball winning its first NCAA Division I tournament game and a program-record 13 conference championships in 2023-24, along with one of the largest Club Sports and Intramural programs in the nation.
And through all those challenges, the university never has lost touch with its Christian roots.
“To look at how far we have come from our humble beginnings in 1949 to where we were 15 years ago to becoming the largest Christian university in the country, it is clear that God has his hand on this place in a very special way,” said Mueller. “With everything going on in the world today, I am convinced God’s plan was for us to be at this university, at this time, and in these circumstances.”
The 75th anniversary celebration has included the dedication of a 75th anniversary, 15.5-x11-foot sculpture gifted by Surprise, Arizona, artist Joe Tyler called “The Grace Tree,” which is rich in Christian symbolism.
The university also has published the 75th anniversary book, “75 Years of Purpose: 15 Years of Transformation.” The first Herd Camp over the summer took students to tour GCU's first home in Prescott, and students during Welcome Week who were the 75th to move into their residence halls received a surprise 75th anniversary gift.
And, in October, the GCU community will celebrate the anniversary with a Week of Service, dedicated to numerous community outreach projects, followed by a gala event during homecoming in the spring.
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Source of historical information: GCU's 50th anniversary book, "The Miracle of the Desert"
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Related content:
GCU News: 75th anniversary brings largest enrollment ever at Grand Canyon University
GCU News: GCU's Christian roots celebrated in 75th anniversary 'Grace Tree'
GCU News: Campus celebrates 75 years with a surprise at move-in
