EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was originally published in the August issue of GCU Magazine. Access the digital magazine here.
Photos by Ralph Freso
When Anna Faith Smith enrolled at Grand Canyon College in 1976 — just a year after her brother — it wasn’t the bustling, burgeoning university it is today. Only a few buildings peppered the campus; students lived in one residence hall and popped over to classes or to study in just one classroom building and a library.
“I remember having choir classes, and at 11 o’clock, we were singing in one class and, just a few doors down, there was a history class,” said Smith, a College of Theology associate professor who returned to her alma mater, now Grand Canyon University, in 1990 to teach Spanish and once served as assistant dean, associate dean and interim dean for several GCU colleges.
Now the largest Christian university in the country with more than 25,000 ground students and more than 92,000 online students, GCU touts 10 colleges, 32 residence halls (soon to be 33), 34 campus eateries, a 7,000-seat arena, and multiple athletic and recreation facilities.
The original classroom building where Smith attended classes, Fleming Hall, is now campus retailer the Lope Shop, and the original library where she studied, Fleming Library (built in 1957), is now an administrative and support building.
“We love our memories, and we love our GCU history. We lived through it all,” said Smith, who shared some of those memories with incoming students over the summer, alongside 1982 graduate and former GCU Athletic Director Keith Baker, at Welcome Programs’ first Herd Camp.
The camp, which ushered in the university’s 75th anniversary celebration year, took Smith, Baker and more than 60 incoming students even further back in the university’s history during a day trip in July to GCU’s first home in Prescott, Arizona.
They toured the one small gymnasium and meandered through the narrow halls and compact rooms at Prescott’s National Guard Armory that, in 1949, made up the whole of a college campus for its 95 students.
“We were one of the only Baptist colleges on this side of Texas,” said Baker of GCU, owned in 1949 by the Southern Baptist Convention. “It was a destination place to go. A missional school is important, because instead of requiring students to sign a statement of faith, anybody is welcome.”
It didn’t take long for university leaders to realize that narrow halls and a small gymnasium could only hold so many students, and that Prescott couldn’t sustain the kinds of jobs, internships and other opportunities students would need.
So in 1951, the school relocated to Phoenix. It was where Smith wanted to be.
“The older kids were all starting to go to Grand Canyon College, but I was in a different school,” said Smith, whose mother earned her teacher’s certificate at GCC. “I was in a Spanish mission, and the church that planted the Spanish mission had a lot of young kids that were attending GCC, so of course, that is what I wanted to do.”
She loved the small vibe of the school and the tight-knit community.
“We kind of did everything, we knew everybody and were a part of everything that was going on,” Smith said of the college, known for producing strong theologians, teachers and nurses.
“We just lived there, and we loved it. It was like home.”
Smith wasted no time getting involved. Initially a double major and double minor, she volleyed between English and Spanish, math and music. When she was not in class, she was spending her free time in wind ensemble, which transitioned into pep band and basketball game performances.
“It was an environment that was just nurturing. I wanted to study everything.”
Student enrollment had increased to close to 1,200 at the time, and one of those 1,200 included Baker, who started at Grand Canyon in 1978 and continued his family legacy — almost 60 Bakers to date have attended GCU.
“My story with Grand Canyon is more than just my individual experience,” Baker said. “I am a second-generation Lope, and a lot of my stories come from hearing my family talk about their wonderful experiences.”
Smith and Baker never expected their academic years to be only the beginning of their connection to GCU; their careers at the university would last more than 30 years each, which allowed them to witness, firsthand, the school’s tremendous evolution.
The biggest culture shift happened in the early 2000s. The college was on the verge of bankruptcy until a group of investors acquired the university in 2003.
That’s when the school had to learn to be more business-minded, Smith said.
“The question would come up, ‘If we had this program, what job is it going to help a student get?’” Smith said. “In my heart, I still wanted everybody to be a real good thinker, writer, understand how history plays into who you are as a human being, but I also wanted to help everybody think about how they can be in a position of leadership and influence with that college degree that is going to make a difference in the community.”
Another big shift occurred in 2008 with new leadership, including President Brian Mueller. It would mark the beginning of the modern GCU, as the university invested $1.8 billion between 2009 and now to grow the university. That investment sparked the boom in facilities, program expansion, technology and infrastructure.
Baker said, “There were struggles . . . but ultimately, all the struggles have led to a much stronger, more impactful institution.”
Through all the ups and downs, one thing always remained the same: GCU’s faith-based foundation.
“From a physical aspect, the place today is unrecognizable from the standpoint of what we experienced when we were there,” Baker said. “But I think deep down, the essence of what the school stands for and what it is remains fairly consistent.”
What has happened here, he said, “It’s just amazing.”
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