$1.5 million pledged to Five-Point Plan at 75th anniversary Amethyst Gala

Photos by Ralph Freso / Slideshow

Supporters at Grand Canyon University’s Amethyst Gala on Friday pledged approximately $1.5 million to benefit the university’s ambitious Five-Point Plan to transform the west Phoenix community it calls home, though Vice President of Advancement Kale Gober said his office is still working on a final tally.

In university President Brian Mueller's opening remarks at the lavish event, which kicked off GCU Homecoming weekend, he said that soon after he arrived on campus 16 years ago, he was told that people don't invest in this part of Phoenix.

“You don’t put $2 billion into Maryvale. You don’t put $2 billion into the Canyon Corridor … you go to Scottsdale. Go anyplace. But you don’t stay here,” Mueller heard.

But he also heard a louder voice.

“Maybe He (God) wants us to get into the middle of this community and build a renaissance,” Mueller said to the 1,200 guests at the gala, the culminating event of the university’s yearlong 75^th anniversary celebration.

Mueller, the recipient of GCU’s first Amethyst Award, said university leaders decided GCU would stay right here, in west Phoenix – somewhere Mueller thought Jesus might have ministered.

“I don’t think He’d go to Scottsdale. I think He’d go to a place like this,” he said, adding that 10 years ago this community of immigrants and refugees spoke 40-plus languages and today it's 70.

“God has brought the world to us,” he said.

At the sold-out gala, emceed by former TV news anchor and Hospice of the Valley Director of Community Engagement Lin Sue Flood, a tiny part of the world gathered at the university’s Canyon Activity Center.

The venue was transformed from basketball courts into a packed ballroom, where attendees learned about the university’s plan for the community. That plan focuses on bringing jobs to the area, increasing safety, improving home values, investing in schools and supporting families. They also had a chance, during a paddle pledge, to donate to those initiatives that have guided GCU's community giving.

Community powerhouses spoke about each of those five points, such as Chicago Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren, a GCU alumnus, whose talk focused on the university's efforts to increase the neighborhood's home values.

GCU has partnered to rehabilitate existing homes with Habitat for Humanity Central Arizona since 2014. It is the largest Habitat partnership of its kind in the world.

“A home is much more than a room or walls. It really becomes a place of confidence, of serenity – a foundation. A place where families can grow and learn and become one unit,” said Warren, who shared that he grew up in a 1,500 square-foot home with six siblings just 14 miles from campus.

Home ownership deeply resonates with him.

The Habitat for Humanity initiative “has really revolutionized not only this area but the state of Arizona,” Warren said, and relayed the partnership's impact over the past decade: about 600 unique families served, almost 38,000 volunteer hours, and an 876% increase in home values since 2011 in the 85017 ZIP code.

GCU trustee Dave Donaldson, co-founder of CityServe, talked about another point in the plan: serving families in need.

He shared that his father's dream as a pastor was to mobilize resources to help families in need.

It’s something he didn’t get to do.

He died when Donaldson was just 9 years old after his parents were struck by a drunk driver. His family, afterward, received help from compassionate people who took them in.

Donaldson is living that dream for his father through CityServe, a network of churches and other faith-based organizations that help fulfill families' needs.

“God has turned my dad’s mangled car into a fleet of trucks that are providing hope and help to tens of millions of people around the globe,” Donaldson said.

GCU is part of that CityServe network, with a warehouse that has the equivalent of 88,000 square feet of space and serves as a distribution hub for household goods and other items.

In just two years, the university’s CityServe has distributed more than $15.3 million in goods through its almost 200 partners and has served more than 74,500 families.

“GCU has been a rocket fuel for change in this neighborhood,” Donaldson said.

Also speaking about the three other initiatives in the Five-Point Plan were:

Also at the gala, GCU recognized Mueller for his work in the community and in carving, molding and building this part of west Phoenix.

Pono Construction owner Butch Glispie said Mueller is always pushing the boundaries of what seems possible.

When they first met, Glispie said Mueller wanted to talk to him about the first building he constructed on campus, North Rim Apartments, in 1986, when GCU “was a sleepy Baptist college with not much going on.”

“He (Mueller) said, ‘Can you build that exact same residence hall, just one story higher – and do it in 10 months?’”

That became the modus operandi for Glispie and his teams of contractors who worked on “Brian time” and completed Ocotillo Hall in just 145 calendar days and the Grove quartet of residence halls, all 800,000 square feet, in 258 days.

“That takes leadership. … I envy GCU for the leadership team they have built.”

Glispie said one of his favorite quotes is one by Voltaire, “Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers,” and Mueller is always asking questions: “Is there a better way?” “Is there a faster way?”

Sports executive Jerry Colangelo, former owner of the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury and namesake of the university’s business college, said when he met Mueller 16 years ago, “He gave me his vision ... and he underestimated his own vision.”

Colangelo said what has happened over those years because of Mueller’s leadership has been overwhelming.

“I’ve had the privilege of meeting a lot of people around the world who are leaders. I don’t think I’ve ever met one who checks all the boxes in my mind,” Colangelo said. “He’s a visionary. He’s a team player. He’s a team builder. … And one of the best things is, he’s a basketball coach.’

Mueller said GCU owes its success, not to him, but to his leadership team.

“No single person could ever do this. No team could do this,” he said, though his extraordinary team has.

Mueller chose to spend his time talking, not about himself, but about GCU’s latest collaboration on a film called “The Last Supper,” co-produced by GCU trustee Shawn Boskie and set for release March 14.

“It will cause you to come face to face with who this Jesus was,” Mueller said, then spoke about GCU, who it is and, as a Christian university, who it emulates.

He also chose to speak about the Five-Point Plan.

GCU will keep creating jobs, he said, giving opportunities to students, taking care of families, and, “We’re going to make this the safest neighborhood in the state of Arizona. That’s our goal.”

He added, “When people see Grand Canyon University, what I want them to think of is the university, our students, but most of all, what’s going on in the resurrection of this community.”

Gober said of all the pledges from the gala, "It was so rewarding to see such a large contingency gathered to support our community. Seeing the masses exemplify what Christian communities are all about – putting the needs of others before their own – is something the world can use a lot more of, and I’m glad to be a part of an institution that is taking the lead in this regard."

With so much accomplished at GCU since it opened its doors 75 years ago, Mueller added that there’s so much more to do: “I think we’re just getting started here.”

Grand Canyon University Internal Communications Manager Lana Sweeten-Shults can be reached at [email protected] or at 602-639-7901.

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