Photos by Ralph Freso / Slideshow
“Can you make sure cones are blocking part of the Diamondback entrance? That should be for exiting only. I want traffic to flow smoothly,” says Welcome Programs Operations Manager Alden Sia via walkie-talkie early Monday morning.
Cars line up on Camelback Road, perfectly organized orange traffic cones dapple the Grand Canyon University campus, staff members have placed signage with directions around dorms and apartments, and big “Welcome home, Lopes” banners wave from every corner.
The most anticipated week at GCU is finally here: Welcome Week.
From fall semester until end of summer, Welcome Programs spends countless hours preparing and perfecting every detail of one of the biggest initiatives on campus, and Sia is the mastermind behind its operations.
“It’s like planning a wedding that will last seven days for 24 hours. It’s organized chaos,” Sia says.
“Attending a university where the people behind the scenes prioritize the student and family experience is what makes GCU stand out. The people behind the scenes who put so much of their heart into Welcome Week and truly love what they are doing and serving students is unmissable.”
A lot happens behind the scenes that most do not get to see, especially on the first day of Welcome Week. A detailed and time-stamped schedule of Sia and her team’s efforts shows dedication, determination and passion for the Lopes community:
4:00 a.m.: Wearing her purple Welcome Programs polo, laced up sneakers and high pony, Sia arrives at her office in Echo building.
4:15 a.m.: Golf carts with assigned name tags are lined up in front of the Welcome Programs' office. Sia and Garrett Abeyta, Welcome Programs marketing and communications coordinator, grab keys and start distributing golf carts around campus, one for each department.
4:27 a.m.: Steering the wheel with one hand and talking into her walkie-talkie with the other hand, Sia parks her golf cart in front of the Student Engagement building, where Charity Norman, Welcome Programs director, is waiting with coffee in hand. Abeyta arrives shortly after, and they meet in the first-floor conference room to organize charging stations for hundreds of walkie-talkies, various welcome signage and bright yellow traffic vests.
4:45 a.m.: Sia and Abeyta split up to place flag banners and traffic signs around campus. Sia heads to the east side of campus, but not without stopping to pick up fallen cones along the way.
“GOOOOD MORNINGGG,” cheers Event Services Manager Taylor Sprague from across the parking lot before the sun has risen. “Are we getting doughnuts?”
4:49 a.m.: Sia arrives at the dirt lot by the 29th Avenue entrance to examine and plan traffic lanes. “Public safety, are you on radio? … Never mind. I was going to ask if there are lights we can use for the dirt lot because it’s really dark, but I realized the sun will rise soon.”
4:55 a.m.: Sia and Abeyta stop on the side of Palo Verde to collect a pile of tall traffic cones.
Time to get creative.
“Are you envisioning four lanes?” Sia helps Abeyta think through his plan for the dirt lot.
5:02 a.m.: Abeyta and Sia organize traffic cones in four lanes extending from white, easy-up tents that marked check-in points for all cars.
“Just like a Costco gas line,” Abeyta says.
5:20 a.m.: Sia connects all cones with caution tape, finalizing four lanes.
5:23 a.m.: First car arrives for move-in.
5:34 a.m.: Sia speeds on her golf cart back to her office to pick up more caution tape and colorful markers for student volunteers to write on cars.
5:39 a.m.: Sia drops off markers to student volunteers at Santa Cruz, Ponderosa and Oak Creek apartments. First line of cars forms.
5:41 a.m.: “Who is this and why are they parked here?” Sia questions after seeing a parked car outside of her organized traffic lanes at the dirt lot.
5:45 a.m.: First song of the day blasts through the speakers.
5:52 a.m.: First shift of student volunteers are all in their places outside of each building and ready to receive cars.
5:54 a.m.: Sia makes her way down the apartments on the east side of campus, instructing student volunteers how to greet cars and direct traffic.
5:57 a.m.: Abruptly, Sia puts her golf cart in park to fix another fallen sign.
6:15 a.m.: First rush of cars hits.
6:16 a.m.: Sia jumps out of her golf cart to place more cones in front of the Palo Verde apartments driveway to create a blocked entrance and force cars to follow her dirt lot traffic lanes.
“You know what’s crazy? This is going to go until 10 p.m.”
6:24 a.m.: Public Safety drives up with doughnuts in the back of their golf cart. Sia finally gets her first fuel of the day: a chocolate doughnut.
6:26 a.m.: With her doughnut still in her hand, Sia walks over to student volunteers with more markers and shows them how to write on cars that will help with the flow of the traffic.
6:41 a.m.: Sia meets with the Welcome Programs crew to address the first traffic jam in front of Ponderosa apartments. Waving with her left arm and pointing with her right, Sia directs cars evenly into appropriate lanes and clears up the line of cars spilling onto main road.
7:03 a.m.: Traffic jam is over. Sia’s walkie-talkie goes off, “Go for Alden.” Student volunteers call for Sia from a different part of campus to resolve another traffic jam.
7:40 a.m.: Sia puts out another exit sign by the 29th Avenue Garage to help manage the flow of cars. Shuffling through her stack of building name tags and rearranging the magnetic board, Sia tries to figure out how to make a sign that will point to the left.
“I don’t have an arrow sign. Should I just make it out of tape? Should I draw it?”
8:00 a.m.: “Where is my caffeine? I need caffeine.” Sia says.
8:30 a.m.: Sia finally gets her coffee and is even more fueled up to run the show.
9:00 a.m.: New rush starts and a new group of student volunteers trickle in, grabbing pink, green and blue markers and instantly tackling the long line.
9:15 a.m.: Jam-packed line of cars, trucks and U-Hauls starts excitedly honking as Sia holds up a “Welcoming Lopes to the Herd for 75 years” sign while jumping, screaming and waving.
9:40 a.m.: Time for breakfast. That means a quick run to GCBC and Einstein Bros Bagels.
10:17 a.m.: Sia is back in action at the 29th Avenue entrance. One car holds up the line, Sia runs to address the issue. Directs one car to go straight, car behind them to go left and the following car to go right. Just like that, traffic jam solved.
10:27 a.m.: Sia and Norman speed off on a golf cart to a debrief meeting with Public Safety, the Police Department, Phoenix Fire and Arizona Department of Transportation. They ensure traffic is flowing smoothly outside of the campus and is not affected by the long line of cars waiting to move in.
11:05 a.m.: Students and their families are starting to walk around campus after they have dropped off their suitcases and boxes in their apartments. Parents, siblings and grandparents already are showing off their purple pride and Lope spirit with “Lope Family” T-shirts, purple hats and sunglasses.
11:13 a.m.: “Hi guys, welcome. Come on in,” Sia says as she gets back in action at the 29th Avenue entrance and the dirt lot, clearing up paths, waving to families and dancing to Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” while holding a welcome sign.
Noon to 10 p.m.: Sia and her Welcome Programs team carry on this energy for the rest of the day as they tirelessly work through the morning-to-night move-in day configuration introduced for the first time this year.
“The key is teamwork. If I didn’t have my team, Events team or Public Safety to rely on, I would be in trouble,” says Sia. “When I am communicating on the radio, my phone or in person, it’s nice being able to rely on people. That changes everything and is really just the culture of GCU.”
GCU staff writer Izabela Fogarasi can be reached at [email protected]
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