Canyon Activities Board

Standing alone on the stage, the young man in the tuxedo is anything but unnerved by the spotlight nor the GCU Arena crowd of his peers, 7,000 strong. Caleb Duarte’s suave emcee performances at all major entertainment events on campus have led to the creation of “Canyon Night Show.’’ As he hosts his Valentine’s Day-themed fourth taping of CNS before a live audience at 7 p.m. today at Thunderground, Duarte’s dream of hosting a nationally televised talk show is being sown.

More than 3,000 students turned out for the winter formal, Hanging of the Greens, featuring dining, dancing, crafting snow globes, savoring GCBC hot chocolate in four flavors, letter writing to home with postage paid by the Canyon Activities Board (CAB), and notes to the homeless for the Can you Spare a Story initiative. “It is beautiful how they didn’t just make it a dance,’’ said senior Stephanie Fairchild. “They incorporated the arts and crafts and Can You Spare a Story. That is heartwarming.’’

For Latino Student Union president Leonardo Quintero, the Día de los Muertos celebrations on campus are all about presenting Latino culture to GCU students and staff and implementing it into the culture of the Lopes.

It might appear to be time for summer chill instead of summer sweat, yet with hundreds of events and activities to plan the mode is busy for the 14-member staff of GCU’s Office of Student Engagement. Nearly 600 activities were planned and executed under the umbrella of Student Engagement last school year, not including hundreds of events managed by the 126 clubs. “It’s not the volume [of events] but the engagement,’’ said Jeremy Mack, director of Student Engagement. “We want to make students feel welcome on campus while making friends.’’