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Story and photos by Theresa Smith GCU News Bureau The campus chemistry was gradually altered on Friday afternoon, from thousands of young people intent on making their way from class to class, to laughter, hugs and leisurely reunions of Grand Canyon University students with their moms, dads, brothers and sisters. Along the Promenade, joyful families picked up their burlap bags, donned their purple “GCU family’’ T-shirts and scattered all over campus. Families in Thunderground cheered for spares and strikes on the bowling alleys and picked up their cue sticks for billiards. Outdoor tables outside the Student Union and Lopes Way filled with hungry families fresh from touring classroom buildings and residence rooms. With 1,370 families and 4,870 family members, including students, it was the largest Family Weekend in the event’s five-year history. Amid the buzz of activity, the experience of one freshman was similar to many of her peers. Despite talking to her mother every day, she was homesick. “I have been missing my mom a lot,’’ said Jessica Mireles as she wrapped her arms around her mom, Mariela. “I am going home for Thanksgiving, and that’s still a month away, so it’s great to see her and the rest of […]

The largest Family Weekend in GCU history runs Friday through Sunday and is chock full of activities. Here is a partial list: Chapel, performances of Macbeth, competitive and casual golf at the GCU Golf Course, Parent Hospitality in Thunder Alley, a showing of “Incredibles2” on the Grove Lawn, performances by students from the College of Fine Arts and Production, performances by Spirit teams, competitive games or matches by the softball, men’s soccer, women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s swimming teams, a Thunder Bolt shopping spree, family sand volleyball and a family service project.

The GCU Speech and Debate team finished in second-place on Sunday at the Aztec Invitational tournament at San Diego State University. Seniors Tommee Gleason, Xanthia Clow, and Keliann Nash won their respective events for speech competition, while the rest of the speech team placed in the top 6 in 13 out of 18 events. In Debate, seniors Grace Laidlaw and Matthew Calderwood won the varsity division and Ben Kuykendall and Joseph Madere finished second in the novice division

A record 846 students camped out in 168 tents in preparation for Midnight Madness and for the opportunity to create a unique college experience. “I wanted to be part of the crowd,” said freshman Trent Bowman. “I wanted to be part of the community.”

GCU students use multiple modes of transportation to traverse campus, from new-age electric bikes to swift skateboards to colorful beach cruiser bikes to old-fashioned lace up roller skates — the Lopes know how to get around.

Increasingly, students at Grand Canyon University are adding minors. These extra concentrated courses give students deeper knowledge in a branch of their major, an increased skill set, a complement to their major, or a completely different academic area to explore.

By Theresa Smith GCU News Bureau Long lines of students sitting on the grass or the pavement, endlessly playing cards, snacking, talking and dozing? If it sounds like madness, it is — Midnight Madness. Grand Canyon University students seeking premium seats for Midnight Madness are tailgating and tenting, as organized by the leaders of the Havocs, GCU’s nationally recognized cheer section. “Camp Elliott grows every year and people do it because they like it,” said Havocs Co-President Shelby Langston.  “Yes, they want a good spot for Midnight Madness, but they also enjoy being outside with their friends and changing it up.”  Camp Elliott, coined for Daniel Elliott, the first student to start the tradition, in 2015, will end on Friday, Oct. 5, at 10 a.m. when all students will be given their lineup numbers.  The doors to GCU Arena will open at 11:15 p.m. for Midnight Madness, featuring the men’s and women’s basketball teams, along with their coaches, Dan Majerle and Nicole Powell, and performances by the spirit teams: the Thundering Heard Pep Band, Cheer, Dance and Thunder. The theme for this latest edition of Midnight Madness is mysterious. “They are in for a wild night since The Joker, “Thunder,’’ […]

We Are Messengers’ Darren Mulligan wept, he said, when he and his family left Ireland for America. They didn’t want to leave their family or their home in the countryside. But he believes this is where God wants him to be. Mulligan stopped by the GCU Recording Studio Wednesday, before his band’s appearance at GCU Arena for the Air1 Positive Hits tour, to talk to Worship Arts students about his hard-living days, his return to church, his family and his songwriting process.

GCU Costume Designer and professor Nola Yergen just wanted to make a video about Renaissance dress to show to her students. But that idea turned into something more — a 9-minute documentary called “Dressing a Renaissance Queen,” which is an official selection in the Lady Filmmakers Festival, coming up Sept. 27-30 in Beverly Hills.

Memorization drills, current events quizzes, mock debates and daily reading throughout the summer boosted Grand Canyon University’s Matthew Calderwood and Grace Laidlaw to a 10th-place finish in the Georgia B. Bowman Invitational last weekend at William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo. The pair argued successfully about drone use and germ modification.