Grand Canyon University

More and more GCU students and employees are saving money on their daily commute to work. They find a carpool buddy through ShareTheRide.com, hop on a bicycle or take public transportation. In just the last six months, Eden Adams, who runs the GCU Trip Reduction Program, has seen participation rise 12.5%, to 581 commuters. They are not only eligible for monthly prizes and can take advantage of free bus passes, last year Lopes in the program prevented the emission of 48 tons of pollution. One more benefit, says Andre Anderson, a university counselor who takes the bus and light rail: “There’s so many interesting people you see every day, and conversations develop.”

The Milwaukee Brewers and Grand Canyon University are already teaming up for big wins. The GCU Learning Lounge that opened in April at the Brewers’ training complex in Maryvale created a unique partnership between a Major League Baseball team and university that garnered the Governor’s Tourism Award for an urban partnership last week in Tucson. “It’s such a unique and forward-thinking program, and it shows a commitment by both GCU and the Brewers to the neighborhood they share,” said Debbie Johnson, director of the Arizona Office of Tourism.

A new Grand Canyon University mail center opened Monday to meet the needs of a growing student population and its consumer habits of shopping online. Stephanie Salas said the center will process more than 1,500 packages every day. Inside the complex located across the bridge of the Little Canyon Trail in Building 44 is a huge warehouse filled with shelves that will be holding everything from shipped bicycles to lamps and refrigerators. After all, Salas said, it is a “click-and-shop generation.”

David Salgado knew it was a tough road to take. The Grand Canyon University graduate and IT employee wanted to pass the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), be accepted into a law school and earn a scholarship to pay for it. There were a lot of twists and turns along the way. But he managed a rarity — a full scholarship to law school. His west Phoenix parents jumped for joy. None of the extended family had ever been to college, much less law school. They had canceled vacation to plan on helping to pay for it. Salgado will go to Gonzaga School of Law on the Thomas More Scholarship.

We already knew this, but now the rest of the country knows it, too: Thunder is the best. His likeness was the winner of the Toykodachi Mascot Madness contest, and the angry-faced Japanese-anime Thunder soon will be on T-shirts, socks and other items at the Lope Shops. And here’s the best part about wearing this new Thunder: He beat Wilbur The Wildcat of the University of Arizona in the fan voting in the finals.

GCU and GCE volunteers fanned out to two homes in the neighborhood on Friday, digging into painting and landscaping projects and defying the July heat. Homeowner Mira Nava recalled the first time Habitat visited her home eight years ago to fix the roof. Her mother was battling cancer at the time and told Nava: “This is a reminder that God is still here.” Andrea Northup, Habitat for Humanity Faith Relations Manager, told Nava: “That’s what GCU lives by — faith.”

Ryan Hatmaker had good reason to want to make the Disneyland All-American College Band: His parents met there long ago while doing their own performances. But there was one problem. The Grand Canyon University snare drummer, who plays for the Thundering Heard Pep Band, was asked to play a different drum at the audition. He had never play the tenor drums — five instead of one. He didn’t panic. He called on his GCU attitude: Smile and have fun.

Christopher Crawford and his Grand Canyon University landscape team perform magic every summer. Despite the summer heat, they water, trim and tend hundreds of plants and trees and acres of the grass to keep the campus looking like an oasis in the desert. Making the campus one of the nation’s best also requires careful selection of plants for shade — thank you, ash trees — and for color, such as lantana along the north end of GCU Stadium.

Three new apartment buildings on Grand Canyon University’s campus will add 1,800 beds for returning students when construction is completed later this summer. The new apartments add to a growing population of students living on campus, a four-fold increase since 2012.

Jacqueline Thomas competed in the Miss Arizona competition regularly during her time at GCU, finishing second in 2018, and now she has taken the next step. She won the title last weekend and will represent Arizona as she vies for the Miss America title. She credits GCU’s Honors College for helping her succeed. “Everything that I did once I joined the Honors College, from internships to jobs to other extra-curricular activities or opportunities within the Miss Arizona organization, was all because of the foundation that the Honors College laid out for me,” she said.