Property - Grand Canyon University

SEPT 2011
Volume 1 – Issue 1
Property values just went up – way up – next door to where Bill Symington works.
Symington is an assistant dean in GCU’s College of Fine Arts and Production. As
such, his genius is regularly on display in the beautiful sets created for the University’s
plays and musicals out of his modest shop in the rear of Ethington Theatre.
That shop, stocked with tools by Symington in the summer of 2010 shortly after the
arts program was brought back to campus, now sits less than 50 yards from the main
entrance to the majestic, new GCU Arena.
The contrast is a bit startling: little Ethington, built of brick in the mid-1960s and
seating only 300 patrons, positioned literally in the late-afternoon shadow of the
gleaming, glass-and-steel Arena, where events will draw crowds exceeding 5,000.
And yet, Symington sees a compatibility that others might not. He has traveled this
road before, staging shows at the small playhouse across the street from Gammage
Auditorium during his 18 years at Arizona State University.
“This is the magnet that will bring the world to our students,” he says of the Arena,

Right Here, Right Now P3
The Gift P6
Thunder Alley P7
Online Faculty P7
FEATURE
Volume 1 – Issue 1
P4-5
GCU Today MaGazine is a
quarterly publication of the Office of
Communications and Public Affairs at
Grand Canyon University.
Written and edited by
DOUG CARROLL
Communications Manager
ZANE EWTON
Communications Specialist
JENNIFER WILLIS
Communications Specialist
designed by
DEANNA FUSCO
SoHo Southwest
Photos by
ZANE EWTON
office of Communications
and Public affairs
BILL JENkINS
Executive Director
ConTaCT
DOUG CARROLL
doug.carroll@gcu.edu | 602.639.8011
ZANE EWTON
zane.ewton@gcu.edu | 602.639.7086
JENNIFER WILLIS
jennifer.willis@gcu.edu | 602.639.7383
Grand Canyon University
3300 W. Camelback Road
Phoenix, AZ 85017
P2 September 2011
which officially opened on Sept. 1 and already is booked well
into 2012 with basketball games, concerts, lectures and even
an ice show.
“That opportunity has changed our University. Connections
will be brought to students, and they won’t have to go looking
for them.”
With the likes of Jayson Adamsen working the Arena, the
pros in the entertainment business now have GCU in their
sights. Adamsen, the production manager for Rhino Staging in
Tempe, has known Symington for years and is looking forward
to showing students what he does and how he does it.
These opportunities have been available to ASU students
over the years with the traveling productions, such as “Les
Miserables” and “The Lion King,” that have played Gammage.
Symington helped with a number of the touring shows.
Adamsen gives the Arena high marks for its ease of load-in, its
power supply and its grid (overhead rigging). Those aspects,
along with the convenience of parking, figure to be pluses in
competing for shows with Comerica Theatre (formerly the
Dodge) in downtown Phoenix, which seats 5,500.
“There’s a niche in the (Phoenix) market for this,” Adamsen says,
“and my initial impression is: What a great venue.”
The trend in the industry is to build smaller. The 17,000-seat
arenas are expensive to construct and maintain, and they’re
difficult to fill with paying customers when the economy goes
(and stays) south.
The new template is symbolized by Tim’s Toyota Center in
Prescott Valley, a 5,000-seat venue built in 2006 that hosts
concerts, minor-league hockey and indoor football. Wells
Fargo Arena, the home of ASU’s basketball teams since 1974,
has reduced its seating capacity in an attempt to create a more
intimate setting.
Continued from P1
“This is where you want to be (in size),” Symington says of GCU
Arena. “It’s lean and mean. It’s like the small, busy restaurant
with the line out the door.
“Some places are great for some events but not for others. They
might work for sports but not for concerts. This is adaptable.
It’s gorgeous, and there’s not a bad seat in it. It’s just fantastic,
and its potential is off the charts.”
GCU students can’t believe their good fortune. They realize
they’re in on the ground floor of something special.
“You can say that it’s not all about the Arena, but it is,” says
transfer student Antoinette Proctor. “This is really going to
draw people in. It’s awesome that we have a campus like this
and a place like this.”
Freshman Phil Ogan says GCU has made a bold statement
with such a facility, adding that it “seems like a place the Suns
would play in.”
The Arena’s high-definition video boards are bound to appeal
to speakers and conventions, Symington says, and even the
spacious plaza and grassy quadrangle on the Arena’s north
side are enticing in ways the campus hasn’t seen before.
West Phoenix stands to be a beneficiary of the increase in
activity at 33rd Avenue and Camelback Road.
“People will come here who may not have thought of coming
to campus for any reason,” Symington says. “The glass exterior
has this open, inviting appearance. At other places, the
people who go (to a venue) are the ones who already know
what’s going on inside.
“With this, people will wonder, ‘What’s happening in there?’”
The new GCU Arena will be the
centerpiece of the RUN TO
FIGhT ChILDREN’S CANCER
on campus Saturday, Oct. 15. Two
races – a 10K (6.2 miles) and a 5K –
plus a Cancer Survivors’ Walk will be
held, with all proceeds benefiting
the Children’s Cancer Network.
This is the first time GCU has
hosted road races on campus. The
first 500 runners to register will
receive a free pair of racing socks,
and all participants will receive a
commemorative T-shirt. Sponsors
include Bank of America, the
Arizona Diamondbacks, the
Phoenix Suns and Phoenix
Children’s hospital. Chip timing
will be provided by Raceplace
Event Systems.
The 10K will start at 7:30 a.m.,
the 5K at 7:40. The courses are
flat and fast and will start and
finish near the Arena, which will
be open to visitors. For more
information and to register, go to
runtofightcancer.com.

RIGHT HERE
Our campus, always special,
has become extraordinary
For those of us who were around over the
summer, it was a dusty, roundabout adventure
to get across campus. The east-west route across
the center of campus was closed, and construction
fences abounded. But I was excited. This was one
of the first summers in the school’s history when I
could truly say I envisioned the great environment
we will have this year.
I toured the campus in early August, taking in all the
building that was going on, from the Arena, to the
east-west promenade, to the plumbing work on the
north-south promenade, to the new dining facility,
to Prescott Hall, to the new parking lot going in
where the southwest lawn used to be.
I experienced a few twinges of nostalgia. Like
J.R.R. Tolkien, trees tend to be my friends, so I
missed some of the mature ones that used to be
the best feature of the old campus. I also missed
Founders’ Plaza, which is gone for the moment. But
if you walked around campus, you could see all
the preservation taking place: There were stored
mature trees all around, including a huge palm tree
behind the Wallace Building on Administration
Avenue. The actual Founders’ Plaza stones, plaques
and sculpture were preserved on pallets, for
reconstruction in the new landscaping.
As I say, the trees and the big front lawns were the
best part of the old GCU campus. The buildings,
not so much. I’ve walked this campus many times
during my 19 years here, and this is the time I’ve
been most happy and excited. In the old days, a
street ran down what is now the north-south
promenade, straight to the commuter parking lot.
I always hated that parking lot; now it’s a beautiful
intramural field, a central recreation area for the
campus, bounded by promenades and academic
buildings, including the beautiful new residence
hall. I hear that the view from Prescott Hall’s fifth
floor is amazing – downtown Phoenix, the South
Mountains, Camelback Mountain and Piestewa
Peak. If you look west, I bet you can see the White
Tank Mountains.
We now have a pedestrian campus, which I think is
better for my own fitness, at least. It’s also a human
campus. We have plenty of places – lawns, the new
dining commons, the Student Union, residence-
hall courtyards, lounges, the wi-fi enabled halls
and promenades – to connect with one another in
rich ways. I love to walk in beauty, and we have it in
abundance in the new landscaping and buildings.
In the old days, if you saw a portable building, you
knew it was going to stay put awhile; now we have
beautiful, quality buildings going up almost every
term. Students can spend their whole social lives on
campus if they want, and not be deprived. And in
the new Arena, the view from the concourse level
is to die for, and the space itself is both visually and
acoustically excellent. I can’t wait for our first events
in there.
In the old days, we had a 10-year master plan. The
way we were going to grow the campus looked
much the way the campus has actually grown. It’s
great to see our dreams for the physical campus
coming true.
RIGHT NOW
Three years later, a big decision
looks better than ever
Words can’t describe the way the GCU
campus has changed over the years.
As a freshman three years ago, I never would have
imagined the transformation now taking place,
literally right before my eyes. There probably are
just a few students on campus who remember
the old tennis courts just north of the Enrollment
Center or the old days at the church softball fields.
Over the last year and a half, it has been hard to
notice anything but the appealing architecture and
beautifully constructed buildings – not to mention
the dust, fences and constant flow of construction
traffic. Although it’s difficult to think past the beauty
and blessings of such change, I can’t help but think
about more.
I can’t stop thinking about choices.
All of the change and construction is linked to
making choices: where to build the next dorm,
what color to paint the walls, what to name the new
facilities. Although these are important, I have a
different choice in mind.
In a truly magnificent way, choices determine the
course of our lives. We make choices every day,
Left: Anthony Mann, Right: Dr. James P. helfers
in both big and small ways, uncertain of how a
drastic or subtle result may affect the ways in
which we live.
Three years ago, I made a choice. It was a decision
to leave Arizona State University, the place I
had desired to call home. I was scared, unsure
of what was going to happen and constantly
second-guessing my every thought.
Today, I don’t think twice about the choice I
made to come to GCU.
Choices have the ability to change your life, and
for me it all started with one decision. Without
making that move, I might never have had the
opportunity to be a part of the change we’re all
experiencing now.
For me, this is much more than new buildings and
landscapes. It’s comfort and reassurance that I
made the right choice.
So did you.
September 2011
P3

THE
Prescott Hall RAs (from left) Megan Stoykovich,
Robert Ramirez, Kristen Wheeler, Meghan Hartmann,
Kaitlynn Mendenhall and Rhian Whitmarsh.

Thirty years ago, life in a college residence hall was appreciated by students for
what it didn’t have.
Parents.
In exchange for that sweet whiff of independence, a 350-square-foot room with
hard beds, beat-up desks and immovable dressers – plus a communal lavatory down
the hall – worked just fine, providing the necessities of a spartan existence. Could a
couple of 19-year-olds want for more?
Well, yes, and in time they did. Just how much more is seen this fall on the GCU
campus with the opening of Prescott Hall, a five-story, 500-bed residence hall that is
rife with amenities for those who make it their home for eight months.
Architects don’t like to call these places “dormitories” anymore, and indeed Prescott
Hall more closely resembles an upscale urban condo building or a well-appointed
Fairfield Inn. Its extras are fast becoming standard in campus living across the
country: 9-inch-thick pillow-top mattresses, flat-screen TVs, DVD players, custom
study nooks, barbecue grills, in-room snack bars, card-swipe security.
In short, Prescott Hall has it all. It is flush with the comforts of home that the military-
style dorm of yesteryear lacked – and all without a parent in sight.
“People are blown away,” says James Rogers, one of Prescott’s two resident
directors, on a recent tour and photo shoot at the building. “For us, it’s more
opportunity to create community. The new things are great visually, but they also
facilitate community.
“Our residential community (at GCU) has exploded in just two years. It’s an exciting
time. The on-campus experience is so much better.”
Only two years ago, about 350 students lived on the west Phoenix campus, in Hegel
Hall (built in 2003) and the North Rim Apartments (1986). With the opening of
Canyon Hall in 2010, the number soared to 1,000, and Prescott Hall’s arrival has
pushed it to 1,600. Work will begin soon on a fourth residence hall, Camelback Hall,
as GCU grows to a projected campus enrollment of 11,000 in the next three years.
Designed by Architekton of Tempe and built by Pono Construction of Glendale,
Prescott Hall features 736-square-foot suites that include two bedrooms, two
bathrooms and a common area for the suite’s four residents. There are 10
handicapped-accessible units.
But that’s not all there is to Prescott. Each floor contains two mid-corridor study
rooms (done in blue), two laundry rooms (green) and two lobbies (deep purple and
burnt orange). These are the inviting spaces – some of them with spectacular views
of campus and beyond – that set the hall apart.
The interior color coordination was an intricate process that consumed Charlie
Sirokman, GCU’s project director, and Julie Gordon, a project engineer for Pono,
for two weeks’ worth of paint chips and carpet samples.
“We didn’t go with neon colors,” says Sirokman, who has built custom homes as
well as facilities on college campuses in Illinois and Washington. “The colors are
subdued, but there’s still a ‘wow factor.’ We used prime colors, but with a different
hue to them.”
The building’s exterior, too, was designed with both form and function in mind,
incorporating “flex space” on the north-side ground level (possibly for offices) and a
U-shaped, artificial-turf courtyard (for group gatherings and small concerts).
The current trend in residence halls is to blur the line between living and learning,
intentionally replacing the old (which emphasized durability and efficiency) with the
new (flexibility, technology and a balance of community and privacy). The number of
residence halls built since 2000 with Internet access in students’ rooms? All of them.
The 21st Century Project, an initiative of the Association of College and University
Housing Officers, champions this living-and-learning movement, even convening
a summit conference, hosting design competitions and publishing books on the
subject of cutting-edge campus housing.
“It is no longer enough to provide students with four walls and a bed,” the ACUHO
says on its website. “Current and future students demand more from their
residential experience. And administrators have realized that (this) can attract and
retain students.”
In a recent survey of college students by the Center for Facilities Research of the
APPA, residential facilities ranked second in importance during pre-enrollment visits,
behind only facilities related to specific majors.
According to Michael Coakley, executive director of residential life at Arizona State
University, an “unsatisfactory housing experience” is the reason most students give
for dropping out of school during their first or second years. The thinking is that nicer
digs contribute to longer stays.
Prescott Hall’s first-year population consists of about 60 percent returning students
and 40 percent freshmen, and Director of Student Housing Eric Andrews predicts
that the freshmen will want to live all four years there. That’s another trend: Schools
are now much more intentional about mixing underclassmen and upperclassmen
than they were in the past.
Men reside on the first and second floors of Prescott, women on the third, fourth
and fifth floors. At $2,100 per semester, it’s an extra $400 annually to live in Prescott
versus Hegel or Canyon.
It’s worth it, says Prescott resident adviser Robert Ramirez.
“There are so many more places to hang out and to study,” he says. “They’ve worked
to make every space livable.”
The many conveniences do make old-school dormies wonder: Is it possible for a
residence hall to be too nice, inhibiting the social interaction that naturally comes
from being out and about on campus? Will students just hole up?
“There is some tension between students’ desire for personal space and amenities
and their desire – and need – to meet others and interact,” admits Emily Glenn
of ACUHO.
However, as the opening of Prescott Hall demonstrates, the new wave of residence
halls is here to stay — and there’s no going back.
September 2011
Photo by: Tim Koors
P5

ow good were the President’s Singers during their
choral heyday on the GCU campus?
This good: They once cut a future opera star.
“She’s not going to blend” was what soprano Amber
Wagner heard back in 2001. Wagner had followed a
high school friend from northern California to GCU. As
a sociology major reminded by her engineer father that
she needed a “real job,” a career in music wasn’t even
on her radar.
However, GCU’s vocal coach then and now, Dr. Sheila
Corley, didn’t want to let a prospect get away. Two
months later, she had found scholarship money for
Wagner, who eventually made the elite, 16-member
group that sang in four parts.
“The very first time I heard Amber sing,” Corley says
now, “I recognized that rare voice that God had kissed
with a presence and color that stands alone in beauty
to this day.”
Oh, if those President’s Singers could hear her now.
Wagner, who graduated from the University in 2006
and from a prestigious, three-year apprenticeship
at the Ryan Center of Chicago’s Lyric Opera in 2010,
is already landing plum roles in the opera world and
impressing some of classical music’s toughest critics.
This fall, she is singing the role of Anna in Verdi’s
P6 September 2011
“Nabucco” at New York’s Metropolitan Opera. And
then there’s the title role in Strauss’ “Ariadne auf Naxos”
with the Lyric, with six performances starting Nov. 19 in
Chicago. In April, she sang Ariadne with the Canadian
Opera Company, stepping in on only 24 hours’ notice
and receiving rave notices.
“It is a treat to encounter a gifted young singer before
the whole opera world knows about her,” one Toronto
critic wrote.
Wagner is married to Gabe Salazar, a former classmate
at GCU, who directs the New Life Singers – the current
version of the President’s Singers. She delights in telling
stories from her days as a resident of the North Rim
Apartments on campus, when she would drive her car
even the shortest of distances rather than walk.
She’s no diva – far from it – and she credits Corley with
keeping her grounded.
“My story could just as easily be about her,” Wagner
says. “Sheila was the one who poured herself into me.
She believed I had something special to offer. But there
were times when she threatened to pass me off to a
male teacher because I had ‘motivational issues.’
“She always told me, ‘Don’t buy into your own hype.
Get on your knees and thank God for the gift you’ve
got.’ She’s humble, and she teaches her students to be
that way.”
Wagner isn’t the only GCU alumnus making a living in
opera. Aubrey Allicock had a major role this summer
in a revival of “The Death of Klinghoffer” by Opera
Theater of St. Louis. He, too, has received favorable
reviews for his work.
“This can be a great music program again,” Wagner says
of GCU’s recent revival of the College of Fine Arts and
Production. “Rebuilding the talent base can take time.
But it was done before, and it can be done again.”
She says she’ll put her GCU training under Corley
up against anyone’s. The traditional route to the
opera stage is through study at a high-profile school
or conservatory, and the publication Opera News
recently debated the issue in print:
“If the goods, the guidance, the fire in the belly and
curiosity to learn are there – what difference does it
make where a singer goes to school?
“Case in point: Soprano Amber Wagner came to
Chicago’s Ryan Center after graduating from – wait for
it – Grand Canyon University. ... Within a few seasons,
Wagner was singing Elsa (in “Lohengrin”) in Chicago and
winning raves for her Ariadne in Toronto.
“Perhaps Wagner is living proof that it doesn’t matter
where you come from. What matters is what you do
with what you’ve got.”

The Big Top-looking building wedged between
the Student Union and the Recreation Center
is no circus attraction.
It’s the new home to a food court and a six-lane
basement bowling alley, the latter of which will open
in mid-October. With a record number of students on
campus this fall, the food court was a must.
GCU partnered with Sodexo to incorporate four retail
concepts on the ground level of the building, which
will be replaced in a couple of years by a permanent
structure. The University wanted food options that
were different from what normally is offered in the
Union dining hall.
Jazzman’s Cafe & Bakery, Cobrizo’s and Mein Bowl
were chosen based on student feedback for higherquality
products and the popularity of chain
restaurants such as Chipotle and Panda Express. A
convenience store, Simply to Go, was included to
satisfy the late-night munchies or the need for a tube
of toothpaste.
According to kristen Fraley, project manager for
campus operations, partnering with Sodexo as the
food vendor made the most sense. Franchises such as
Starbucks and Chick-fil-A were considered, she says,
but costs and time constraints were too high.
“With Sodexo, 100 percent of the sales go back to
GCU instead of only a portion,” Fraley says. “And we
can hire our own employees and student workers
instead of those brought in by the franchise.”
College can be a daunting experience. While
online students differ dramatically from the
traditional campus students experiencing the
world on their own for the first time, the experience is no
less intimidating.
Many online students are going back to school for the first
time in years. They have full-time jobs, families and lives
that may not revolve around getting up and going to class
every day. But their academic needs are still important,
especially as they take their first steps in being an online
student.
That’s where GCU’s full-time online faculty program
comes in.
“We have full-time faculty for multiple entry point
undergraduate and graduate classes,” says kelly
Sanderson, VP of academic operations. “Having the
full-time faculty is important, especially in the entry point
classes, because students know they can call and speak
with someone. Students get feedback much faster.”
Full-time online instructor Ron Woodworth, who
teaches philosophy and communication, says, “I’m on the
phone with students all the time. The speed at which I
The new dining hall benefits a wider population than
only the students living on campus. Commuters
are able to use the facility without being required
to purchase food, which isn’t the case at the Union
cafeteria.
Thunder Alley also uses biodegradable serving
products. That’s something Fraley, who led the
campus’ Go Green committee, is passionate about.
Sodexo also made the decision to use biodegradable
products throughout campus.
“This is something that our department has been
pushing for,” Fraley says. “We want to make sure we
are doing our part to make GCU a green campus.”
can communicate with them is in real time. I can answer
questions, comments and emails within minutes. As a fulltime
faculty member, I’m more engaged with the students
and more focused.”
GCU’s full-time online instructors are blazing a trail.
“They aren’t working out of their homes like a lot of online
programs do,” Sanderson says. “Our instructors are here,
immersed in the GCU spirit, working as a team with the
academic, enrollment and financial counselors.”
Psychology instructor Becky Richey finds this to be
beneficial. “We’re here among peers and other faculty, so
we have a support system,” she says. “We’re not isolated
in our homes, wondering who we can talk to when an
issue arises. I have people I can bounce ideas off of. Or, if
a student has a problem I don’t have the answer to, I can
easily transfer them to someone who does.”
Feedback from students has been positive. They “feel
that they’re more than a number out in cyberspace,”
Richey says.
Adds Woodworth: “With this program, GCU has an
incredibly bright future.”
September 2011
P7

SEPT 2011
Volume 1 – Issue 1