Student-Athlete Development wins past video games

When student-athletes select to compete at Grand Canyon, they know they discovered a house to develop their athletic skills and expertise group success.

For all of student-athletes’ elite instincts and imaginative and prescient, the developmental aspect they hardly ever see coming at GCU is how a lot they may develop outdoors of video games, tournaments, meets and duals.

The GCU Office of Student-Athlete Development is devoted largely to fostering the educational achievement of Lopes who juggle distinctive schedules and calls for. That mission has thrived, enhancing GCU’s 2025 NCAA Graduation Success Rate to 94% to steer Arizona.

But these Lopes are leaving GCU with greater than diplomas and victories. Student-Athlete Development pours into their holistic progress.

“From your first day here on campus through the rest of your life, we want to help you be the most successful,” mentioned Katy Keenan, GCU assistant athletic director for Student-Athlete Development. “That looks different for everybody. We want to equip you with the tools, the resources, the connections and the knowledge that you might need to achieve that.

“Your coach goes that will help you be an excellent athlete; we’re going that will help you achieve success within the classroom. Lopes for Life helps the holistic human being to arrange them for the subsequent section of life.”

Lopes for Life programming targets educational achievement, profession readiness, private growth, group engagement and religious progress for 20 GCU groups.

As vp of the GCU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Lopes swimmer Krisalynn Henderson began her senior yr chatting with a full contingent of fellow student-athlete

s that outnumbered her 400-student, Okay-12 faculty in Dacula, Georgia.

“If you would’ve told me my freshman year that I would’ve gotten up in front of all of Athletics and spoke, I would’ve laughed at you,” Henderson mentioned. “That was so not me. Now, I love doing stuff like that.

“As an 18-year-old, that was so scary. But now I can confidently say that I’ve been given so many instruments and a lot extra than simply strolling away with athletic accolades. I’m so grateful to GCU for pushing me to be the perfect model of myself.”

Henderson, now a graduate student and SAAC president, entered a leadership academy as a freshman and became involved in SAAC before holding office.

“You are available considering, ‘I’m going to swim and influence the college in athletics.’ But one thing I’ve discovered that is a lot larger is that I influence folks by studying who I’m as an individual and having the ability to give that to different folks. GCU Athletics actually pours into us to have the ability to attain out to the campus and the group round us. It’s undoubtedly a lot greater than being an athlete right here. They actually do train us methods to lead.”

SAAC consists of two student-athlete representatives per group for month-to-month conferences that make them conduits to GCU, convention or NCAA directors. Their work focuses on fostering a constructive picture, growing private expertise and selling alternatives.

 

“Being a student-athlete at GCU prepared me to handle the demands and fast pace of working in professional sports,” mentioned former Lopes soccer standout Destinee Duran-Wise. “The discipline and teamwork I built as an athlete, captain and SAAC vice president helped me transition smoothly into roles with the Phoenix Mercury and Arizona Cardinals, where communication, adaptability and leadership are key every day. That foundation gave me the confidence to thrive in high-pressure environments.”

In latest years, a SAAC management position and a direct relationship with GCU Vice President of Athletics Jamie Boggs helped observe and discipline athlete Mia Corners earn a yearlong postgraduate internship at NCAA headquarters and put Duran-Wise in a bunch gross sales operations place with the Cardinals.

“Jamie does such a great job of wanting SAAC’s opinion and going with it,” Keenan mentioned. “They’re the bridge between student-athletes and administration. We talk about anything from NCAA topics, conference-level items to the ‘Welcome Back’ shirt color or theme of Lopeys (year-end awards). We really lean on that group to drive the student-athlete experience.

“The ones that wish to step into these government positions are so spectacular. They have a pulse on their friends however are additionally high-achieving to excel academically and athletically and have a ardour for bettering the expertise of student-athletes who come after them.”

The former Texas Tech volleyball standout is in her sixth year at GCU, where the unique offerings and layout assist her. Keenan taps into existing GCU programs, such as Canyon Center for Excellence for character development and GCU Career Center for the Emerging Leaders Career Fair.

With an office at the campus core, Keenan organically teams with neighboring departments for topics from finances to social media.

“When the College of Business, Honors College, Career Services or ASGCU is doing one thing, we do not have to make use of the manpower to create an occasion,” Keenan said. “We’re in a position to simply promote campus alternatives. They execute at such a excessive degree that it made my job a lot simpler in comparison with my friends at different faculties.”

Keenan, Director of Student-Athlete Development Jerome Garrison and four academic coordinators are predicated on academic support. That initiative is clear in 11 consecutive years of improving GCU’s Graduation Success Rate, which ranks second among 12 Mountain West Conference members.

Armed with diplomas, student-athletes often reflect about the value of development and community service opportunities that accumulated more than 3,000 hours in 2024-25.

“We’ve been just a little higher yearly,” Keenan said. “It’s the tradition of GCU and the way we might be part of it to contribute. If we make the most of student-athletes to ahead that mission, we all know what student-athletes are able to. We faucet into their aggressive aspect to problem them to be higher than they had been.”