To Whom It May Concern:

Unfortunately I have no idea where this email will end up. My hope is that it is copied to every faculty and staff person at Grand Canyon University. I suppose I hope that because the Grand Canyon University I knew and from which I graduated valued its students to the extent that an alumnus’ letter would be taken seriously and with appreciation. I fear that is no longer the case.

My name is JonMark Shillington. I graduated from GCU in December 2002, summa cum laude with a BA in Christian Education and Theatre/Drama. I entered GCU as a National Merit Scholar excited about the possibilities of a Christian liberal arts education and thrilled about the connections I had already made with then-current students and faculty. I am now a student at George W. Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. I have been thoroughly satisfied with the way my undergraduate education prepared me for graduate work and studies. Unfortunately, I am now embarrassed to tell people from where that undergraduate education came.

If I do mention the name Grand Canyon University to people that I know, I always include a “footnote” along the lines of…”I went there before…”

Before the school was pursuing profit and prestige over quality education for its students. Before faculty members who have literally shaped the lives of hundreds and thousands of young men and women were told that their contributions were no longer valuable much less necessary. Before empty promises were made to tenured professors whose genuine love for teaching called them to and kept them in an institution void of glamour, decadence or even tremendous reputation.

I went to Grand Canyon University when it faced undeniable financial difficulties. Difficulties that almost led to closure…but difficulties that did not prevent the faculty and students from pursuing education with dignity. Those that knew of Grand Canyon were few in number, but those that knew of Grand Canyon respected its educational offerings and appreciated its faith-based approach to higher education. Those that knew of Grand Canyon no longer recognize it.

I now have new motivation for completing my master’s degree. When that degree is earned, I can claim Baylor University and George W. Truett Theological Seminary as my primary places of education. I will be able to separate myself from what Grand Canyon University has become, and it will be a day of great rejoicing. I plan on entering vocational ministry. I will never make a great deal of money, but I believed in Grand Canyon University and always planned on being a contributor. I now have nowhere to send that money. The university I attended, grew in and graduated from no longer exists. The professors that shaped my future have been deemed worthless by educational mad-scientists, and I will not support an institution that now stands for such disrespect and blatant lack of professionalism. Perhaps it is good business, but it is pitiful education.

Again…this email will most likely be tossed aside or disregarded as emotional propaganda, but know that it stands for the new legacy of Grand Canyon University. A legacy of embarrassment and shame. A legacy cut off from its history. A legacy that has very few willing to claim it.

So why write this? What purpose could it possibly serve? Hopefully, it gives someone the realization that they cannot operate unchecked. True, the new Grand Canyon business will not be directly monetarily affected by this letter or even by my sentiments, and as a for-profit institution, the support of alumni will become decreasingly important. However, the “leaders” of GCU are not operating in a vacuum, and I believe it is important that such a fact is known. Whether weighty or not I, as an alumnus of GCU have a voice, and I refuse to sit passively and not make use of it.

If this letter does land on the desks of any professors, know that you are appreciated. Know that your work, even in the most oppressive of circumstances is tremendously important, that your students appreciate you and that your efforts at educating those students have been gloriously fruitful. Know that the prayers of the alumni are with those of you that also remember when your colleagues were respected for their educational experience and expertise rather than for their willingness to politic.

Regretfully,

JonMark Shillington

BA Theatre, Christian Education December 2002

Grand Canyon University “Before”

JonMark Shillington, An Alumnus’ Reflection, at 4:12 pm EDT on May 18, 2005

Pink Slips

Your words were eloquent Mr. Richardson, or whoever added the last comment pleading the case of the management team at GCU. However, I find them absolutely impossible to believe. Tell me, why would someone interested in the well-being of the professors choose to change their locks and computer log-in information instead of giving them the decency of a face-to-face confrontation? I am a graduate from GCU, and I never expected to regret that fact. However, I knew the GCU that Mr. Shillington spoke of. I feel that I got out just in time, as the changes were just beginning to take place. I am not opposed to change, and I realize that positive change needed to occur; however, I am not impressed with any institution that appears to value paper more than people. I am involved in the lives of hundreds of high school students as a youth leader and prospective teacher, and I assure you that I will not be encouraging any of them to attend this new Grand Canyon University. It’s quite sad, really; I had hoped to be a proud alumna. Stephanie Gramm GCU Graduate, December 2004Bachelor of Science, Music Education

Stephanie Gramm, at 4:39 am EDT on May 19, 2005

Do Unto Others

I am a graduate of Grand Canyon University (B.S. 1986). I too remember the glory days when the faculty at GCU was respected and prayed for by their administration... when making money was NOT the key focus but seeing lives changed.

The details I am reading about on how the current GCU administration chose to inform faculty of “changes” makes me livid. (I just found out about this today) What type of people get together and decide to handle affairs in such an unprofessional manner? Its NOT just business, its unethical.

I worked for a large Fortune 500 company for over a decade and as a manager we had to let good people go because of the “bottom line".. that IS business sometimes. However, even in a company of over 70K employees, we were required to meet ONE on ONE with EACH employee leaving. Even in a cut-throat environment, the HUMAN thing to do was to cushion the blow face to face then give specific reasons, in a PERSONAL setting, as to why they were identified to leave. This is called respect and it was critical for the reputation of the company.

In contast: the current administration of GCU could not provide that basic level of professionalism? Give me a break! Changing locks on offices and de-activating accounts without any notice? In the corporate world, this treatment is reserved for those employees who stole or made threats against the company.... I doubt any of the out-going faculty members fit that category. From simply a human perspective: What was the administration thinking?? (Don’t even get me started on breaking stated promises of keeping the tenured faculty then just sending them a letter to inform them they had no jobs- at the end of May no less).

This is embarrassing for GCU and a huge black eye to all the alumni who worked along with outstanding professors over the DECADES to build a caring and well-respected school.

Tina Woodard (Herman), Sr. Instructional Designer, at 2:09 pm EDT on May 19, 2005

GCU Left Behind

I have created a blog for past/present students, parents, etc. to utilize during this ordeal.

www.gculeftbehind.blogspot.com

Carla Sandine, Current Senior Political Science Major at Grand Canyon University, at 2:23 pm EDT on May 20, 2005

Pink Slips

As most other alumni would agree, the one aspect that bothers me the most about everything that has gone on at GCU recently is the way in which the professors have been treated. I graduated three years ago and have stayed in touch with several faculty members since then, and it breaks my heart to see everything they have had to endure. Any one of them could easily be making more money at a larger, more prestigious institution, but they CHOSE to go to GCU because they believed in it. They were dedicated to providing students with a Christian education, all the while investing in our lives and encouraging us along the way. They have devoted their lives to the school for years, only to be made to feel as if they were worth nothing. I don’t blame a single fired faculty member for not accepting the school’s “offer” to come back as an adjunct professor…why on earth would someone voluntarily come back to the same institution which treated them so poorly for a part-time position with very little pay and a high probability that the same situation will happen again in the near future? I guarantee that these professors have the student’s best interests at heart, but they also have to make a living, and they need to do so at a place where they will be given the respect they so greatly deserve. The disrespectful manner in which the administration notified faculty members of their firing is incomprehensible and inexcusable. As for Mr. Richardson claiming to be committed to “Judeo-Christian faith-based education” and to the “well-being of the entire university community,” you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who agrees that the firing of every faculty member of the College of Christian Studies goes along with either of those supposed goals. Any student who has had the privilege of taking a Bible class from and getting to know Dr. Maxie Burch knows what an incredible loss he will be to the university. I would also strongly argue the idea that the elimination of the College of Science, whose professors were so incredibly instrumental in my education and career path, was done so for the well-being of the students.

I would agree with many of the other alumni who have said that we are now embarrassed by our alma mater and have no intentions of supporting the school in any way in the future. It has been suggested by some that because of this, we really must not love the university, and our loyalties to the school have been questioned. However the thing that made me so proud to have graduated from Canyon was the faculty. They are the ones who made GCU such a respected place to receive an education. They were the most important factor in making my education what it was, and they are the people who influenced and shaped my life and helped me to go as far as I have. Without them, there isn’t much left. The Canyon I graduated from is unrecognizable to me now, from the administration itself and its lack of respect for its faculty, to the now non-existent College of Science, right down to the awful and tasteless pink, purple and green buildings that now adorn the campus. That is why I can no longer be proud of and support the institution itself. My pride, loyalty, respect and love will always be for the professors. I hate the fact that I now have to make a separate distinction between the university and its faculty, but unfortunately that is what the situation has come to.

I think the alumni who have already written letters and posted comments would probably agree with me that our goal is not to stir up controversy, or hope that we can somehow change things…I don’t think any of us are that naïve. My intention is to make sure that the GCU administration knows that its alumni will not stand quietly in the background while actions and decisions like the ones that have taken place in recent months are made. I also hope to convey to the current and now former GCU professors that we as alumni support and stand by you, and that you are in our thoughts and prayers daily, as are the current and future students whose educations are on the line. I have no idea what the future holds for GCU…I highly doubt that it can return to the institution it once was. In fact I’m sure of it. But I will forever be grateful to the professors who shaped my life, and am just glad I graduated when I did.

Lisa Adams

Bachelor of Science, General BiologyMay 2002

Lisa Adams, at 11:45 am EDT on May 23, 2005

And The Walls Came Tumbling Down...

I graduated in 2002 with a B.S. degree in General Biology. My degree better prepared me for medical school than the majority of my current medical school class who went to larger, more prestigious universities. Because my professors at GCU were SO QUALIFIED, I have consistently been at the top of my class and have helped other med students learn basics that I took for granted because I learned them during undergrad. I am not bragging in any way, because it has absolutely nothing to do with me and everything to do with my professors at GCU. They cared enough to go that extra mile for their students and make sure we were overly prepared for life after undergrad.

My professors at GCU were not merely “teachers", they are also valued friends who have put so much of their lives into every one of their students, including me. It is completely ridiculous to think that getting rid of these faculty members will somehow improve GCU as an institution. What people need to know is that many graduate schools are now looking down at GCU with distain and no longer considering Canyon students as they once did. It won’t hurt my education because I am already in grad school, but I am sickened by what the current juniors and seniors have to look forward to when they apply for graduate school and are denied because their undergraduate education is seen as a second rate online college. Online classes do not look good on transcripts- I learned that the hard way by taking ONE online class during undergrad, and then having to prove to the med schools I applied to that the class was good enough to meet their standards.

Even if Mr. Richardson does have a great plan to “fix” the school, there is no excuse for treating the professors poorly. I don’t care how good of a corporate businessman you are, if you cannot be humane and give people who have worked hard and cared about people their dignity, your “success” means nothing. I do agree that the past administration led the school into financial ruin, but this in no way reflects the professors’ abilities, nor does it imply that they are somehow less valuable. The only thing this proves is that the people who controlled the money of the institution made very poor decisions. Instead of wiping the slate clean and starting over, Richardson should have looked more closely at the talented and dedicated faculty he so quickly removed from the school. He may never realize the extent of his loss, but as alumni who had the honor of being taught by these remarkable people, we now mourn for what the future students of GCU will never have.

I’m glad that Dr. Burch and all the other “non-renewed” professors will no longer have to be subject to the disrespect they have endured since the new “leadership” has taken over. It’s pathetic, though, that these amazing people will receive no recognition for all of their achievements and all of the students’ lives they have touched. My life was impacted in such an incredible way by the “old GCU", and I will fight for my professors’ reputations as long as I have to because I know they would do the same for me- how many other universities can you say that about?

Nicole Nedella (Stevenson), at 4:37 am EDT on May 24, 2005

When I entered Grand Canyon as a freshman, I had yet to declare a major. By my second semester, I had found my passion. Philosophy. Of all things, political philosophy(not practical politics). I clearly did not choose this major because it is marketable or has wonderful potential in the real world as a career. I felt called to seek out truth and to challenge others to think critically about their lives- not just in their political choices, but in their life choices. I believe that that was the purpose of my coming to Canyon. Grand Canyon’s principle that one’s faith could be integrated into their education and vocation demands an evaluation of one’s mind and heart. Part of Canyon’s heritage is the belief that truth can be integrated into our daily lives, passion and our vocation. I had a passion to figure out this truth, to search for consistancy in my integration of this truth and after three years I was burnt out from the endeavor. Upon entering my senior year I realized that I was disillusioned with the concept of philosophy in general. The abstract world of philosophy was alluring but never seemed to make sense in the “real world". It didn’t help that when planning my future, and my next step after graduation, the options seemed so limited. I questioned my decision to major in political science. Why didn’t I choose something more marketable as a career? Why did I want to be a philosopher?A week after really struggling with my future career decisions, I entered Dr. Burch’s class, the history of early modern Europe, and we discussed several of the enlightenment thinkers. This is what I wrote down from the lecture that day..."the tradition of a liberal arts university is not to make yourself marketable or to set yourself up for a job, it is to change who you are and the way that you think for the better...” I am a different person, and I hope a better person. Professors like Linda and Tom Rawles, Dr. Reiter, Judy Johnston, and Dr. Burch- and students and staff members challenged me to value truth and to value the search for truth. God used that day in Dr. Burch’s class to restore my passion for education, to remind me of my gratitude for the questions in life that sometimes leave me disillusioned with the world, and reaffirmed that the value of my education is intrinsic. The trend in education may be moving away from this notion that an education is not just a means to an end, and this comment may do nothing to change that- But truth does not bow to ever changing trends. My education from Grand Canyon University is priceless. With the new changes I can not confidently say that anyone else attending there will be able to say the same.

Amanda Rossiter, at 7:35 pm EDT on May 24, 2005