3/19/2026 10:00:00 AM | S-A Development, Paul Coro
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GCU Athletics devlopes life skills outside of competition
By: Paul Coro
When student-athletes choose to compete at Grand Canyon, they know they found a home to develop their athletic talents and experience team success.
For all of student-athletes' elite instincts and vision, the developmental facet they rarely see coming at GCU is how much they will grow outside of games, tournaments, meets and duals.
The GCU Office of Student-Athlete Development is dedicated mostly to fostering the academic achievement of Lopes who juggle unique schedules and demands. That mission has thrived, improving GCU's 2025 NCAA Graduation Success Rate to 94% to lead Arizona.
But those Lopes are leaving GCU with more than diplomas and victories. Student-Athlete Development pours into their holistic growth.
"From your first day here on campus through the rest of your life, we want to help you be the most successful," said 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 is going to help you be a great athlete; we're going to help you be successful in the classroom. Lopes for Life supports the holistic human being to prepare them for the next phase of life."
Lopes for Life programming targets academic achievement, career readiness, personal development, community engagement and spiritual growth for 20 GCU teams.
As vice president of the GCU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Lopes swimmer Krisalynn Henderson started her senior year speaking to a full contingent of fellow student-athlete
        Atu Ambala (left)
    Krisalynn Henderson (right)
s that outnumbered her 400-student, K-12 school 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 said. "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 tools and so much more than just walking away with athletic accolades. I'm so grateful to GCU for pushing me to be the best version 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 come in thinking, 'I'm going to swim and impact the school in athletics.' But something I've learned that's so much greater is that I impact people by learning who I am as a person and being able to give that to other people. GCU Athletics really pours into us to be able to reach out to the campus and the community around us. It's definitely so much more than being an athlete here. They really do teach us how to lead."
SAAC includes two student-athlete representatives per team for monthly meetings that make them conduits to GCU, conference or NCAA administrators. Their work focuses on fostering a positive image, developing personal skills and promoting opportunities.
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       Destinee Duran-Wise
"Being a student-athlete at GCU prepared me to handle the demands and fast pace of working in professional sports," said 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 recent years, a SAAC leadership role and a direct relationship with GCU Vice President of Athletics Jamie Boggs helped track and field athlete Mia Corners earn a yearlong postgraduate internship at NCAA headquarters and put Duran-Wise in a group sales operations position with the Cardinals.
"Jamie does such a great job of wanting SAAC's opinion and going with it," Keenan said. "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 want to step into those executive positions are so impressive. They have a pulse on their peers but are also high-achieving to excel academically and athletically and have a passion for bettering the experience 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 something, we don't have to use the manpower to create an event," Keenan said. "We're able to just promote campus opportunities. They execute at such a high level that it made my job so much easier compared to my peers at other schools."
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 a little better every year," Keenan said. "It's the culture of GCU and how we can be a part of it to contribute. If we utilize student-athletes to forward that mission, we know what student-athletes are capable of. We tap into their competitive side to challenge them to be better than they were."
Katy Keenan, the GCU assisant athletic director of Student-Athlete Development, can be hands-on with the outreach work that the Lopes do.
