By Aaron Rop | Cronkite News | East Valley Tribune
For Valley residents driving along the Santan Loop 202 freeway — specifically those heading eastbound toward Chandler and Gilbert — there’s a large billboard that comes into view approaching the Loop 101 interchange.
“Phoenix is now a DI College town,” it says, referencing Grand Canyon University’s rise to NCAA Division I status this upcoming school year.
But what some of those drivers — many of them presumably East Valley residents — may not know is that they could have an opportunity to join the team.
Phoenix-based GCU was hoping to start construction this summer on an East Valley satellite campus to open in the fall, but the university had to delay plans and is hoping to reach a decision in the next 30 to 60 days.
Right now the focus is on Mesa and Gilbert for a new location, and “there isn’t a need to rush” said William Jenkins, vice president for the Office of Communications and Public Affairs at GCU.