Grand Canyon University Combines Science, Religion In New STEM Programs

Published: Friday, April 22, 2016 - 9:11am
Updated: Friday, April 22, 2016 - 9:37am
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(Photo by Matthew Casey - KJZZ)
GCU President and CEO Brian Mueller
(Photo by Matthew Casey - KJZZ)
Jason Hiles, dean of GCU's college of theology
(Photo by Matthew Casey - KJZZ)
GCU's Dr. Tim Chen explains the day's physics experiment to students.
(Photo by Matthew Casey - KJZZ)
GCU Freshman Owen Cameron is in the pre-physician's assistant program and likes how the university combines science and religion.
(Photo by Matthew Casey - KJZZ)
One of the many buildings under construction on the GCU campus.

Students flock to Monday morning chapel services at Grand Canyon University. Some bring their own Bibles. Others stand with eyes closed and arms locked, swaying back and forth to the music.

From being a publicly traded company to freezing tuition, GCU is helping rewrite the playbook for higher education.

As the private, for-profit university develops science, technology, engineering and math programs from scratch, it also integrates its Christian values into the curriculum.

“We believe that science and our theology are not just compatible, but it’s really difficult to understand the world of science without putting it in the Christian worldview context,” said Brian Mueller, GCU’s president and CEO.

But not all GCU students are Christian. School officials said about one-third are atheists or of a different faith.

Marina Esposito was one of them. She graduated in December, is interning on the East Coast, and plans to work as a teacher in Arizona. Raised a Christian, Esposito went to GCU with a secular mindset. 

“I think when a student enrolls in a college where the worldview is just a reaffirmation of thoughts and ideas that they have been hearing their whole life...can the student really be challenged in ways they didn’t expect?" she asks.

Jason Hiles, dean of the college of theology at GCU, thinks they can. He said combining faith with academics exposes students to a more holistic reality.

“We’re not trying to encompass less of the conversation, or limit the conversation,” Hiles said. “We are actually trying to expand it to include questions of ultimate concern. “

Physics and Faith

Physics is an example where science and religion line-up, according to President Mueller. Take the Big Bang Theory-- if there was an original cause, then there had to be an original creator, and they think the Bible proves the creator’s existence.

“We’re certainly, in terms of our Christian convictions, very conservative, very, very consistent with biblical understandings, very concerned to teach from scripture and to hold a high view of scripture,” theology dean Hiles said. “However, we tend to stay out of the fundamentalist weeds. “

But there are secular fundamentalists too, said University of Notre Dame theology professor, John C. Cavadini. He thinks the extreme sides of the science vs. religion debate have created a myth that they’re incompatible.

The church’s historical role as the biggest supporter of science gets lost in the bickering, Cavadini said. After all, Catholic priest Georges LeMaitre was the father of the Big Bang Theory. 

“People only remember the conflict between Galileo and the church and so think that somehow defines the relationship between science and religion or at least between science and the Catholic church,” Cavadini said.

One STEM Student's Perspective  

Less than 15 years after GCU almost closed, the clang and bang of construction escorts the growing number of students to class. Among the sprawl is a new STEM building set to open in the fall. It’s part of a goal to reach 70 percent enrollment in those programs.

Freshman Owen Cameron will probably study there. He’s in the pre-physician’s assistant program, and likes how GCU combines religion and science.

“Especially with the sciences, they definitely let you have an open mind,” Cameron said.

Cameron chose GCU for a chance to be on the swim team. He’s taken a handful of science courses this year, and said it varies how much divine influence is part of a class.

“It really depends on the teacher you get,” Cameron said.

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