Gonzaga College started in 1881 with $936 in hard silver dollars. It bought Gonzaga’s founder, Father Joseph Cataldo, S.J., 320 acres of land and water, what people then referred to as “the old piece of gravel near the falls.” Six years later, the College officially opened the doors of its only building for “young Scholastics, whose ambition it is to become priests.” Exclusively for boys, the College was under the charge of the Jesuit priests. Enrollment for the 1887-88 academic year was 18 boys and young men.
Today, it is known as Gonzaga University, a private, four-year institution of higher education. More than 105 buildings dot the 131-acre campus overlooking the Spokane River. Students include both women and men, who can enroll in a multitude of undergraduate or graduate programs. Enrollment for the 2007-08 academic year was 6,923 students.
A constant throughout the years is Gonzaga’s educational philosophy, based on the centuries-old Ignatian model of educating the whole person – mind, body and spirit. At Gonzaga, students discover how to integrate science and art, faith and reason, action and contemplation. “Cura personalis,” or care for the individual, is our guiding theme.
Mission Statement
Gonzaga University belongs to a long and distinguished tradition of humanistic, Catholic, and Jesuit education. We, the trustees and regents, faculty, administration and staff of Gonzaga, are committed to preserving and developing that tradition and communicating it to our students and alumni.
As humanistic, we recognize the essential role of human creativity, intelligence, and initiative in the construction of society and culture.
As Catholic, we affirm the heritage which has developed through two thousand years of Christian living, theological reflection, and authentic interpretation.
As Jesuit, we are inspired by the vision of Christ at work in the world, transforming it by His love, and calling men and women to work with Him in loving service of the human community.
All these elements of our tradition come together within the sphere of free intellectual inquiry characteristic of a university. At Gonzaga, this inquiry is primarily focused on Western culture, within which our tradition has developed.
We also believe that a knowledge of traditions and cultures different from our own draws us closer to the human family of which we are a part and makes us more aware of both the possibilities and limitations of our own heritage. Therefore, in addition to our primary emphasis on Western culture, we seek to provide for our students some opportunity to become familiar with a variety of human cultures.
In the light of our own tradition and the variety of human societies, we seek to understand the world we live in. It is a world of great technological progress, scientific complexity and competing ideologies. It offers great possibilities for cooperation and interdependence, but at the same time presents us with the fact of widespread poverty, hunger, injustice, and the prospect of degeneration and destruction.We seek to provide for our students some understanding of contemporary civilization; and we invite them to reflect with us on the problems and possibilities of a scientific age, the ideological differences that separate the peoples of the world, and the rights and responsibilities that come from commitment to a free society. In this way we hope to prepare our students for an enlightened dedication to the Christian ideals of justice and peace.
Our students cannot assimilate the tradition of which Gonzaga is a part nor the variety of human culture, nor can they understand the problems of the world, without the development and discipline of their imagination, intelligence, and moral judgment. Consequently, we are committed at Gonzaga to developing these faculties. And since what is assimilated needs to be communicated if it is to make a difference, we also seek to develop in our students the skills of effective writing and speaking.
We believe that our students, while they are developing general knowledge and skills during their years at Gonzaga, should also attain more specialized competence in at least one discipline or profession.
We hope that the integration of liberal humanistic learning and skills with a specialized competence will enable our graduates to enter creatively, intelligently, and with deep moral conviction into a variety of endeavors, and provide leadership in the arts, the professions, business, and public service.
Through its academic and student life programs, the Gonzaga community encourages its students to develop certain personal qualities: self-knowledge, self-acceptance, a restless curiosity, a desire for truth, a mature concern for others, and a thirst for justice.
Many of our students will find the basis for these qualities in a dynamic Christian faith. Gonzaga tries to provide opportunities for these students to express their faith in a deepening life of prayer, participation in liturgical worship and fidelity to the teachings of the Gospel. Other students will proceed from a non-Christian religious background or from secular philosophic and moral principles.
We hope that all our graduates will live creative, productive, and moral lives, seeking to fulfill their own aspirations and at the same time, actively supporting the aspirations of others by a generous sharing of their gifts.
History of Gonzaga University
Gonzaga University owes its founding and early formation to Sicilian-born Fr. Joseph Cataldo, S..J. (1837-1928). Chronically frail in health and seemingly unfit for the rigors of missionary life, Cataldo is a figure that continues to amaze and inspire researchers. He first joined his Italian Jesuit confreres in the Turin Province’s “Montium Saxorum” Mission in 1865, established himself at St. Michael’s Mission among the Upper Spokanes, and quickly became a dominant force in the area. Cataldo was appointed General Superior of the Rocky Mountain Mission in 1877, then comprising eight Residences and thirty-eight active members scattered throughout Washington, Idaho, Montana and Oregon.
The impetus to build a college was born of competition with Protestants for access to various tribes through Congressionally allocated and subsidized mission schools. Cataldo recognized the need for local formation of Jesuits to staff those schools and the central location of Spokane Falls for that purpose. A half-section of railroad land was purchased for a campus in 1881, and by 1886 the venture had both a building and a capable first superior, Fr. James Rebmann. Gonzaga College began its first academic year September 17, 1887 with a Mass of the Holy Spirit, a tradition that continues today. Its Jesuit community totaled seventeen members, nearly a 1:1 ratio with its first student body. For admission, applicants “must know how to read and write, and not be under ten years of age;” in addition to preparatory subjects, an upper level course of studies was also offered. An early decision to enroll only white students indicated that though rooted in the missionary cause, Gonzaga’s role was to be at least one step removed from it.
Enrollment rose quickly, helped by the Jesuits’ sponsorship of a surrounding Catholic lay community through their legal arm, the Pioneer Educational Society. Day students were first allowed in 1889, and a new frame church and boarding facilities, complete with electricity, were constructed three years later. After weathering the Depression of 1893, Gonzaga’s cautious, steady leaders, Frs. Leopold Van Gorp and Paul Arthuis, turned to the task of building a more permanent residence and school. First, Gonzaga was incorporated and legally empowered to grant degrees. Next, requiring two years to complete, a four-story brick structure was ready for use in 1899. Meanwhile they had relocated the church to centralize the new campus; the old school was also moved closer, and the Northwest Jesuit Scholasticate was transferred there from St. Ignatius Mission, Montana.
In their new building at the century-turn, Gonzaga’s faculty and staff of 24 stood ready to greet 244 registered students. Both a Classical and a Commercial Course of Studies were offered. The former was subdivided into a Collegiate Department, with Classes in Philosophy, Rhetoric, Poetry and Humanities, and an Academic Department, with First, Second and Third Academic Classes. The Commercial Course, divided into three levels, stressed essential business management skills; it also included a Preparatory Department, with two levels, whose purpose was the instruction of grammar to younger pupils. Extracurricular time could be devoted to a variety of sodalities, a military cadet corps, the band, choir or symphony, debate or dramatic societies, baseball, and though unsanctioned, football. By its fourteenth commencement in 1901, Gonzaga had conferred a total of two Masters and thirty-one Baccalaureate degrees.
The next two decades witnessed steady growth and development. In 1903-4 the main building was doubled in size, adding a swimming pool and gymnasium to students’ extracurricular repertoire; in response to a fatal typhoid outbreak, two years later Goller Hall was built, a combined infirmary and Jesuit residence. The original frame church was converted to a theater and relocated again to make clear space for a towering twin-spired St. Aloysius Church, dedicated in 1911. Fr. Arthuis’ next great building project was a new Jesuit Scholasticate, Mt. St. Michael’s, completed in 1916 and located atop a prominence twelve miles northeast of the campus. New construction ceased during the WWI years, though modest improvements were made to the physics, chemistry and biology facilities. Less visible changes had been happening too, which indicate an increasingly serious academic climate and consolidated student body. In 1910 the quarterly Gonzaga Magazine first appeared, offering students a new outlet for creative expression. The state legislature awarded Gonzaga legal status as University in 1912, the same year its School of Law opened under the capable direction of Dean Ed Cannon. And not only were the scholastics removed to Mt. St. Michael’s, but two nearby parochial elementary schools were now absorbing the younger grades.
In retrospect the 1920s seem a boisterous decade at Gonzaga. Football, reinstated in 1907, was now a community passion, and though neither dominant nor ever fully integrated into regional collegiate conference participation, its teams at least became legendary. The spectacles required a stadium, capable of seating twelve thousand boosters; the much loved and abused DeSmet Hall men’s residence was also added in 1925. Reflecting the spirit of the times, a School of Economics and Business Education was opened in 1921. A campus weekly, The Bulletin was added two years later, temporarily displacing the more reflective Magazine, which when revived in 1926 was renamed Gonzaga Quarterly. Also reflecting a national trend toward more standardized educational criteria, education classes appeared in the curriculum as early as 1920. Summer intensive courses for teachers began in 1924, and the Board of Trustees established a School of Education in 1928, the special care of Dean Maurice Flaherty, S.J., for its first twenty-five years.
Like the rest of the country, the 1930s and early 1940s were lean years for Gonzaga, and but for the determined leadership of President Leo Robinson, S.J., and a key contribution in 1939, the University might not have survived. Virtually no new buildings were added, though a Graduate School was organized in 1931, the Library modernized in 1933, and a School of Engineering established in 1934, in response to demand created by New Deal-sponsored projects. In 1940 the student body numbered 1200, of whom 500 were either scholastics, nursing or law students. But campus life changed dramatically during the WWII years. A disastrous fire swept through the Law Library and science labs three days after Pearl Harbor. Many Jesuit faculty members departed to become chaplains, and women assumed a more prominent presence. From 1941 to 1945, Dean James McGivern saw his Engineering enrollment drop from 175 to 31 students. The ever popular but expensive football program was finally dropped in 1942. Meanwhile during the same years, nearly 3250 men passed through Gonzaga as part of the U.S. Navy’s V5 and V12 training programs.
Due to the G.I. Bill, Gonzaga rebounded during the postwar years, especially the School of Engineering, which was presented with a handsome new building in 1949. Other developments included adding Journalism to the School of Business, a ROTC program, and a radio station. For the first time in its history, Gonzaga’s 1948 freshman class included coeds, who would read and soon revise the school’s “Credo of the Gonzaga Man.” In five years their numbers required the construction of a women’s dormitory, soon followed by the “COG,” a new Student Union Building. Gonzaga Prep High School was also completed in 1954, which meant that these students were no longer a part of campus life. An Accelerated Teacher Training program was added to the School of Education in 1956, and the following year, a new men’s dormitory. The Crosby Library was also dedicated in 1957, an effort initiated nine years earlier by Gonzaga’s most famous alumnus, Bing Crosby, then at the height of his career. Finally, another more subtle change was happening throughout the 1950s. At the opening of the decade, Jesuits comprised 45% of the 110 faculty members, excluding the Schools of Law and Nursing; fifteen years later that total had nearly doubled while the relative presence of Jesuits had dropped to 31%.
The energy animating the Second Vatican Council seems to have touched Gonzaga too, for the 1960s opened with a burst of activity. The spirit of the old Gonzaga Quarterly, discontinued since 1937, found new expression in Reflection, which has continued to the present. Two new programs were added, a Masters in Business in 1962 and the Florence (Italy) Study Abroad the next year, and the first issue of the Gonzaga Law Review appeared in 1966, all of which have remained as prominent, popular features of the University. By 1966 there had been a spree of new construction too, no less than seven dormitories, a building for Chemistry and Biology, and the Kennedy Athletic Center, as well as the acquisition of a nearby structure for the Law School. Gonzaga’s Jesuit Residence also was replaced in 1964. The following year marked the beginning of a fifteen-year odyssey for historian Fr. Wilfred Schoenberg, S.J., as director of the Museum of Native American Culture (MONAC). Eventually located on the campus periphery, the original museum building now serves as a multi-purpose Conference Center.
In 1974 the Trustees inaugurated Gonzaga’s twenty-third president, Fr. Bernard Coughlin, S.J., thus ushering in a critical era of steady growth matched with fiscal stability. He began with an endowment of $6 million and an annual budget of $9.6 million; at his retirement twenty one years later in 1995, the former stood at $50 million and the latter at $71 million, balanced for all but the first two years of his tenure. Meanwhile the student body had increased from about 3000 to 5000 enrollees. Two new programs were formed in 1975, a School of Professional Studies and CREDO, a popular sabbatical curriculum in Religious Studies. In 1978 a baccalaureate in Nursing was added, and a doctorate in Educational Leadership the following year. Existing programs acquired professional accreditation: the Law School in 1977, Nursing in 1983, Engineering in 1985, and Business in 1990. In the process a new School of Business was constructed, and Engineering, as well as the Athletic Center, were expanded. More recently Gonzaga has added a $20 million state-of-the-art library, a building for the School of Education, and a Fine Art Center and Museum. Currently new Chemistry and Law School facilities are being planned. A final event of note, nearly hidden in the heart of the Coughlin era, was the centennial-year formation of the Council for Partnership in Mission. Charged with creating a new statement of institutional mission, the Council is now actively encouraging its integration into all aspects of university life, thus crafting a vision for Gonzaga’s second century, in which cooperation between its Jesuit and lay members will need to be redefined anew.
Academics
The academic heart of Gonzaga’s liberal arts tradition lies in its core curriculum,
which integrates philosophy, theology, history, mathematics, literature and the natural and social sciences. A common thread throughout all of these disciplines is the value of the written word; students at Gonzaga carry out extensive writing projects throughout all of their courses of study.
Gonzaga offers seven undergraduate degrees in 43 majors, 26 master’s degrees, one Ph.D. and one Juris Doctor through the School of Law. The average undergraduate class size is 23 and the student-to-faculty ratio is 12:1. Gonzaga also offers study abroad programs in 15 countries, including our longest-running and most popular program,Gonzaga-in-Florence.
Admissions
Thank you for your interest in becoming part of the Gonzaga University experience. Our students are a diverse group of individuals representing every U.S. state and dozens of countries worldwide. We offer competitive financial aid packages with more than 90 percent of the student body receiving some form of financial aid. We encourage you to contact us to learn how we can help you.
Whether you’re interested in attending Gonzaga as a full-time student who’s just graduated from high school, a working professional looking for evening classes or would like to attend Gonzaga virtually, we can help you. Contact our Admissions office to learn more or to answer any questions you may have about the application process.
From art to zoology, undergraduate to graduate, Spokane to Florence, Gonzaga offers rigorous, accredited academic programs to help you achieve your professional aspirations. Apply today and start living your own Gonzaga experience.
Athletics
It all started on Thanksgiving Day, 1892.
A new sport – then often referred to as American rugby – was played for the first time on the Gonzaga campus in front of 500 fans. The sport soon became known as football and Gonzaga was able to compete until 1942, when there were not enough male students to field a team due to their service in World War II.
Today, Gonzaga offers athletic opportunities on many levels: intramural, club and NCAA Division I. More than 60 percent of the GU student body participates in some form of intramural activity, while our student-athletes compete as part of the West Coast Conference in volleyball, soccer, cross-country, basketball, baseball, rowing, tennis, golf and track.
The prevalent Gonzaga spirit, blended with hard work and dedication in athletic endeavors, yields success both on the field of play and in the classroom.
GONZAGA Athletic Facilities
McCarthey Athletic Center (Basketball)
After 35 years competing in the powerful atmosphere of the Kennel in the Charlotte Y. Martin Centre, Gonzaga Basketball shot over to the newly built, $25 million McCarthey Athletic Center. Completed in November 2004, the McCarthey Athletic Center houses the men’s and women’s basketball games, locker rooms, practice facility, and coaching offices. This new arena includes six concessions, 12 large bathrooms, 2 family restrooms, 6 luxury suites, a Club Room, 4 visiting team locker rooms, additional athletic administration offices, and practice facilities for the Gonzaga men’s and women’s crew teams. In addition to hosting basketball events, the McCarthey Athletic Center has the ability to host non-athletic events such as concerts, tournaments, banquets, meetings, and receptions.
Charlotte Y. Martin Centre (Volleyball)
The Martin Centre provides the Gonzaga community with more than 121,000 square feet of indoor recreational space. The complex includes a fieldhouse with eight racquetball/handball courts, indoor jogging track (1/11th of a mile), and three basketball/volleyball courts. The Pavilion also includes the Rudolf Fitness Center, a 25yd pool, an athlete weight room, training room, two basketball courts, a dance studio, locker rooms, and the Offices for the Athletic Department. This building is home for the Varsity volleyball team and hosts many outside events
Gonzaga Soccer Field
Men’s and Women’s soccer practices and plays all their home matches on this field. Set next to Lake Arthur and the popular Centennial Trail, this field has great scenery and lots of room to play. Gonzaga’s new home beginning in 2008, the Gonzaga Soccer Field in now one of the best on the West Coast. Construction on the multi-million dollar soccer stadium started in early February of 2008, and anyone who has visited the Rudolf Fitness Center knows and has seen firsthand as the project has gone from muddy mess to a pile of dirt to a green field of dreams. The first phase of the stadium was completed in late Aug. of 2009. Phase I included both the main playing and practice fields, the plaza, press box, main ticket booth, berms and site landscaping. Phases II, III and IV will round out work on the soccer stadium in¬cluding the completion of the main grandstands, locker rooms, concessions, restrooms and lastly the installa¬tion of the stadium lights.
Patterson Baseball Complex
and Washington Trust Field
Gonzaga’s new home beginning in 2007, Patterson Baseball Complex and Washington Trust Field returned baseball to the Bulldog campus for the first time since 2003. The first game in the new, state-of-the-art lighted facility, was March 15, 2007, the first night game was played April 17, 2007, and the dedication game was played April 20, 2007. The complex is named after the family of Michael Patterson, current chairman of the Board of Trustees, while Pete Stanton and Washington Trust Bank in Spokane was also a major contributor to the project.
A.M. Corner Practice Facility
Mark Albin and Ty McGee of A.M. Landshaper saw a need at Gonzaga and met it. Shortly after finishing the field construction of the Gonzaga Soccer Field in the summer of 2008, Albin and McGee decided to turn their time and talent toward creating a golf practice facility for the men’s and women’s golf teams complete with a target green, putting green and sand bunker. The new facility, which is adjacent to the Gonzaga soccer practice field, is an enormous help to the golf programs as they did not have their own on-campus facility in the past and normally travel to various local course for practice.
Gonzaga Boathouse
The Gonzaga University boathouse is located on the Spokane River nearly 4 miles from the Gonzaga campus. The boathouse serves as the primary home for Gonzaga rowing and stores all rowing shells. Gonzaga practices and races during the fall season at the boathouse which sits near the Upriver Dam and provides a scenic end to the 5,000 meter river course. The boathouse also provides three docks for crews to enter the water and an extensive outdoor stretching area. During the spring race season Gonzaga competes at the 2,000 meter Silver Lake course. Gonzaga also has an indoor rowing facility located on the lower level of the McCarthey Athletic Center.
Kermit R. Rudolf Fitness Center
In addition to athletic life, the Martin Centre complex also includes the newly finished Kermit R. Rudolf Fitness Center, which opened in the Spring of 2003. The fitness center includes two levels, housing fitness and strength training zones. The area is also equipped with 14 televisions on separate broadcasting channels so patrons can select which channel to watch. The new area also contains a 25-yard indoor pool with six lanes for lap swimming. The former fieldhouse has been incorporated into the fitness center providing an indoor running track, three basketball/volleyball courts, four racquetball courts, and two aerobic rooms. Ample locker room space has also been built into the center for patrons to use.
Josh Burrows Athletic Training Center
In Josh Burrows had a vision and Gonzaga University had a need. The two culminated into what you see before you today, the Josh Burrows Performance Athletic Center. His vision was to provide Gonzaga University and its student-athletes the winning edge in sports science, emphasizing state-of-the-art sports training methods. That vision has now become a reality. A 1979 graduate of Gonzaga University and longtime Spokane resident, Josh has always been interested in dynamic sports training. He has spent countless hours researching and identifying improved means of increasing athletic performance, some of it through his own athletic training. With the dedication of the Josh Burrows Performance Center, “JB”, as he is affectionately known by the student-athletes, will be remembered as the “father of fitness” within the Bulldogs Athletics Family, as student-athletes for years to come will reap the rewards of his vision.
Source: Gonzaga University