Gonzaga University
Gonzaga University is a private, co-educational university located in
Spokane, Washington. Founded in 1887 by the
Society of Jesus, it is one of 28 member institutions of the
Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities and was named after the patron saint of youth,
Aloysius Gonzaga. The campus has 88 buildings scattered across 108 acres (437,000 m²) of grassy land along the
Spokane River, in a residential setting half a mile (800 m) from downtown Spokane. The university was founded by Father Joseph Cataldo, an Italian born priest who wished to create a catholic school in the northwest.
Gonzaga's liberal arts tradition lies in its core curriculum, which integrates philosophy, theology, mathematics, literature, natural and social sciences, and extensive writing in students' major disciplines. In addition, Gonzaga offers programs in preparation to professional schools in education, dentistry, law, medicine, nursing and veterinary medicine. Gonzaga also sponsors an
Army ROTC program which has ranked best in the Western Region two consecutive years and is routinely ranked in the top 5 of the nation. Students may study abroad at Gonzaga's campus in
Florence, Italy, or at other programs in England, France, Spain, Japan, China and Mexico. Biology majors have options for field studies in Australia, Baja-Mexico, British West Indies, Costa Rica and Kenya.
The annual 2004-05 budget is listed on the university's website as being $100.43 million, with an annual payroll of $47.40 million. Average class size is 25, and there are 299 employed faculty. There are 44 Jesuits on campus, 24 employed by the University. There are 582 non-faculty employees. Enrollment in totality is estimated to be about 5,826 (about 3,945 undergraduate) students. Gonzaga's Law School is one of three law schools in Washington state. The other two are the University of Washington School of Law and Seattle University School of Law. According to U.S. News & World Report, Gonzaga's law school routinely ranks in either the third or fourth tiers.Gonzaga University has been ranked 4th in the U.S. News rankings for Universities-Master's in the West for small liberal arts schools [
1]
Singer
Bing Crosby, former
Speaker of the House Tom Foley, and writer
Sherman Alexie attended Gonzaga. Washington governor
Christine Gregoire, the state's first female state attorney general,
George Nethercutt, former Representative and 2004 Republican candidate for US Senate, and Mary Fairhurst of the Washington State Supreme Court are alumni of Gonzaga Law School. In a recent election cycle in Washington state there was at least one Gonzaga graduate in almost every race, highlighting the quality of the university's education and the graduates that it produces. Along with various other well known political figures (ranging from senators to representatives to mayors to governors) Gonzaga also has many graduates who serve as judges - including state supreme court judges - along with a long line of distinguished individuals within the legal profession.
The
Chad Mitchell Trio, a folk group famous in the 1960s, met at Gonzaga.
Among sports figures,
John Stockton of
NBA's
Utah Jazz fame; the
Boston Celtics'
Dan Dickau; the
Houston Rockets'
Richie Frahm;
Los Angeles Lakers'
Ronny Turiaf;
Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder and
2004 National League Rookie of the Year Jason Bay; and
MLS and
U.S. international soccer player
Brian Ching are all graduates.
Gonzaga University, whose players are officially nicknamed the
Bulldogs but often called the
Zags, is part of the
NCAA Division I
West Coast Conference. Its men's basketball team, which did not make its first appearance in the
NCAA tournament until 1995 (more than a decade after John Stockton graduated), has become nationally prominent since making the regional finals of the NCAA tournament ("Elite Eight") in 1999.
Gonzaga University
basketball games are now held in the newly constructed
McCarthey Athletic Center, in which the Gonzaga men's basketball team has never lost. Before the McCarthey Center was built, the Bulldogs played occasional high-profile nonconference games off campus at the larger
Spokane Arena; today, the only game regularly played there is the annual meeting with local rival
Eastern Washington. As of the end of the 2005/2006 NCAA Division I season, Gonzaga men's basketball team has won 40 consecutive home games, which holds up as the largest home winning streak in the nation. They have also won 25 consecutive games against other WCC teams.
Two of Gonzaga's most recent notable athletes are basketball players;
center J.P. Batista and Player of the year candidate and third
2006 NBA Draft pick
forward Adam Morrison (who was selected by the
Charlotte Bobcats), regarded for his likeness to Hall of Famer
Larry Bird and his infamous
moustache.
Head coach Mark Few has been the
West Coast Conference coach of the year every year since 2001.
Gonzaga University also has a dominant Army ROTC Ranger Challenge team who, until this year, hadn't lost in over 9 years and is a multiple Winner of the Douglas MacArthur Award going to the best ROTC program in the Western United States..
Like many smaller private universities, Gonzaga discontinued its
football program during
World War II, due to declining enrollment, but not before producing
Pro Football Hall of Famers
Tony Canadeo and
Ray Flaherty.
The university student newspaper, the
Gonzaga Bulletin, has been recognized for excellence by the Society of Professional Journalists. The University Choir has also been recognized for excellence with invitations to perform at national and regional competitions and in concert with many orchestras and conductors.
Gonzaga University students are politically divided, but tend to have a reputation for liberal values in social and political affairs. Although other universities may have a more pronounced liberal tilt, half of all students who voted cast their ballots for
John Kerry and the percentage of students self-identifying as liberals is slightly larger than self-described conservatives. {see below}.
In recent years, the school has been criticized by students and alumni as a relatively unwelcome place for gays and lesbians, with many gay students transferring from Gonzaga to other, more tolerant, universities. In the last few years, the campus has seen several protests each year in support of and in opposition to the administration's policies towards gay students, which attempt to walk the fine line between catholic dogma and modern society. Still, many gay alumni have become successful public figures, including congressional liaison to Sen.
Edward Kennedy,
Thomas Lopach and magazine publisher
Samuel K. Francis.
The students have a reputation for being fairly active in regard to politics (in comparison to other academic institutions). Boasting a nationally renowned faculty, along with various famous political figures, Gonzaga's political-science department is regarded as one of the better programs in the
United States.
Using
Facebook, on November 26th, 2005, the 2,360 students that list their political orientation and currently attend Gonzaga University described themselves as such:
*
Very Liberal (5.16%)
*
Liberal (27.75%)
*Moderate (27.88%)
*
Conservative (26.23%)
*
Very Conservative (2.11%)
*
Libertarian (1.82%)
*Other (6.31%)
*
Apathetic (2.71%)
Gonzaga is sometimes jokingly referred to by its attendees as "a
liberal oasis in a
conservative desert," a reference to its position in eastern
Washington, which is considered to be more culturally attuned to
Idaho and
Montana than with
Seattle.
*
Official school site*
Official athletics site*
US News Gonzaga Profile - Gonzaga at a glance
*
Gonzaga Profile - Selectivity, admissions deadlines, class profile, etc.
*
The Gonzaga Bulletin, official campus paper*
The Bishop White Seminary the Catholic Seminary associated with GU.
