Why is Gonzaga University special?

As I ponder this question, I keep circling back to one word, community. It’s funny, when I first started classes here, community was about the last thing I was looking for. All I wanted was to get a master’s my degree in the quickest and most painless way possible. I’m an alum of the University of Northern Iowa and have been employed by that institution for nearly 14 years...I’m a Panther, and I had no desire or need to belong to another university’s community.

Then came spring.

As cliché and corny as it sounds, it started with the incredible run that the Zags made in the NCAA tournament. My beloved Panthers (I’ve been a season-ticket holder for ten years) had a rough season on the court and didn’t make it to the madness, so I was looking for a dog in the fight (pun very much intended). It only seemed fitting that I choose the school that I was currently attending. Then they made the miraculous run to the championship game and the whole country fell in love with that little school up in Spokane….and I had a legitimate connection there.

Two days after that championship game, I spent four hours in the car, three hours on a plane and eight hours on a train, all without Steve Martin or John Candy for comedic relief, and arrived at that little school myself. From the moment I stepped on campus, I could tell this was a special place. I was dragging pretty badly that first morning from all of the travel and needed a cup of coffee to get me going. I asked a random student that was passing by for a point in the right direction, but that wasn’t enough for him. He literally walked me all the way across campus to the Hemmingson Center, just so I wouldn’t get lost. I felt completely at home and welcomed.

That sense of welcome and community continued for the next three days as I sat through lectures, participated in various workshops and while we were out in the community working on a small project for our class. Even at night, when a few of us would go out and decompress for the day over dinner and drinks, that feeling of community was there. Every time a server or bartender would ask why we were in town, they appeared genuinely happy that we chose to be a part of the Gonzaga/Spokane community.

The idea of a college community embracing the students that attend and visit isn’t something groundbreaking or even all that uncommon. What is uncommon, however, is the extension of community once you leave town. I obviously had to swing by the bookstore and buy a bunch of Zag swag on my way out of town so I could represent my school back home. After spending way too much time and money in there, I headed back to Seattle to enjoy the city.

I threw on my new t-shirt when I arrived in Seattle, headed out the door and started wandering aimlessly for the next two days to see all the sights and taste as much of the great food and drink as I could. Not an hour would go by without someone seeing my shirt and striking up a conversation about Gonzaga…surprisingly, most of them weren’t about basketball. It usually had to do with a friend, family member, or even themselves that went to school there and had an amazing time. So there I was, nearly 300 miles away and I still felt the connection.

Now it’s been a month since my trip out west and the luster of that basketball run has started to wear off, but I still feel that connection and community to Gonzaga University. When my kids play basketball on the mini hoop in my basement, they aren’t just the Panthers anymore. Sometimes they are the Panthers versus the Bulldogs. Even this morning, when my youngest son was picking out clothes to wear to preschool, all he wanted to wear was his Gonzaga t-shirt and hat (I couldn’t just buy Zag swag for myself at the bookstore).

It’s funny how when you aren’t looking for something, sometimes it just shows up. Like I said before, I had no desire in really being a part of Gonzaga and honestly didn’t want to be a part of any other community. All I wanted was to get through these two years of school. Now I sit here, not even a year in, and after three days (yes, only three days) in Spokane, I really feel like I belong. In that short time, I established friendships that will endure a lifetime, learned from professors that truly want to engage and somehow became a proud part of the Gonzaga community.

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