Gonzaga University

Campus

Gonzaga campus has 105 buildings on 152 acres. The university is home to two large libraries. Foley Center Library is Gonzaga's main graduate and undergraduate library, opened in 1992. Chastek Law Library primarily serves the Gonzaga University School of Law, erected in 2000. The Rosauer School of Education building was completed in 1994.

Gonzaga hosts many unique pieces of artwork, many devoted to historical religious figures and prominent Catholics. Among the most notable are statues of St. Ignatius, St. Joseph, St. Aloysius, and alumnus Bing Crosby. The Jundt Art Center and Museum established in 1995 also features a variety of artwork from differing periods. The spires of St. Aloysius Church are a landmark of the Spokane area.

Due to an expanding student body, Gonzaga completed construction of a projected $60 million building that serves as the new center of campus. The John J. Hemmingson Center, the new Circulus Omnium Gonzagaorum (COG), replaced the former COG that students used for over 60 years. The three-story, 167,000-square-foot (15,500 m²) building features modern architecture and an all-glass exterior. The building was completed for the Fall 2015 semester.

The university is also building the Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center, including a 750-seat theater.

In addition to the main campus in Spokane, Washington, Gonzaga's virtual campus offers a wide range of higher education degree programs.

Organization and administration

The 2014–15 operating budget is $246.7 million, with an annual payroll of $75 million.

The university is divided into seven colleges or schools:

Academics

Gonzaga's liberal arts tradition lies in its core curriculum, which integrates philosophy, religious studies, mathematics, literature, natural and social sciences, and extensive writing in each major discipline. Gonzaga offers studies in 92 fields and 26 graduate programs. In addition, Gonzaga offers programs in preparation for professional schools in business, education, engineering, dentistry, divinity/theology, law, medicine, nursing and veterinary medicine. Gonzaga also sponsors an Army ROTC program which prepares students to become commissioned officers upon graduation. Additionally, Gonzaga partners with Bishop White Seminary, located next to the campus, to prepare Catholic seminarians for the priesthood. Students may study abroad at Gonzaga's campus in Florence, Italy, or at other programs in Australia, Benin, British West Indies, China, Costa Rica, England, France, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Spain and Zambia.

The average class size is 23 students, and there are 427 employed faculty; the student/faculty ratio is 11.5:1.

Admissions

Gonzaga's admission standards are considered "more selective" by U.S. News & World Report.

For the Class of 2018 (enrolling fall 2014), Gonzaga received 7,162 applications, accepted 4,835 (67.5%), and enrolled 1,048. For the freshmen who enrolled, the middle 50% range of SAT scores was 540-640 for critical reading and 560-650 for math, while the ACT Composite range was 25-29. The average high school GPA was 3.70.

Rankings

Gonzaga is ranked 4th in the U.S. News & World Report 2016 rankings of Regional Universities in the West. The School of Engineering and Applied Science is the No. 22 (tied with seven other schools) best undergraduate engineering program nationwide (among engineering schools whose highest degree is a bachelor’s or master’s). Other U.S. News rankings include the 4th-Best Value school in the west, and national rankings for the part-time Master of Business Administration program as tied for 81st-best, the nursing school tied for 102nd (with the nursing-anesthesia program ranked 32nd), and the law school tied for 110th. Forbes ranks Gonzaga as the 181st-best school in the country and 33rd in the West. Additionally, Gonzaga is listed among The Princeton Review's rankings of the best 378 colleges and in the Fiske Guide to Colleges, which ranks 336 colleges in the United States, Canada and England.

Athletics

Gonzaga University, whose official mascot is the Bulldog and whose players are nicknamed the Zags, is part of the NCAA Division I West Coast Conference. Gonzaga University offers 16 men and women varsity sports, including hockey, baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, rowing(‡), soccer, tennis, volleyball and track & field (indoor & outdoor).

Gonzaga became a household name with their "Cinderella" run in the NCAA tournament in 1999, which saw Gonzaga make it to the "Elite Eight." Gonzaga built on that success, and now has one of the country's best regarded basketball programs. Since that historic run, Gonzaga has experienced notable success in the West Coast Conference as well as in the NCAA tournament, in which they have played in 16 consecutive years.

Gonzaga's basketball feats include 15 WCC regular titles, 6 "Sweet 16's," produced 15 All Americans, a national CBS-Chevrolet Player of the Year and USBWA Oscar Robertson Trophy in Adam Morrison, and 4 NBA first round picks as of 2012. Additionally, in 2013, Canadian center Kelly Olynyk, a national Player of the Year finalist, was selected as a first team All American. In the 2012-13 season, Gonzaga was ranked No. 1 by the AP for the first time in school history. Its highest ranking before reaching the pinnacle of college hoops came in 2004, when the Bulldogs were ranked No. 2. Additionally, Gonzaga, with arguably their most balanced roster in team history, advanced to the Elite 8 of the 2015 NCAA tournament, eventually losing to #1 ranked Duke.

Basketball games are held in the McCarthey Athletic Center. The university's men's basketball team, which did not make its first appearance in the NCAA tournament until 1995 (more than a decade after NBA Hall of Fame player and Gonzaga alum John Stockton graduated), has made the regional finals of the NCAA tournament (the "Elite Eight") in 1999, re-appearing in the tournament every year since (As of 2016). The Zags also advanced to the Elite 8 of the NCAA tournament in 2015. The Ladies basketball team made it to the "Sweet Sixteen" in 2010.

Three of Gonzaga's most recent notable athletes are basketball players—former center Ronny Turiaf; Robert Sacre 2012 NBA Draft (selected by the Los Angeles Lakers third overall 2006 NBA Draft pick, and Red Star Belgrade Adam Morrison (who was selected by the Charlotte Bobcats); and Courtney Vandersloot, 2011 winner of the Nancy Lieberman Award as the leading Division I women's point guard and women's Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award as the top Division I player no taller than 5'8" (1.73 m), selected third overall by the Chicago Sky in the 2011 WNBA Draft. Men's head coach Mark Few was the West Coast Conference coach of the year from 2001 to 2006, and again in 2008. Former women's head coach Kelly Graves, a six-time WCC coach of the year, led the Zags to seven consecutive WCC regular-season titles and four WCC tournament titles. The 2010–11 women's team, a No. 11 seed in that year's NCAA Tournament, became the lowest seed ever to advance to a regional final in the history of the women's tournament.

Like some other smaller colleges, Gonzaga ended its football program in the Fall of 1941, just before the U.S. entry into World War II. It produced two Pro Football Hall of Famers: Tony Canadeo (1941) of the Green Bay Packers, and Ray Flaherty (1926), head coach of the Washington Redskins. In addition, Flaherty recruited former Bulldog football stars, Ed Justice, George "Automatic" Karamatic and Max Krause to play in the Redskin backfield.

Intramurals and extracurricular

Gonzaga University offers a multitude of intramural and club sports for each season, open to all students, and over 72% of the student population participates. Through intramural sports, students compete against fellow students. Gonzaga offers various levels ranging from Competitive to Recreational. In the fall Gonzaga offers soccer, flag football, volleyball, dodgeball, 3-on-3 basketball, badminton and various tournaments. In the winter soccer, frisbee, volleyball, pickleball, bench press competition, and handball tournaments are offered. During the spring softball, spring triathlon, and home run derbies are offered.

Gonzaga also has an Army ROTC Ranger Challenge team, which has won 15 championships in the last 16 years. It has more than once won the Douglas MacArthur Award, given annually to the best Army ROTC program in the Western United States.

Student life

Gonzaga Student Body Association ("GSBA") is in charge of the clubs and activities on campus. Elections for its offices (e.g. President, Vice President, Senator) take place annually during the spring.

The university requires all freshman and sophomore year students to reside on campus.

More than 20 faiths are represented on campus.

Student publications

The Gonzaga Bulletin is the official, weekly student newspaper of Gonzaga University. The newspaper is staffed largely by students of the journalism and broadcasting department of the university's communication arts department; it is managed by a faculty adviser and an advisory board, which reports to the university president. During the 1990s, the paper was recognized for its independence and excellence by the Society of Professional Journalists, winning Best Paper in the Inland Northwest Awards twice. The Gonzaga Bulletin is designed on the 4th floor of Gonzaga's College Hall. It is printed off-site in Spokane and transported to campus for distribution.

Spires is Gonzaga's official yearbook. It details the academic year through pictures and articles. The yearbook is distributed at the beginning of each year and is free to all students. To ensure being included in the yearbook, students have their pictures taken during opening weekend or Fall Family weekend.

Notable alumni

The alumni of Gonzaga University include former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Tom Foley, former Governor of the State of Washington Christine Gregoire, Academy Award-winning singer and actor Bing Crosby, NBA Hall of Fame basketball player John Stockton, and world-class mountain climber Jim Wickwire as well as scholars, athletes, businesspeople, and prominent members of the legal community.

Entertainers

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