Gonzaga University is a private Catholic university located in Spokane, Washington, United States. Founded in 1887 by the Society of Jesus, it is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities and is named after the young Jesuit saint, Aloysius Gonzaga. The campus houses 105 buildings across 131 acres (437,000 m²) of grassland along the Spokane River, in a residential setting half a mile (800 m) from downtown Spokane. The university was founded by Father Joseph Cataldo, SJ, an Italian-born priest and missionary who wished to create a Catholic school in the Pacific Northwest for local Native Americans.

Curriculum

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, 360law, medicine, nursing and veterinary medicine. Gonzaga also sponsors an Army ROTC program which prepares students to become commissioned officers upon graduation. Additionally, Gonzaga University 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,6736 Mexico, Spain and Zambia.

Law school

Gonzaga University School of Law, established in 1912, is one of three law schools in Washington. According to U.S. News & World Report, GU Law currently ranks in the top 100 law schools in the U.S.[27932] The law school has produced prominent alumni, including three of the nine current Washington Supreme Court justices, both U.S. Attorneys for Washington's two federal district courts, and the Governor of Washington Christine Gregoire (all as of 2009). HIIII DEANDRA

Statistics

The 2008-09 operating budget is $193.7 million, with an annual payroll of $67.86 million. Average class size is 22, and there are 364 employed faculty, and 11.1 Student/Faculty ratio. There are 42 Jesuits on campus, 24 employed by the University. There are 648 non-faculty employees. Overall, enrollment in 2008-09 was 7,319 (4,515 undergraduate) students. The university ranks third in the U.S. News & World Report rankings for Universities-Master's in the West.

Presidency

Gonzaga President Father Robert J. Spitzer, S.J., announced in April that he will be moving to Irvine, Calif., in August to more vigorously run his Magis Institute and the Spitzer Center for Ethical Leadership. Fr. Spitzer founded both institutes about five years ago. He announced his plans to step down in March 2008. His last day will be July 15. Thayne McCulloh, Gonzaga’s interim academic vice president for the past two years and Fr. Spitzer’s close adviser over the past seven years, has been elected by the University’s Board of Trustees to serve as interim president while Gonzaga continues its search for the next Jesuit president. McCulloh has served the University in various leadership capacities for the past 19 years. McCulloh, like Fr. Spitzer, is a Gonzaga University alumnus. He received his doctorate from Oxford University in England.

Athletics

Gonzaga University, whose official mascot is the Bulldog but whose players are affectionately nicknamed 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 NBA Hall of Fame player and Gonzaga alum John Stockton graduated), has become nationally prominent since making the regional finals of the NCAA tournament ("Elite Eight") in 1999, re-appearing in the tournament every year since.

Gonzaga University basketball games are held in the McCarthey Athletic Center, in which the men's basketball team has won over 90 percent of its games. The men's team often plays high-profile non-conference games at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena near downtown Spokane, in addition to the annual Comcast Battle in Seattle game held at KeyArena in Seattle.

Two of Gonzaga's most recent notable athletes are basketball players; former center Ronny Turiaf (now playing captain for the Golden State Warriors and third overall 2006 NBA Draft pick and Los Angeles Laker Adam Morrison (who was selected by the Charlotte Bobcats), regarded for his likeness to Hall of Famer Larry Bird. Head coach Mark Few was the West Coast Conference coach of the year from 2001 to 2006, and again in 2008]. Few became the head coach in the summer of 1999, following the departure of Dan Monson to Minnesota.

Like some other smaller colleges, Gonzaga's football program ended in the Fall of 1941, just before the U.S. entry into World War II, but not before producing two Pro Football Hall of Famers: Tony Canadeo '41 of the Green Bay Packers, and Ray Flaherty '26, 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. Gonzaga football ended due to declining enrollment of young male athletes . Efforts to restart the program in 1946 were unsuccessful, and the football stadium was razed in 1949.

Gonzaga University also has an Army ROTC Ranger Challenge team which has won 15 championships in the last 16 years, and is a multiple winner of the Douglas MacArthur Award, given annually to the best Army ROTC program in the Western United States.

Student newspaper: Gonzaga Bulletin

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 and 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 Bulletin is laid out electronically in the 4th floor newsroom of Gonzaga's College Hall. It is printed off-site in Spokane and transported to campus for distribution.


Image:Gonzaga University Library.jpg|Foley Center Library at GUImage:St Aloysius at GU.jpg|St. Aloysius ChurchImage:Gonzaga Fine Art Center and Museum.JPG|Fine Art Center & Museum

Notable alumni

Singer Bing Crosby, former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Tom Foley, and noted writer Sherman Alexie attended Gonzaga. Renowned dental educator Arthur A. Dugoni is a 1944 Gonzaga graduate who went on to become president of the American Dental Association and served 28 years as dean of the University of the Pacific Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry, renamed in his honor in 2004. Current Washington governor and the state's first female state attorney general Christine Gregoire, former Representative George Nethercutt, R-Wash., and Barbara Madsen, Mary Fairhurst and Debra Stephens 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 .

Historic College Hall at Gonzaga University

Along with various other well known political figures (ranging from senators to representatives to mayors and governors) Gonzaga also has many graduates who serve as judges.

The Chad Mitchell Trio, a folk group famous in the 1960s, met at Gonzaga.

Among sports figures, football players, Tony Canadeo and Max Krause; John Stockton of NBA's Utah Jazz fame; former NBA player Dan Dickau; the Houston Rockets' Richie Frahm; Golden State Warriors' Ronny Turiaf; Boston Red Sox outfielder, 2004 National League Rookie of the Year, and 2009 American League All-Star Jason Bay; Minnesota Twins catcher Mike Redmond; 1945 NHL Rookie of the Year Frank McCool; MLS and U.S. international soccer player Brian Ching are all graduates. Ching now plays forward for the Houston Dynamo of Major League Soccer.NASCAR driver Chad Little is a graduate of the law school.Adam Morrison of the Los Angeles Lakers left for the NBA after his junior year.

Gary Polonsky, later founding President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, earned his M.A. degree at Gonzaga.

Stand-up comic, Dan Cummins, graduated from Gonzaga in 1999. He was on NBC Last Comic Standing and has his own Comedy Central Presents episode.

Barats and Bereta, a comedy team comprised of Luke Barats (class of 2006) and Joe Bereta (class of 2005), formed at Gonzaga while performing with the university's improv troupe, and have enjoyed success online with their viral comedy videos posted on YouTube. They signed an NBC contract in 2006 to produce comedy material for the network, and currently are looking to do a full-length feature film.Ben Ysursa (1971) Idaho, Secretary of State, Republican.

Notes and references

External links

• Official website
• Official Athletics website