spirit
Thursdays with Brett Walk into University Ministry any noon hour when senior Brett Konzek is staffing the reception desk for Cindy Perry, and the crowd begins to swell. “He’s a people magnet. We actually had to speak with him about how to manage the crowd when he sits at the front desk. We were worried about visitors being able to move in and out of the office freely when he’s there!” says Michelle Wheatley, UMin director. Brett, from Kennewick and receiving Bachelor of Arts degrees in biology and environmental studies this week, is a pied piper of sorts, with a huge heart. Last summer he worked the pre-Orientation UMin retreat, treasured the association with GU newcomers, and organized Thursday night dinners and conversation for freshmen and a handful of handpicked upper-class men and women.
GONZAGA FACULTY AND STAFF NEWSLETTER
Throughout the year, Konzek invited freshmen to join him and other upperclassmen for dinner and discussion, relieving newcomer anxiety. --Evan Olson photo
“The dinners were a time to meet new people, relax and reflect on life,” says freshman Blair Coziahr. “We have done some pretty cool activities during these “It was a time to hold each other accountable, dinners such as watch Ted Talks, write a letter to our learn from the experiences or mistakes of the future selves, and simply ask and answer questions. upperclassmen and relate them to our own lives, be Brett has been a great friend and has definitely made vulnerable, share openly with others, laugh and cry,” says freshman Billy Bartell III. “What will always stick me feel welcome at Gonzaga.” with me was that Brett wanted us all to make mission Following spaghetti or taco dinner, Brett followed a statements for our lives; how we define ourselves, new lesson plan every night, based upon experiences what we like or dislike about ourselves, and what we or exercises he learned as a member of Gonzaga’s want to improve on and accomplish. He was always Comprehensive Leadership Program, UMin retreats, open to having us invite some of our own friends. and his time as a resident assistant. Everything that happened at these dinners impacted my freshman year positively.” “Through my previous three years here in various positions of leadership, I knew I wanted to continue The group of people was very eclectic, and provided a our pre-Orientation conversations throughout the sub-community for these newcomers to connect with. year,” Brett said. “This was definitely a positive
freshman alternative to the party scene, and I wanted them to connect to others other than through that party culture.” Conversation topics ranged from decisions about majors and faculty nuances, to relationships and future plans. Brett attributes his maturity to those Zags who he learned from in his early years at Gonzaga. “Gonzaga is proud of educating men and women for others. I think Brett is a great example of that. He is one of those individuals you automatically gravitate toward,” says Fr. Brad Reynolds, S.J., assistant UMin director. “I don’t know how he does it, but after five minutes with him you leave considering him one of your closest friends. It’s not just charism. It’s a generosity of spirit and an open, welcoming heart.”
MINIMAL IMPACT SEEN IN EMAIL STORAGE CHANGE
ITS will have all non-academic areas migrated by the end of May and will start academic areas June 1, with the project concluding by mid July with nearly 1,300 email accounts migrated with minimal impact on users. After migration, Outlook can be used off campus without going through Citrix. In addition, email can be accessed from the apps menu in SharePoint. If users go to gemweb.gonzaga.edu it will redirect them to the new email location. What does not change is how Outlook is used to access email. Documents saved in OneDrive will be accessible from off-campus sites, Slagg says. Office 365 provides more than just email, it integrates with SharePoint, online versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Tasks, and will introduce new social media to the Gonzaga community such as Yammer, Sway and Microsoft Video sharing.
GU student volunteers helped fill 15 of these dumpsters in an April 2 Logan Neighborhood clean-up project. combined 18,000 hours this year. As you can see, GU’s effort was a significant part of that.
Higher ed highlights volunteerism during Spokane Gives Gonzaga, Eastern Washington, Washington State, Whitworth and Community Colleges of Spokane banded together in April to demonstrate the power of student volunteerism and service-learning for Spokane Gives, the city’s month-long program highlighting civic engagement and voluntary service. GU students logged 11,500 hours, exceeding their goal by 3,300. The effort included a highly successful clean-up of Logan Neighborhood, Relay for Life, mentoring programs and more. Mayor David Condon challenged the higher ed institutions to contribute a
The collaborative effort is spearheaded by the Inland Northwest Service-Learning Partnership, a regional cooperative of educational institutions, community partners and other stakeholders, chaired by Gonzaga CCASL Director Molly Ayers. A full day of projects on April 16 included neighborhood clean-ups (EWU & SFCC), a health and resource fair (EWU & WSU), a carnival to introduce middle school students to the college experience (Gonzaga & UW), and a coin and swimsuit drive to help youngsters access neighborhood pools this summer (Whitworth).
VIEW ONLINE AT: www.gonzaga.edu/spirit
• Campus changes on horizon, 3 • Thursdays with Brett, 4 MAY 2016 | VOL 17 | #8
Frappier is college debate’s answer to Mark Few 17 Nationals in 18 years Mark Few’s first and only fulltime college job was at Gonzaga. So was Glen Frappier’s. Few has maintained a national caliber program for his 18 years as head coach. So has Frappier. Few’s taken a team to the Elite Eight. Frappier to the Final Four. While former Houston Oilers Coach Bum Phillips was Frappier’s favorite coach growing up in south Texas where tough, no-nonsense, get-thejob-done coaching was a way of life, GU debate Coach Frappier has had a pretty good role model in coaching the right way, here at Gonzaga in basketball Coach Mark Few. “Mark seems like a hard-working coach who wants to help his students become better players and people. I want the same for my students,” says Frappier. Fresh out of graduate school, Frappier landed at GU in 1998.
You may have heard: ITS is moving email storage from on-campus servers to Office 365 in Microsoft’s Cloud. “Our current email environment has become costly, and this move allows us to reduce that expense, while providing more features that allow for better communication with students and improved service stability,” says Cassandra Slagg, ITS communications manager.
• Fr. Martin is transformative, 2
“I was prepping on the flight for my interview; I had printouts all over the place. In those days there weren’t many laptops or iPads. The guy across the aisle said, ‘You look like you’re prepping for a job interview,’” Frappier recalls. “Turns out he was about to interview for the EWU president’s position. I was nervous, but he encouraged me to have confidence in myself and to use the interview as an opportunity to decide if Gonzaga was right for me.” With an assistantship to coach debate in graduate school, Frappier had not had the opportunity to teach in a traditional classroom setting, yet he was interviewing for a coaching AND teaching job. He did fine, as it turns out, and the last 18 years as Gonzaga’s debate coach have landed his team in the National Debate Tournament 17 times. His first president here was a former Zag debater, Father Robert Spitzer. And when Frappier and his Southern Illinois University college debate partner won the national championship in 1996, it was only by a split-decision semi-final Gonzaga loss to Ft. Hayes State University that allowed them to win the title. “If Gonzaga had beat Ft. Hayes and
Debate Coach Glen Frappier is passionate about politics, loves baseball, and with his teams have made 17 trips to the National Debate Tournament in the last 18 years . . . numbers similar to another rather fabled GU coach. debated us in the finals, it is likely we would have lost that debate. They were ridiculously smart and had some arguments we struggled to answer effectively all year.” So Frappier and GU were linked. After a stint in the Army, “jumping out of perfectly good airplanes,” skip forward 18 years and find Frappier, home from the 2016 Nationals and busy planning for the Gonzaga Debate Institute, considered one of the top 5 in the United States, which attracts 200 debaters and another 20 highly esteemed debate coaches from all over the country.
Former House Speaker Tom Foley represented GU in the first National Debate Tournament in 1947 “When we interviewed Glen I could tell he sensed the distinguished heritage of our program, and was eager to build on that,” says Associate Professor Tom Miller, then-department chair. “My first impressions have been confirmed. His wide reach in recruiting outstanding students and assistant coaches from all over the country, many who are now head debate coaches somewhere else, has distinguished him as one of the top college debate coaches anywhere. The fact that he won the respect of his peers, who granted Gonzaga and Spokane the chance to host the 2005 National Debate Championship tournament, is
remarkable.” His peers also honored him in 2012 with the Ziegemueller Award given annually to a college coach who has demonstrated a long and substantial career of dedication to the profession of student learning in debate and public policy. For Frappier, competition is addictive and fuels him. “Awaiting decisions early in my career I would be in the hallways outside the debate rounds pacing feverishly waiting for decisions to be announced. I took losses pretty hard. I’m a little more relaxed now.” Certainly the waiting for decisions couldn’t be as intimidating or pressure-soaked as his interview for the job. “I had never taught a course. I found myself in front of a full class, including five Gonzaga professors, and I had to teach. I thought, ‘Oh gosh, what have I gotten myself into?’ But I think it went ok once I got talking about subjects I was passionate about. What I noticed quickly was the caliber of Gonzaga students. They were smart and engaged, and the small class size facilitated meaningful discussion. It all made a very favorable impression. “I’m very happy here. I dabble in local politics, and have thought about pursuing a doctorate in political communications. But as long as I coach and teach, there is no place I want to be other than Gonzaga,” Frappier says.
MAY 2016