CENTER’S FOCUS IS STUDENT-ATHLETE SERVICES For nearly 20 years the primary mantra of the Athletic Department has been: “Succeed on the court, in the classroom and in the community.” On Sept. 28, ground was broken on the Volkar Center for Athletic Achievement, located directly south of Martin Centre and connected to both Martin and McCarthey Athletic centers. Its purpose is to help student athletes achieve those three goals. “But the most important focus of this building are those last two pillars,” says Deputy Athletic Director Chris Standiford, who has played a major role behind the scenes in elevating Gonzaga’s national athletic acclaim. The 52,000-square-foot building will house student-athlete support services, currently crammed into the former training room; a new weight room, nutrition center, basketball practice court, hall of fame and multiple meeting areas. The $24 million project is being entirely funded through benefaction. “Our benefactors have responded to the fact that what our student athletes do in the classroom and in the community is what makes us – and this project – unique,” Standiford says. “Gonzaga student-athletes have achieved at such a high level in all aspects. The objective of this multifaceted facility is to further invest in the student-athlete experience so that they are
GONZAGA FACULTY AND STAFF NEWSLETTER
equipped to continue their quest for excellence,” says Senior Associate Athletic Director Shannon Strahl. GU’s student-athletes rank No. 1 in the nation in Academic Progress Rate, tied with Dartmouth. And last year Zags contributed 3,033 Gonzaga University Center for Athletic Achievement hoursTheofVolkar community service.
›› Looking to Season of Light, 4 NOV. 2016 | VOL 18 | #3
09/29/2016
This facility, combined with other spaces in Martin and McCarthey centers, gives coaches a classroom to address individual work with athletes. “And when (Strength and Conditioning Coaches) Mike Nilson and Travis Knight are working with their athletes, it takes a whole gym. Just training with weights in a confined environment is no longer the way it’s done,” Standiford says. A visitor walking from the south entrance of
the facility as it connects to the existing Martin Centre atrium will experience a walk through the great moments in Gonzaga history, highlighting GU’s great figures, athletes and accomplishments in what will be Gonzaga’s new interactive hall of fame. Additional plans call for the construction of steps from the first floor of the Martin atrium to second floor, where the John F. Kennedy bust sits, giving a more direct path for pedestrians walking north-to-south on campus. The center is named for benefactors Pat and Sandy Volkar, Coeur d’Alene. Watching the Zag men play at University of Arizona in the 2014 NCAA Tournament, they got a tour of the Wildcats’ practice facility, and the seed was planted for Gonzaga’s new center.
Center Rotunda, Nov. 29, 5 p.m. to launch this celebratory festival. The 30-minute program includes music by Gonzaga’s Concert Choir and Big Bing Theory, a moment for mission by Fr. Brad Reynolds and Michelle Wheatley, comments by presidents Thayne McCulloh and Caleb Dawson, a
Getting closer to God, and each other At 14,000 feet in the Colorado Rockies, the mountain grandeur on full display, one might feel as if they could reach out and touch God. Certainly, He’s within earshot from there. So braving minus-30 degree temperatures, traversing treacherous snow banks and carefully plotting every step along razor-like mountain edges seem like a small price to pay for that kind of personal relationship with their Maker for Greg and Carol Onofrio.
Song, mission, tree-lighting kick off Advent in Hemmingson, Nov. 29
So as we begin Gonzaga’s second Season of Light, we invite the community to the Hemmingson
›› Two fine Fellows, 3
The Volkar Center for Athletic Achievement is projected for completion in fall 2017.
SEASON OF LIGHT It is that time of year when our spirits are renewed by friends and families coming together, giving thanks, honoring our faiths, singing and dancing – and for Christians, celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
spirit
›› Classroom equity, 2
ceremonial tree lighting in the Rotunda and a Silent Night singalong. The show will be streamed live throughout the world, www.online.gonzaga. edu/streaming.
Greg made seven to eight dozen climbs above the 14,000-foot level, beginning as a child of a mountaineering father, who just passed away in October.
Cookies and hot chocolate are offered along Main Street, and Zag Dining offers $5 festive holiday meals in the COG. In addition, Season of Light focuses on religions around the world which will be celebrated with displays and music throughout Hemmingson for the next 18 days leading up to Christmas break.
Then he met and married Carol 31 years ago, raised kids, and only after that did Carol decide she wanted in on the action, Greg says.
At Season of Light 2015, Fr. Reynolds and Wheatley reflected that this is a time of remembrance, with festivals memorializing forces of light in the darkness (imagine Fr. Reynolds with his Star Wars light saber), and celebrations of cultural legacies, of the stories and values that have shaped so much of our lives; and conventions of secular, religious and mystical significance, honoring events past and yet acknowledging that we still wait in vigilance for the revelation of hopes not yet realized; a time of great expectation. Professors Dan Garrity and Colleen McMahon emcee the event.
VIEW ONLINE: www.gonzaga.edu/spirit
“She was not an outdoors person when we started climbing together 12 years ago,” Greg recalls. “But she rapidly became addicted to the sport. Since then, we have climbed 47 of the 53 ‘14ers’ – Colorado mountains stretching higher than 14,000 feet – together. We’re just a handful away from becoming ‘grand slammers,’ (a term climbers pin on people who have climbed all 53 summits). What’s special to me is that Carol and I have done it as a married couple. And God willing, we’ll finish those last six together.” The Onofrios love capturing their adventures through photography, as you can see on this page. But that’s not without its dangers. One adventure had Greg fording a swift-running mountain stream when he lost his footing – and his expensive camera – in order to save his own
life. He had to rely on his phone camera to capture the rest of that adventure. But again, it was a small price to pay. Gonzaga’s coordinator of liturgy and music, Dr. Onofrio grew up in Denver and his love of the mountains is third only to God and his family. He spent 23 years as the music director at a Denver parish. Then that job ended, and at 53 he was looking for “what’s next!” certainly not expecting to be in the job market at this time in his life. So it was literally an hour before the application deadline last fall that Carol found an online ad for the ‘Gone-ZAWG-uh’ job. Greg quickly got an application in, they visited Spokane and GU, and both knew this was ‘the’ place. “All I knew about Gonzaga was its basketball team. So I had to brush up on my Ignatian scholarship. Once we visited, we felt like family here. I had other interviews lined up, but I cancelled them,” Greg says. So their love is here, but their passion is still in the mountains. “It’s where we find our peace,” Greg explains. “It’s where we best connect with our God, except through the Eucharist. The remoteness, the grandeur of the mystery of God’s creation, the discovery of how small we really are in God’s creation, all means a great deal to us. When you are up there, you learn to respect God’s creation. It can take your life very quickly and very easily if you aren’t careful.”
With Colorado’s grand slam in sight, our own Mt. Rainier is on the Onofrios’ radar. hike with manmade campgrounds. Others require backpacking for three days, camping at 12,000 feet in the alpine wilderness. “We crawl out of our tent at 3 a.m., put our headlamps on, pack up our equipment and summit the mountain . . . then pack out,” Greg says. “When you get to the top you’re not even halfway done. Most of the danger is on the way down. That’s where the vast majority of fatalities occur. People get complacent, they feel like they’ve accomplished their goal. As you approach the summit, your options get fewer and fewer. Conversely, your options multiply on the way down when you’re most tired; making mistakes in route choices is a real danger.” Of course, avalanches and white outs are a couple other issues to conquer on the mountain. Last year the couple made a winter climb of Mount Elbert, the highest point in Colorado, to celebrate Carol’s 50th birthday. The toughest of their remaining six ascents is scheduled next summer. One step at a time. Together. In concert with God. Enroute to the Grand Slam.
Some places Onofrios go are a trail
NOV 2016
AROUND CAMPUS >> Amy Levad, associate
professor of theology, University of St. Thomas, will present the 2016 Flannery Lecture, “Violence and Our Prison Society: Catholic Moral Theology and the Work for Justice, Peace and Reconciliation,” Nov. 3, 6:30 p.m., Cataldo Hall.
>> The community is invited
to honor our veterans, Nov. 11, 11 a.m., in the Rotunda of Hemmingson Center. ROTC will present the colors, perspectives will be shared by staff, faculty and administration as to what the day means to them, and patriotic music will complement the 30-minute ceremony.
>> William Adams, chair of the
National Endowment for the Humanities, will discuss his experiences as a Vietnam War veteran Nov. 14, 7:30 p.m., in Cataldo Hall, sponsored by GU’s Center for Public Humanities.
>> Authors Sharma Shields and
Kris Dinnison read from their respective works, Nov. 17, 7:30 p.m. in the Wolff Auditorium as part of the Gonzaga Visiting Writers Series.
>> Upcoming Music and Theatre: Jazz Combos Concert, Nov. 5, 3 p.m., Nov. 12 & 18, 5 p.m., Music Annex 1; Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play by Anne Washburn, Nov. 10-12, 17-19, 7:30 p.m., Nov. 13 and 20, 2 p.m., Magnuson Theatre, $15 general public, $10 w/GU ID: Wind Ensemble ‘Blue Allusions’ Concert, Nov. 17, 6:30 p.m., Hemmingson Ballroom, free with GU ID, $15 public: Jazz Ensembles Christmas Concert, Nov. 30, 7 p.m., Hemmingson Ballroom. All events free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.
>> President Thayne McCulloh
reports Gonzaga Will: The Campaign for Our Future, has raised $226 million of the $250 million goal, with contributions from 32,000 benefactors.
PAGE 2
CARING ABOUT WAYS IN WHICH WE DIFFER When GSBA President Caleb Dawson and Jeffrey Dodd, who directs the Center for Teaching and Advising, sat down last summer to get to know one another, they found an immediate connection. Dawson shared his experiences being an AfricanAmerican on a predominantly white campus, and Dodd recalled being a kid from meager means amid very affluent peers at his small undergraduate school. As a result of that conversation, the pair has partnered to initiate a learning community focused on culturally affirming and inclusive learning environments. They are passionate about bringing faculty, students and staff to examine how questions of culture, race, class and ethnicity take shape in our community. They’re especially invested in knowing how our teaching and learning spaces can be better suited to exploring those questions, and how we can all benefit from the tensions that arise when we explore those questions together. The learning community will meet about once per month throughout 2016-17. “We really want to challenge ourselves not to back away from difficult conversations and tensions,” says Dodd, whose primary work is to support faculty as they strive to deliver high-quality teaching and advising at Gonzaga. “Like any place, Gonzaga will probably always face tensions around these issues, but we can and should work toward ensuring formation for all of our students. And that will depend on constructing knowledge as a community.” Dawson found community at GU, and he is committed to that experience being inclusive and integrated in the classroom. “The differences among us are significant
New Hires
Caleb Dawson
Jeff Dodd
to who we are. I want Zags to be known and cared for in the ways which we differ as well as those we have in common.” Dawson reflects on cura personalis as an invitation to intentionally develop the whole person with respect to culture. At the Lunch and Learn workshop sponsored by CTA in September, Dawson expressed his own quest for a formational academic experience in a question: “How am I being prepared to be Black in the world?” Even while the racial tension and turmoil in the United States seems ominous, Dawson believes Gonzaga must model equity, inclusion and affirmation. “We know that students are having impactful experiences at Gonzaga. The point of the learning community is to ensure that every learning environment is experienced as one in which students belong, learn about who they are, and are growing to engage meaningfully across difference.” Dawson believes such a formation is essential to Zags being for and with others. Dawson and Dodd are not alone. Dozens of students, faculty and staff across University divisions, departments, disciplines and offices are joining the conversation. Anyone interested in joining this learning community can contact dodd@gonzaga.edu or gsba-president@zagmail.gonzaga.edu.
Travelers near and far make beeline to Bing’s place Bing Crosby’s childhood home houses about 200 artifacts from the Crooner’s life and is open six days a week and every other Sunday, primarily for travelers who cruise up the Columbia River from Portland to Lewiston, board a bus and make Crosby House one of their first stops in Spokane. Upward to 200 guests visit on Sundays. They come from all 50 states and 25 foreign countries to reminisce about the life of the 20th century’s most profound entertainer. And as we approach Veterans Day this month, it’s noteworthy that Bing was listed at the top of
NOTEWORTHY
the list in a poll of U.S. service men and women for people who had the most positive impact on troop morale during World War II. Spokesman-Review columnist and Crosby docent Stefanie Pettit, who wrote about the Crosby House in September, recounted this story: “I was approached by an elderly gentleman, who I’d guess had been in his early teens during WWII. He asked if he could sing a song . . . I didn’t see any reason why not,” Pettit wrote. A few minutes later he and three others stood by the
Oscar that Bing won for his role in “Going My Way” and started singing “God Bless America.” “After the first three words, their voices coordinated and grew stronger as they sang through to the end. Before long, many of those assembled there that day joined in.” It was on Sept. 11, 2016, but no one had said anything about what day this was. No one needed to. “God bless America, indeed.”
Brian Gaul, sports information director, Athletics; Sharon Young, nurse manager, Health & Counseling Services; Darin Watkins, marketing manager, Law School; Mike Mewhinney, painter, Plant; Joslyn Parker, accounting assistant I/ cashier, Student Accounts; Danielle Palm, elder law paralegal, Law Clinic; Rohan Kundargi, science outreach coordinator, Biology; Zack Berlat, staff photographer, Marcom; Alan Reed, building coordinator, Hemmingson; Dillon Knapton, custodian, Plant; Richard Jack Riley, IT support technician-Nursing & Human Physiology; Paula Dixon, custodian, Plant; Yachana Bhakta, program assistant 2, Visit Office Admissions; Jolein Doughty, receptionist, Health & Counseling Services; Sabrina Harrington, medical assistant, Health & Counseling Services; Nneka Enemkpali, women’s basketball video coordinator; Carly Gerard, electronic information technology accessibility technician, ITS; Melissa Jones, front-end web designer/developer, Marcom; Lance Dickinson, IT support center technician; LaRena Rondeau, program assistant II, Student Involvement & Leadership
New Positions/Promotions Riccardo Fois, coordinator, men’s basketball analytics/video operations; Teresa Beratto, accounting assistant III, Student Accts; Kevin Geist, custodial lead, Plant; Amanda Rhodes, budget & personnel officer, Engineering & Applied Science; Matthew Eastman, event operations technology specialist, Hemmingson
Goodbyes Michael Hart, men’s basketball video coordinator; Jason Swain, manager of employees & organization dev, Human Resources; Kimberly Baldwin, admissions counselor, Virtual Campus; Timothy Spaulding, lab tech/TV classroom, AVP; Katie Adkins, learning specialist, Academic Services; Rachel Zack, science outreach coordinator; Michael Sporre, custodian, Plant; Brianna Fisher, custodian lead, Plant
Anniversaries
35
Dale Goodwin, communications manager, Marketing and Communications; Kathleen Morrison, administrative assistant, Business
25 10
Linda McDonald, assistant to the chair/ senior faculty assistant, English
Nicole Cooney, assistant director, Hogan Program, Business; Erin Hays, director, Admissions; Eva Walker, administrative secretary II, University Advancement
5
Renae Howat, program assistant, Athletic Development; Adriane Leithauser, lecturerIR, Business; Joe Madsen, director, Emergency Preparedness/Risk Management; Kelly Wentz, senior financial aid counselor, Financial Aid
Cradle Call Naghme Morlock, assistant professor, Sociology, and spouse Justus had a baby boy, Taylor. Mayra Villalobos, senior program assistant in field placement, Education, and spouse Gavriel Campos-Espinoza had a baby boy, Gavriel Ricardo. Eric Gunning, assistant athletic trainer, and spouse Margaret had a baby girl, Lauren. Anthony Tardiff, lecturer, Foley Center, and spouse Andrea had a baby boy, Sebastian. Eugene Kravchuk, custodian, Plant, and wife Alina had a baby boy, James.
FOCUS ON... TWO FINE FELLOWS Gonzaga University Teaching Postdoctoral Fellows Tony Abeyta and Noralis RodriguezCoss seem giddy with excitement, teaching small classes and getting to know their students on a first-name basis. This opportunity came by way of a partnership between Gonzaga University and the University of Washington, engineered by AVP Patricia O’Connell Killen, to bring post-doctoral minority fellows from UW to teach in this smaller, mission-driven, liberal arts university. “The Fellows receive mentoring and support that help them better understand the nature of a career at a mission-driven, teaching institution, and that will help them become stronger candidates for tenure-track positions at such institutions in the future,” says Jessica Maucione, associate professor of English and co-director with Ann Ostendorf of the AVP Underrepresented Minority Teaching Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, which “promotes pedagogical and institutional excellence through diversification of faculty, curriculum and students at the university.” So far, Gonzaga’s two fellows and their students are celebrating the experience. “It’s great to be here at Gonzaga, although at times it’s a little overwhelming,” says Abeyta, who teaches in the biology department. “I’m lucky to have good mentors to help me through. I started in research, now I’m doing research and teaching.” “I landed in a department – women’s and gender studies – that is very supportive,” Rodriguez-Coss says. “I have two mentors who are helping to make me a better teacher.
Minority Post-Doc Teaching Fellows Tony Abeyta and Noralis Rodriguez-Coss are grateful for having each other to share notes with on teaching, careers and places to eat.
The students here have been pretty phenomenal. They participate in class, and are very engaged.” “Coming from a large state school with huge classrooms, it’s a breath of fresh air to be teaching in small classrooms where students are more interactive,” Abeyta says. “Previously, as a student in large classrooms, I never had that relationship with my professors.” This program offers a rare opportunity that is difficult to come by. – Tony Abeyta
Both fellows feel very accepted here. Noralis was invited to her departmental barbeque early in the semester, “and they invited me to tag along,” Tony says. “That’s just one of many examples of the kind of special community we have here at Gonzaga.” “Everyone I’ve met and been introduced to as a minority post doc, seems very happy to have us here. You can sense a cultural shift. It’s apparent that many people here in higher positions are pushing for a more diverse faculty. Coming in I was hesitant that maybe we would be expected to be (minority) flag bearers. I’ve been treated like any other faculty member. My voice is weighed evenly with everyone else’s. Academically, I love how focused the faculty are on educating their students. Students come first. That’s not something I’m used to,” Abbeyta says.
Rodriguez-Coss’s students have pushed her to put more effort into her teaching skills, and she, in turn, finds herself spending more time preparing for her classes and focusing on how to make the learning experience more beneficial to her students. “It’s good to know there are people to reach out to if we have needs, “At one point they came to me and questions or something to bring to told me they needed more time the table,” Rodriguez-Coss says. to process what they’re learning. To have them tell me their needs And these two will reach out to the really impressed me. We had a great Gonzaga community, becoming debrief, and I gave them more time. involved in numerous campus The small classroom allows for activities as part of their fellowship. this,” Noralis says.
NEW CENTERS, INITIATIVE ADDRESSING LOCAL, GLOBAL ISSUES Two new centers and a research and creative inquiry initiative have been created in the College of Arts and Sciences to present opportunities for students and faculty to work together investigating meaningful problems in the area and abroad. “They do so by
encouraging best practices in research and by reaching out to the public as the College promotes humanitiesbased thinking,” says Dean Elisabeth MermannJozwiak. English Professor Brian Cooney leads the Center for Public Humanities, Visiting Scholar Katey Roden
directs the Digital Humanities Initiative, and science Associate Professor Jeff Watson heads up the Center for Undergraduate Research and Creative Inquiry. To read more, go to news.gonzaga.edu
PAGE 3
AROUND CAMPUS >> Amy Levad, associate
professor of theology, University of St. Thomas, will present the 2016 Flannery Lecture, “Violence and Our Prison Society: Catholic Moral Theology and the Work for Justice, Peace and Reconciliation,” Nov. 3, 6:30 p.m., Cataldo Hall.
>> The community is invited
to honor our veterans, Nov. 11, 11 a.m., in the Rotunda of Hemmingson Center. ROTC will present the colors, perspectives will be shared by staff, faculty and administration as to what the day means to them, and patriotic music will complement the 30-minute ceremony.
>> William Adams, chair of the
National Endowment for the Humanities, will discuss his experiences as a Vietnam War veteran Nov. 14, 7:30 p.m., in Cataldo Hall, sponsored by GU’s Center for Public Humanities.
>> Authors Sharma Shields and
Kris Dinnison read from their respective works, Nov. 17, 7:30 p.m. in the Wolff Auditorium as part of the Gonzaga Visiting Writers Series.
>> Upcoming Music and Theatre: Jazz Combos Concert, Nov. 5, 3 p.m., Nov. 12 & 18, 5 p.m., Music Annex 1; Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play by Anne Washburn, Nov. 10-12, 17-19, 7:30 p.m., Nov. 13 and 20, 2 p.m., Magnuson Theatre, $15 general public, $10 w/GU ID: Wind Ensemble ‘Blue Allusions’ Concert, Nov. 17, 6:30 p.m., Hemmingson Ballroom, free with GU ID, $15 public: Jazz Ensembles Christmas Concert, Nov. 30, 7 p.m., Hemmingson Ballroom. All events free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.
>> President Thayne McCulloh
reports Gonzaga Will: The Campaign for Our Future, has raised $226 million of the $250 million goal, with contributions from 32,000 benefactors.
PAGE 2
CARING ABOUT WAYS IN WHICH WE DIFFER When GSBA President Caleb Dawson and Jeffrey Dodd, who directs the Center for Teaching and Advising, sat down last summer to get to know one another, they found an immediate connection. Dawson shared his experiences being an AfricanAmerican on a predominantly white campus, and Dodd recalled being a kid from meager means amid very affluent peers at his small undergraduate school. As a result of that conversation, the pair has partnered to initiate a learning community focused on culturally affirming and inclusive learning environments. They are passionate about bringing faculty, students and staff to examine how questions of culture, race, class and ethnicity take shape in our community. They’re especially invested in knowing how our teaching and learning spaces can be better suited to exploring those questions, and how we can all benefit from the tensions that arise when we explore those questions together. The learning community will meet about once per month throughout 2016-17. “We really want to challenge ourselves not to back away from difficult conversations and tensions,” says Dodd, whose primary work is to support faculty as they strive to deliver high-quality teaching and advising at Gonzaga. “Like any place, Gonzaga will probably always face tensions around these issues, but we can and should work toward ensuring formation for all of our students. And that will depend on constructing knowledge as a community.” Dawson found community at GU, and he is committed to that experience being inclusive and integrated in the classroom. “The differences among us are significant
New Hires
Caleb Dawson
Jeff Dodd
to who we are. I want Zags to be known and cared for in the ways which we differ as well as those we have in common.” Dawson reflects on cura personalis as an invitation to intentionally develop the whole person with respect to culture. At the Lunch and Learn workshop sponsored by CTA in September, Dawson expressed his own quest for a formational academic experience in a question: “How am I being prepared to be Black in the world?” Even while the racial tension and turmoil in the United States seems ominous, Dawson believes Gonzaga must model equity, inclusion and affirmation. “We know that students are having impactful experiences at Gonzaga. The point of the learning community is to ensure that every learning environment is experienced as one in which students belong, learn about who they are, and are growing to engage meaningfully across difference.” Dawson believes such a formation is essential to Zags being for and with others. Dawson and Dodd are not alone. Dozens of students, faculty and staff across University divisions, departments, disciplines and offices are joining the conversation. Anyone interested in joining this learning community can contact dodd@gonzaga.edu or gsba-president@zagmail.gonzaga.edu.
Travelers near and far make beeline to Bing’s place Bing Crosby’s childhood home houses about 200 artifacts from the Crooner’s life and is open six days a week and every other Sunday, primarily for travelers who cruise up the Columbia River from Portland to Lewiston, board a bus and make Crosby House one of their first stops in Spokane. Upward to 200 guests visit on Sundays. They come from all 50 states and 25 foreign countries to reminisce about the life of the 20th century’s most profound entertainer. And as we approach Veterans Day this month, it’s noteworthy that Bing was listed at the top of
NOTEWORTHY
the list in a poll of U.S. service men and women for people who had the most positive impact on troop morale during World War II. Spokesman-Review columnist and Crosby docent Stefanie Pettit, who wrote about the Crosby House in September, recounted this story: “I was approached by an elderly gentleman, who I’d guess had been in his early teens during WWII. He asked if he could sing a song . . . I didn’t see any reason why not,” Pettit wrote. A few minutes later he and three others stood by the
Oscar that Bing won for his role in “Going My Way” and started singing “God Bless America.” “After the first three words, their voices coordinated and grew stronger as they sang through to the end. Before long, many of those assembled there that day joined in.” It was on Sept. 11, 2016, but no one had said anything about what day this was. No one needed to. “God bless America, indeed.”
Brian Gaul, sports information director, Athletics; Sharon Young, nurse manager, Health & Counseling Services; Darin Watkins, marketing manager, Law School; Mike Mewhinney, painter, Plant; Joslyn Parker, accounting assistant I/ cashier, Student Accounts; Danielle Palm, elder law paralegal, Law Clinic; Rohan Kundargi, science outreach coordinator, Biology; Zack Berlat, staff photographer, Marcom; Alan Reed, building coordinator, Hemmingson; Dillon Knapton, custodian, Plant; Richard Jack Riley, IT support technician-Nursing & Human Physiology; Paula Dixon, custodian, Plant; Yachana Bhakta, program assistant 2, Visit Office Admissions; Jolein Doughty, receptionist, Health & Counseling Services; Sabrina Harrington, medical assistant, Health & Counseling Services; Nneka Enemkpali, women’s basketball video coordinator; Carly Gerard, electronic information technology accessibility technician, ITS; Melissa Jones, front-end web designer/developer, Marcom; Lance Dickinson, IT support center technician; LaRena Rondeau, program assistant II, Student Involvement & Leadership
New Positions/Promotions Riccardo Fois, coordinator, men’s basketball analytics/video operations; Teresa Beratto, accounting assistant III, Student Accts; Kevin Geist, custodial lead, Plant; Amanda Rhodes, budget & personnel officer, Engineering & Applied Science; Matthew Eastman, event operations technology specialist, Hemmingson
Goodbyes Michael Hart, men’s basketball video coordinator; Jason Swain, manager of employees & organization dev, Human Resources; Kimberly Baldwin, admissions counselor, Virtual Campus; Timothy Spaulding, lab tech/TV classroom, AVP; Katie Adkins, learning specialist, Academic Services; Rachel Zack, science outreach coordinator; Michael Sporre, custodian, Plant; Brianna Fisher, custodian lead, Plant
Anniversaries
35
Dale Goodwin, communications manager, Marketing and Communications; Kathleen Morrison, administrative assistant, Business
25 10
Linda McDonald, assistant to the chair/ senior faculty assistant, English
Nicole Cooney, assistant director, Hogan Program, Business; Erin Hays, director, Admissions; Eva Walker, administrative secretary II, University Advancement
5
Renae Howat, program assistant, Athletic Development; Adriane Leithauser, lecturerIR, Business; Joe Madsen, director, Emergency Preparedness/Risk Management; Kelly Wentz, senior financial aid counselor, Financial Aid
Cradle Call Naghme Morlock, assistant professor, Sociology, and spouse Justus had a baby boy, Taylor. Mayra Villalobos, senior program assistant in field placement, Education, and spouse Gavriel Campos-Espinoza had a baby boy, Gavriel Ricardo. Eric Gunning, assistant athletic trainer, and spouse Margaret had a baby girl, Lauren. Anthony Tardiff, lecturer, Foley Center, and spouse Andrea had a baby boy, Sebastian. Eugene Kravchuk, custodian, Plant, and wife Alina had a baby boy, James.
FOCUS ON... TWO FINE FELLOWS Gonzaga University Teaching Postdoctoral Fellows Tony Abeyta and Noralis RodriguezCoss seem giddy with excitement, teaching small classes and getting to know their students on a first-name basis. This opportunity came by way of a partnership between Gonzaga University and the University of Washington, engineered by AVP Patricia O’Connell Killen, to bring post-doctoral minority fellows from UW to teach in this smaller, mission-driven, liberal arts university. “The Fellows receive mentoring and support that help them better understand the nature of a career at a mission-driven, teaching institution, and that will help them become stronger candidates for tenure-track positions at such institutions in the future,” says Jessica Maucione, associate professor of English and co-director with Ann Ostendorf of the AVP Underrepresented Minority Teaching Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, which “promotes pedagogical and institutional excellence through diversification of faculty, curriculum and students at the university.” So far, Gonzaga’s two fellows and their students are celebrating the experience. “It’s great to be here at Gonzaga, although at times it’s a little overwhelming,” says Abeyta, who teaches in the biology department. “I’m lucky to have good mentors to help me through. I started in research, now I’m doing research and teaching.” “I landed in a department – women’s and gender studies – that is very supportive,” Rodriguez-Coss says. “I have two mentors who are helping to make me a better teacher.
Minority Post-Doc Teaching Fellows Tony Abeyta and Noralis Rodriguez-Coss are grateful for having each other to share notes with on teaching, careers and places to eat.
The students here have been pretty phenomenal. They participate in class, and are very engaged.” “Coming from a large state school with huge classrooms, it’s a breath of fresh air to be teaching in small classrooms where students are more interactive,” Abeyta says. “Previously, as a student in large classrooms, I never had that relationship with my professors.” This program offers a rare opportunity that is difficult to come by. – Tony Abeyta
Both fellows feel very accepted here. Noralis was invited to her departmental barbeque early in the semester, “and they invited me to tag along,” Tony says. “That’s just one of many examples of the kind of special community we have here at Gonzaga.” “Everyone I’ve met and been introduced to as a minority post doc, seems very happy to have us here. You can sense a cultural shift. It’s apparent that many people here in higher positions are pushing for a more diverse faculty. Coming in I was hesitant that maybe we would be expected to be (minority) flag bearers. I’ve been treated like any other faculty member. My voice is weighed evenly with everyone else’s. Academically, I love how focused the faculty are on educating their students. Students come first. That’s not something I’m used to,” Abbeyta says.
Rodriguez-Coss’s students have pushed her to put more effort into her teaching skills, and she, in turn, finds herself spending more time preparing for her classes and focusing on how to make the learning experience more beneficial to her students. “It’s good to know there are people to reach out to if we have needs, “At one point they came to me and questions or something to bring to told me they needed more time the table,” Rodriguez-Coss says. to process what they’re learning. To have them tell me their needs And these two will reach out to the really impressed me. We had a great Gonzaga community, becoming debrief, and I gave them more time. involved in numerous campus The small classroom allows for activities as part of their fellowship. this,” Noralis says.
NEW CENTERS, INITIATIVE ADDRESSING LOCAL, GLOBAL ISSUES Two new centers and a research and creative inquiry initiative have been created in the College of Arts and Sciences to present opportunities for students and faculty to work together investigating meaningful problems in the area and abroad. “They do so by
encouraging best practices in research and by reaching out to the public as the College promotes humanitiesbased thinking,” says Dean Elisabeth MermannJozwiak. English Professor Brian Cooney leads the Center for Public Humanities, Visiting Scholar Katey Roden
directs the Digital Humanities Initiative, and science Associate Professor Jeff Watson heads up the Center for Undergraduate Research and Creative Inquiry. To read more, go to news.gonzaga.edu
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CENTER’S FOCUS IS STUDENT-ATHLETE SERVICES For nearly 20 years the primary mantra of the Athletic Department has been: “Succeed on the court, in the classroom and in the community.” On Sept. 28, ground was broken on the Volkar Center for Athletic Achievement, located directly south of Martin Centre and connected to both Martin and McCarthey Athletic centers. Its purpose is to help student athletes achieve those three goals. “But the most important focus of this building are those last two pillars,” says Deputy Athletic Director Chris Standiford, who has played a major role behind the scenes in elevating Gonzaga’s national athletic acclaim. The 52,000-square-foot building will house student-athlete support services, currently crammed into the former training room; a new weight room, nutrition center, basketball practice court, hall of fame and multiple meeting areas. The $24 million project is being entirely funded through benefaction. “Our benefactors have responded to the fact that what our student athletes do in the classroom and in the community is what makes us – and this project – unique,” Standiford says. “Gonzaga student-athletes have achieved at such a high level in all aspects. The objective of this multifaceted facility is to further invest in the student-athlete experience so that they are
GONZAGA FACULTY AND STAFF NEWSLETTER
equipped to continue their quest for excellence,” says Senior Associate Athletic Director Shannon Strahl. GU’s student-athletes rank No. 1 in the nation in Academic Progress Rate, tied with Dartmouth. And last year Zags contributed 3,033 Gonzaga University Center for Athletic Achievement hoursTheofVolkar community service.
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This facility, combined with other spaces in Martin and McCarthey centers, gives coaches a classroom to address individual work with athletes. “And when (Strength and Conditioning Coaches) Mike Nilson and Travis Knight are working with their athletes, it takes a whole gym. Just training with weights in a confined environment is no longer the way it’s done,” Standiford says. A visitor walking from the south entrance of
the facility as it connects to the existing Martin Centre atrium will experience a walk through the great moments in Gonzaga history, highlighting GU’s great figures, athletes and accomplishments in what will be Gonzaga’s new interactive hall of fame. Additional plans call for the construction of steps from the first floor of the Martin atrium to second floor, where the John F. Kennedy bust sits, giving a more direct path for pedestrians walking north-to-south on campus. The center is named for benefactors Pat and Sandy Volkar, Coeur d’Alene. Watching the Zag men play at University of Arizona in the 2014 NCAA Tournament, they got a tour of the Wildcats’ practice facility, and the seed was planted for Gonzaga’s new center.
Center Rotunda, Nov. 29, 5 p.m. to launch this celebratory festival. The 30-minute program includes music by Gonzaga’s Concert Choir and Big Bing Theory, a moment for mission by Fr. Brad Reynolds and Michelle Wheatley, comments by presidents Thayne McCulloh and Caleb Dawson, a
Getting closer to God, and each other At 14,000 feet in the Colorado Rockies, the mountain grandeur on full display, one might feel as if they could reach out and touch God. Certainly, He’s within earshot from there. So braving minus-30 degree temperatures, traversing treacherous snow banks and carefully plotting every step along razor-like mountain edges seem like a small price to pay for that kind of personal relationship with their Maker for Greg and Carol Onofrio.
Song, mission, tree-lighting kick off Advent in Hemmingson, Nov. 29
So as we begin Gonzaga’s second Season of Light, we invite the community to the Hemmingson
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The Volkar Center for Athletic Achievement is projected for completion in fall 2017.
SEASON OF LIGHT It is that time of year when our spirits are renewed by friends and families coming together, giving thanks, honoring our faiths, singing and dancing – and for Christians, celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
spirit
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ceremonial tree lighting in the Rotunda and a Silent Night singalong. The show will be streamed live throughout the world, www.online.gonzaga. edu/streaming.
Greg made seven to eight dozen climbs above the 14,000-foot level, beginning as a child of a mountaineering father, who just passed away in October.
Cookies and hot chocolate are offered along Main Street, and Zag Dining offers $5 festive holiday meals in the COG. In addition, Season of Light focuses on religions around the world which will be celebrated with displays and music throughout Hemmingson for the next 18 days leading up to Christmas break.
Then he met and married Carol 31 years ago, raised kids, and only after that did Carol decide she wanted in on the action, Greg says.
At Season of Light 2015, Fr. Reynolds and Wheatley reflected that this is a time of remembrance, with festivals memorializing forces of light in the darkness (imagine Fr. Reynolds with his Star Wars light saber), and celebrations of cultural legacies, of the stories and values that have shaped so much of our lives; and conventions of secular, religious and mystical significance, honoring events past and yet acknowledging that we still wait in vigilance for the revelation of hopes not yet realized; a time of great expectation. Professors Dan Garrity and Colleen McMahon emcee the event.
VIEW ONLINE: www.gonzaga.edu/spirit
“She was not an outdoors person when we started climbing together 12 years ago,” Greg recalls. “But she rapidly became addicted to the sport. Since then, we have climbed 47 of the 53 ‘14ers’ – Colorado mountains stretching higher than 14,000 feet – together. We’re just a handful away from becoming ‘grand slammers,’ (a term climbers pin on people who have climbed all 53 summits). What’s special to me is that Carol and I have done it as a married couple. And God willing, we’ll finish those last six together.” The Onofrios love capturing their adventures through photography, as you can see on this page. But that’s not without its dangers. One adventure had Greg fording a swift-running mountain stream when he lost his footing – and his expensive camera – in order to save his own
life. He had to rely on his phone camera to capture the rest of that adventure. But again, it was a small price to pay. Gonzaga’s coordinator of liturgy and music, Dr. Onofrio grew up in Denver and his love of the mountains is third only to God and his family. He spent 23 years as the music director at a Denver parish. Then that job ended, and at 53 he was looking for “what’s next!” certainly not expecting to be in the job market at this time in his life. So it was literally an hour before the application deadline last fall that Carol found an online ad for the ‘Gone-ZAWG-uh’ job. Greg quickly got an application in, they visited Spokane and GU, and both knew this was ‘the’ place. “All I knew about Gonzaga was its basketball team. So I had to brush up on my Ignatian scholarship. Once we visited, we felt like family here. I had other interviews lined up, but I cancelled them,” Greg says. So their love is here, but their passion is still in the mountains. “It’s where we find our peace,” Greg explains. “It’s where we best connect with our God, except through the Eucharist. The remoteness, the grandeur of the mystery of God’s creation, the discovery of how small we really are in God’s creation, all means a great deal to us. When you are up there, you learn to respect God’s creation. It can take your life very quickly and very easily if you aren’t careful.”
With Colorado’s grand slam in sight, our own Mt. Rainier is on the Onofrios’ radar. hike with manmade campgrounds. Others require backpacking for three days, camping at 12,000 feet in the alpine wilderness. “We crawl out of our tent at 3 a.m., put our headlamps on, pack up our equipment and summit the mountain . . . then pack out,” Greg says. “When you get to the top you’re not even halfway done. Most of the danger is on the way down. That’s where the vast majority of fatalities occur. People get complacent, they feel like they’ve accomplished their goal. As you approach the summit, your options get fewer and fewer. Conversely, your options multiply on the way down when you’re most tired; making mistakes in route choices is a real danger.” Of course, avalanches and white outs are a couple other issues to conquer on the mountain. Last year the couple made a winter climb of Mount Elbert, the highest point in Colorado, to celebrate Carol’s 50th birthday. The toughest of their remaining six ascents is scheduled next summer. One step at a time. Together. In concert with God. Enroute to the Grand Slam.
Some places Onofrios go are a trail
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