Congratulations, Class of 2020!

Throughout the month of May, the Gonzaga community rallied in many different ways to celebrate the Class of 2020—from a Virtual Senior Week with lighthearted competitions and a daylong retreat to a series of videos honoring senior spring athletes and a surprise tribute to the entire class on Buchanan Field. “While we know nothing could make up for what this time of year typically looks like on Eye Street, we still wanted to celebrate,” said Assistant Director of Campus Ministry Danielle Flood, who was fundamental in organizing many of the events. “What I loved about our Virtual Senior Week was that it was uniquely grounded in community, relationships, and a celebration of one another—something that has always been at the heart of what Gonzaga students represent, whether or not we are physically on campus.”

Here are some photos of the ways the Gonzaga community congratulated and honored the Class of 2020.

On May 8, Gonzaga held its annual Charter Day Celebration virtually. The community came together over Facebook to watch a program that honored the many accomplishments of our faculty, staff, and students— and in particular our seniors. This behind-the-scenes photo shows Jonathan Kokotajlo ’16 filming Headmaster Mr. Every, who served as emcee of the day.

During Virtual Senior Week, students were invited to take part in daily competitions such as a trick shot contest and a Rube Goldberg Machine competition. Pictured is an entry in the “Grad at Grad” art competition.

Campus Ministry organized a day-long virtual Senior Retreat, which included opportunities for students to reflect, connect, and pray. Ahead of the retreat, faculty and staff members submitted prayers for a prayer book dedicated to the Class of 2020 called “Go Forth.”

Students raise a La Croix over Zoom during Mr. Pugliese’s “La Croix Friday”—one of several light-hearted gatherings organized by teachers during Senior Week.

Class of 2020 Valedictorian Josh Pfefferkorn was named “Most Likely to Find a Cure for the Coronavirus” in the Aetonian’s senior superlative video, which was streamed during Senior Week.

Students had fun with the daily competitions. Here’s a photo of Carson Schaefer ’20 during the Chopped Cooking Competition.

On Thursday night of Senior Week, at 8:20 PM (which in military time is 20:20), Gonzaga turned on the lights on Buchanan Field for 20 minutes and 20 seconds. The surprise countdown was streamed on Gonzaga’s social media channels alongside photos of every member of the Class of 2020.

Throughout the month of May, Gonzaga aired several special tributes to the senior athletes whose Spring seasons were cut short. Called Virtual Senior Days, these video tributes included special montages about the members of the Class of 2020 who played baseball, crew, golf, lacrosse, rugby, tennis, and track. Here you can see a slide honoring the seniors who ran track.

And here is a photo—taken from their Virtual Senior Day Video—of some of the members of the Class of 2020 who rowed crew.

Virtual Senior Week culminated with a Mass streamed from Our Lady’s Chapel on Sunday, May 31. Father Planning celebrated the Mass and was joined by Mr. Every, who read the names of all of the members of the Class of 2020. To read Father Planning’s full homily from that day, turn to page 20.

Once again, congratulations to the Class of 2020! We’re proud to now welcome you all into the Gonzaga alumni community.