Campus abuzz with accreditation, development activity

 

By Father Robert J. Spitzer, S.J.
Gonzaga University President

 

(Originally published in the Spring 2004 edition of

 GONZAGA, the alumni publication.)

 

You may have become overwhelmed by my somewhat academic approach to the distinctive mission areas of Jesuit Education (faith, ethics, social responsibility, justice, service, and leadership) so I thought I would give you a little "break" to update you on some of the directions we are taking at Gonzaga.

 

Many of you have heard about the process of renewing our Northwest accreditation. The self-study steering committee has been working overtime to prepare a voluminous self-study report, and to prepare for the three-day visit in April of the evaluation team. I believe that our re-accreditation efforts will be successful. Thayne McCulloh organized 13 subcommittees that authored the self-study (directly involving more than 120 Gonzaga community members). They have written what I believe will be one of the finest reports the Commission has received.

 

You may be interested in the progress of our capital campaign. We are very near the completion of our $119 million goal, but still have a few projects requiring additional funding. We will continue to work on raising funds for these projects until they are complete. Our efforts to significantly increase endowments for need-based, merit-based, diversity, and opportunity scholarships have gone exceedingly well, and thanks to your generosity, they will continue to do so through the end of the campaign (July 2005).

 

Several of our building goals also have gone well. Fund raising for the McCarthey Athletic Center (the arena), the Hogan Business Wing, the new Florence building, the Kermit M. Rudolf Fitness Center, the addition to the Herak engineering building (phase 1), and the new residence halls has gone very well, and we are working to complete pledging to these facilities. We also have received significant pledges for the new science building ($7 million) and the new performing arts center ($10 million). We hope to begin construction on the performing arts center may begin by late 2005 (or sometime thereafter)early 2006.

 

We are fueling up our initiatives in three areas: the natural sciences, the liberal arts, and the performing arts. In October we will launch a special campaign for the arts and sciences. With respect to the campaign for the natural sciences, we have sent out materials to all of our science alumni regarding the new science building and greenhouse, and the renovation of the Hughes building. We also will initiate the Gonzaga University Society for the Natural Sciences in September 2004, and will use the funds raised from this Society and the science campaign to pay for the remainder. The new effort will enable us to work with our alumni and friends to complete the funding for the new building and to initiate an endowment for science faculty and enrichment and scholarship.

 

We will start our campaign for the liberal arts (humanities, social sciences and other arts) in October 2004, which will include the initiation of the College Society. Funds raised from the College Society and campaign will be used to continue payment for much-needed renovations in the Administration Building and to establish an endowment for liberal arts faculty enrichment and scholarship. We may even consider giving the Administration Building a new name (for example, "College Hall") to give the College an official home.

 

The liberal arts and natural sciences campaign will bring benefactors and alumni to campus, create an ethos around these two central academic areas, and hopefully boost continuing fund-raising efforts in these areas.

 

With respect to the campaign for the performing arts, one of our benefactors, Jim and Joann Jundt have made a very generous contribution to the construction of a new 350-seat theater that will be located to the north of the Jundt Art Center and Museum. We hope to begin work on this project in late 2005. When the theatre program moves into this new facility, the Russell Theatre will be vacated, at which time we will be able to build a 550-seat auditorium in that space. If acoustics permit, we may be able to use that auditorium as Gonzaga's concert hall for symphony and perhaps even choral productions. We have begun the initial stages of planning for these two projects. In order to secure the $5 million in additional funds needed for these two efforts, we will work with both foundations and individual benefactors.

 

The capital campaign also includes two areas of Student Life: the complete renovation of Cataldo Hall, and the renovation of residence halls. We have completed the first phase of the renovation to Cataldo Hall (tripling the square footage in the Globe Room). We will take a three-month break from renovating the Captain's Room so that students and faculty can make use of this facility this semester. In May, the Captain's Room will become Pandinis (an Italian bistro).

 

Our plans to renovate DeSmet Hall will be part of a campaign to improve the historical center of Gonzaga University (the Administration Building, DeSmet Hall, and the Johnston Mall). Funds are being raised to renovate other residence halls. Unfortunately, we were not able to include a new student center in the current capital campaign. However, in the next campaign, beginning in 2007, we will raise the funds for this much-needed facility.

 

Thanks to all of you, Gonzaga is in a state of metamorphosis. Our students are truly benefiting from our new facilities and endowments, and the spirit here is higher than ever. Stay tuned next quarter for a tour of our new strategic planning process (arising out of our accreditation self-study and the fact that we completed the goals of our last strategic plan- Momentum 2007- four years early). I might then return to the more academic theme of ethics, social responsibility, and Jesuit education.