Note: This message was originally sent on January 27, 2026
Sunday morning, airport-bound and still buzzing from the night before, Greg Bui’s grandson David had one agenda. Standing outside the McCarthey Athletic Center doors, the smallest member of the traveling party pressed closer, reached up and tried again.
He repeated, tugging on the doors. “Open! Open!”
That two-word request is pure toddler logic and pure Zag heart. David did not come to Spokane for a souvenir. David came for belonging. For the Kennel. For the roar, the rhythm, the feeling that something larger than one person can still feel like home.
David’s “open, open” moment is adorable on its face. Underneath it is the “why” behind so many decisions made at Gonzaga University. It’s about creating an environment that keeps doors opening for the next generation. Zag love starts early and lasts a long time.
Greg Bui, ’88, knows that feeling well. A retired Nike executive and current member of Gonzaga’s Board of Trustees, Bui returned to Spokane last weekend with family in tow for a game day experience that turned into something more—a living reminder that the University’s mission is measured in people, not just seasons.
It is shaped by supporters who show up, stay close and invest so students can thrive in the classroom, in the community and in competition. Bui embodies that spirit across the board.
Bui’s service reaches beyond trustee leadership. He mentors and advises Zags, supports the University philanthropically and makes time to connect with students and alumni plotting their own paths. Bringing young David to Spokane adds a new chapter to that commitment, introducing a future Zag to a place where joy and possibility tend to travel in pairs.
Zag legacies run deep. For many families, Gonzaga is handed down like a cherished story—first game, first campus visit, first realization that the community here is unlike any other. That continuity strengthens the University’s ability to stay competitive, relevant and impactful. At the same time, Gonzaga’s sense of family has never required matching last names.
It is built each time someone decides to hold the door for another student, another neighbor, another future graduate who is still figuring out where to start. Legacy at Gonzaga is not only inherited. It is chosen. First-generation students and first-time Zags often describe the same feeling long-time alumni families do—being known, challenged and welcomed into something that lasts.
That is how a community becomes a tradition.
This time of year, the spotlight shines brightly on Gonzaga basketball and little David is learning what it looks like to show up like a Zag: bundled up, wide-eyed and ready for more. The magic is real. So is the substance behind it.
Gonzaga is academically rigorous and nationally respected, a place where people open doors for each other, lead with hope and empower potential in themselves and each other. The wins are worth celebrating, but the scoreboard has never been the whole story. The deeper victory is a culture that calls people upward and then sticks around to help them climb.
On a Sunday morning outside the Kennel, a little boy asked for the doors to open again. Thanks to generations of Zags, supporters and leaders like Greg Bui, Gonzaga keeps answering that request. For David and every kid who has ever dreamt of belonging somewhere special. For every student who will one day step across the commencement stage and look back, already holding the door for the next Zag behind them.