Welcome Weekend 2025

“Did you know you’re among the first people to be welcomed by our new president?”

Words from Lyss Gorman, director of New Student and Family Programming, set the tone for Move-In Weekend – one of new beginnings, not just for the class of 2029, but for Gonzaga as a whole.

President Katia Passerini reaffirmed this in her first Presidential Welcome Address on Aug. 23, telling the new students that whatever they do this year, they’re not doing it alone.

“I’m a freshman myself,” she joked. “I only started a month ago, and already, just like you will, I’m learning a lot of new things.”

This theme of togetherness could be seen all weekend, from the army of volunteers decked out in teal shirts ready to move boxes, mini fridges and even foosball tables into dorm rooms, to the local businesses and food trucks that showed up introduce students to the broader Spokane community.

 

Summer on the Gonzaga campus wasn’t exactly quiet, thanks to a mid-July presidential transition, a flurry of new-student orientation sessions, and faculty members and students working side by side on intensive research projects.

Still, the real buzz arrives for Welcome Weekend, when new students and their families arrive and returning Zags reconnect with friends after a summer away. This year was no different.

Early Aug. 22, Gonzaga came to life as families pulled cars into well-organized drop-off zones where hundreds of volunteers and staff members helped new students find their way. Throughout the weekend, events like Playfair, Zagfest, posing for the class of 2029 photo and a campus block party helped calm any nerves and put our new Zags at ease.

Jodi Russell, parent to first-year mechanical engineering major Chloe, said it was a visit to campus that sealed the deal for her daughter choosing Gonzaga.

“When we toured, I got such a great feeling about the community here,” Jodi said. “She got into some other schools and had some great choices, but I think she just felt a really good vibe here, and so I'm excited for that.”

Sam Russell, Chloe’s father, was seeing the campus for the first time on Move-In Day. “It’s gorgeous,” he raved. “I love the small classrooms, the buildings and how close together they are. It's going to be so easy for her to get around.”

 

Conrad Gullixson, a first-year student from northern California hoping to major in engineering management, said Gonzaga felt like home the minute he stepped on campus.

“Everybody was just so friendly, and it felt like everyone really wanted to be here,” he said, adding he can’t wait for basketball season, particularly when the Zags take on Oregon State. He’s hoping to playfully brag about a GU victory to some family members.

 

“Be a Zag for Others”

At Academic Convocation Aug. 25, Interim Provost Mia Bertagnolli, President Passerini and members of the Gonzaga staff, faculty and student body welcomed an exhausted but happy group of new students.

Several speakers touched on common themes. Fr. Gilbert Sunghera, S.J., encouraged the students to embrace the Jesuit education available to them and “become the good citizen, prepared to live and participate in a civil society where all can flourish and not just survive.” Kent Porterfield, vice provost for student affairs, emphasized that every new student on campus deserves to be at Gonzaga, and brings something to this educational community that no one else can bring. “Get involved, be engaged, show up and speak out,” Porterfield said.

Mark Young, a professor of counselor education in the School of Education, spoke on behalf of the faculty and encouraged new students to embrace the Gonzaga community and open themselves up to new experiences.

“Gonzaga is much more than an academic institution where knowledge is transferred from instructor to student. This is where people learn and grow as humans and as whole persons. Be a Zag for others. Be a Zag who is accessible and responsive to other Zags.”

Senior Ally Alsept (’25, English) acknowledged the nerves she felt when she was in the fall Convocation ceremony four years ago, and suggested students meet as many of their fellow new Zags as possible, in the dorms, around campus, over a meal in the Cog.

“I promise that at this stage, everyone around you wants you to introduce yourself to them,” Alsept said. “Every single person in the room wants to be your friend.”

 

A Snapshot of Gonzaga’s New Students

Gonzaga is welcoming nearly 1,300 first-year and transfer students to campus this fall, according to Steve Keller, senior director of undergraduate admissions, although final enrollment won’t be known for a few weeks.

The incoming class of first-year and transfer students is a remarkable group hailing from 31 states, several tribal nations and 18 countries outside the United States: Australia, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Eritrea, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Kenya, New Zealand, Nicaragua, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam. The incoming class of 2029 also equals last year’s as the most racially, ethnically and culturally diverse classes in Gonzaga history, with 35 percent of first-year students self-identifying as Alaska Native, Asian, African-American, Black, Hispanic, Native American, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander.

 

Leadership Personified
20 student body presidents
44 class presidents and officers
183 student government members
493 involved in leadership activities

Caring for Others
773 with signficant volunteering experience

Love for the Stage
276 musicians
169 participants in theater or dance

Earth-friendly
83 involved in ecology/sustainability clubs

Ready for a Game
871 involved in athletics and/or outdoors activities

A Way with Words
59 members of speech or debate teams

Hard Workers
636 had jobs in high school