Learns to Lead

The Learns to Lead Living Learning Community is designed to empower students to develop and refine their leadership skills, preparing them to make a meaningful impact both within the Gonzaga campus and beyond. This community fosters an inclusive and collaborative environment where residents can explore their leadership potential, engage in personal growth, and build lasting connections with peers who share a passion for making a difference.

Through workshops, leadership skill growth, and fun experiential learning opportunities, residents will deepen their understanding of their own leadership styles, strategies, and values. The community focuses on cultivating skills such as effective communication, ethical decision-making, teamwork, and conflict resolution, equipping students to navigate challenges and inspire change.

In addition to skill-building, the Learns to Lead LLC emphasizes service and community engagement, encouraging residents to apply their leadership abilities in real-world contexts. Whether you’re aspiring to lead a student organization, spearhead initiatives in your community, or prepare for future leadership roles in your career, the Learns to Lead LLC offers the tools, resources, and support to help you achieve your goals and lead with purpose!

	The Learns to Lead 1st-Year LLC is located in Coughlin Hall		The Learns to Lead 1st-Year LLC is tentatively located on the 2nd Floor
	1st-Year Learns to Lead LLC residents can only be roommates with residents in the following LLCs: Learns to Lead LLC People For And With Others Cura Personalis LLC		Linked Course Required for LLC Residents: COMM 193 -  Relationshipping Faculty: Kris Morehouse

Great for Students Who...

• Are incoming 1st Year students from any major or degree program that are passionate about leadership
• Are incoming 1st Years that want to get involved on campus in a variety of leadership positions for students such as the Gonzaga Student Body Association, the Residence Hall Association, and more
• Want to live in community with other Zags that all value leadership and want to engage in topics and events around leadership

Learns to Lead LLC Leadership & Campus Partners

The Learns to Lead LLC for 1st years has several partners involved in the community. 

• Campus Partner - Payne Center for Leadership Development (PCLD)
  • Maddie Simmons - Program Coordinator for the Payne Center for Leadership Development
• Faculty Fellow -  Beginning fall 2026 - Sarah Matousek 

About the Linked Course:

COMM 193, FYS: Relationshipping LLC. People need each other. Repeated studies show that relationships and feelings of connectedness are the keys to better mental health, improved cognition, and a longer, more joyful existence. So, if relationships can save us, then why is being with other people so… complicated? Drawing on a range of disciplines, this course will explore the ways relationships teach us how to love, how to grieve, how to live more emphatically, and how (and why) to establish boundaries. Most importantly, we will learn how other people not only sustain us but contribute to our growth. Since mediated relationships are part of our socialization, we will see how pop culture and celebrity inform us—teaching us relational norms of both what to do, even more likely, what not to do—when in the company of others. Instructor: Morehouse.

Community Learning Outcomes:

1. Inclusive Community Building: Build inclusive communities and professional networks that promote equity, diversity, and belonging by fostering meaningful relationships with peers, faculty, and industry professionals.
2. Purposeful Pathways: Explore personal, academic, and career pathways by identifying goals, reflecting on values, and developing action plans that support lifelong learning and purposeful engagement.
3. Cultivating Capacity: Cultivate leadership, creativity, and critical thinking skills to contribute meaningfully to the Gonzaga and greater Spokane communities.
4. Develop Leadership Skills and Strategies
   Cultivate essential leadership abilities, including effective communication, teamwork, ethical decision-making, and conflict resolution, to lead with confidence and purpose in diverse contexts. Compare and examine ways to further develop new leadership styles, skills, and abilities. Recognize how to be a leader in your classes and how to develop healthy personal habits that will help you lead a successful academic life.

5. Get Involved in Leadership Positions at GU
   Explore how to be a leader in the Gonzaga community and how to shape a caring, respectful, open, and honest community for those around you. Engage with a variety of on-campus GU leadership groups with the options to join in providing leadership to a variety of student leadership organizations and clubs. Engage in experiential learning opportunities, service projects, and campus or community initiatives to practice and refine leadership skills while making a positive impact.

6. Explore Personal Leadership Style and Values
   Reflect on individual leadership strengths, values, and goals to develop a personal leadership philosophy that aligns with making meaningful contributions on campus and beyond the Gonzaga community. Weigh how power and privilege impact your ability to be a leader through various cultural lenses.