Gonzaga University is an exemplary learning community that educates students for lives of leadership and service for the common good.
Service is an integral part of the Gonzaga experience. It’s part of our DNA as Zags. As a Jesuit university, Gonzaga is committed to educating students to be women and men for and with others. Gonzaga students connect with the community to serve and work towards solutions addressing pressing social needs including educational inequality, homelessness, poverty, hunger, and much more.
Be a Zag: Serve
Every year, over 3,000 Zags contribute over 100,000 hours of service to the local, national and global community. Many of these students serve with The Center for Community Action and Service Learning (CCASL), Gonzaga’s official service-learning department. Now over 20 years old, CCASL (pronounced “castle”) is stronger than ever, making a significant impact on the Spokane community while transforming generations of students. CCASL’s 100 student leaders run 17 service programs and guide hundreds of their peers in serving and promoting social justice. I encourage you to read more about CCASL’s leaders, like Cole Fiscus and Courtney Lee, whose lives have been changed by their service and leadership experiences.
No matter your major, your interests, your skills and your time commitment, if you want to serve, you can at Gonzaga.
Mentoring Spokane Youth
“I have to admit I was dreading what the middle school years would bring, but much to my surprise they’ve been the best years of [my granddaughter’s] school life so far – and I do think a large part of that is thanks to [your] program.” This testament, sent by the grandmother of a youth mentee, is one of the countless stories from children and their families about the impact of CCASL’s mentoring programs in their lives. CCASL runs six mentoring programs matching Gonzaga students with elementary and middle school youth; activities include visits to campus, tutoring, athletics, art and more. The programs encourage at-risk youth to engage academically, persist through high school graduation and be ready for college or a career. They also provide transformational experiences for our students, who often feel they receive more from their mentee than they give.
Join a Community of Joy, Friendship
If you were to walk into any session of GUSR, you would likely hear one thing: laughter. Lots of laughter. Whether participating in Special Olympics Basketball or rehearsing for their semi-annual play production, the members of GUSR seem to always have something to smile about. GUSR (Gonzaga University Specialized Recreation), one of CCASL’s many programs, forms a community of Gonzaga students and adults with developmental disabilities from the Spokane community. Together, they participate in sports, create two full-stage play productions, host an annual retreat and work on advocacy and awareness-raising for disability issues. Check out their video campaign to help “End the R Word.” CCASL also has a number of other student engagement programs that work alongside the homeless, recycle and serve food, spend time with seniors just blocks from campus and put on half-day Saturdays of service.
Serve Across the Country (and the world)
Whether working with women and children in New York City; learning about immigration issues in San Diego, CA, or working with refugees in Denver, CO, students on CCASL’s service immersions are deeply changed by their experiences and often form lasting friendships with their peers. CCASL’s service immersion programs, Mission: Possible and Justice in January, send students and staff advisors to twelve locations across the country during winter and spring break to serve, learn about justice issues and form a community with other Gonzaga students. Stay tuned as we will be adding an international service immersion trip to Ecuador in summer 2017.
Getting Involved – for life
The experiences highlighted above are just a fraction of the opportunities offered at Gonzaga. There are a number of departments who host service opportunities, like Science in Action, Saturday Literacy and Zags in Zambezi. We also have over 100 partnerships with non-profit agencies like Catholic Charities, the Hutton Settlement, and Habitat for Humanity.
Through all of these experiences, our students are transformed, and many of them continue their engagement, serving with organizations such as the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, Cristo Rey Schools, and the Peace Corps, which named Gonzaga University #1 amongst small schools four years in a row.
Get Started
To learn more about service at Gonzaga, go to the CCASL website at www.gonzaga.edu/ccasl, e-mail serve@gonzaga.edu or call (509) 313-6824. Applications for most of our volunteer opportunities will open mid-August.
Chris Wheatley (’07 and ’10 GU Alum) is the Associate Director of the Center for Community Action and Service Learning. Volunteering during college changed his life and he loves watching it change the lives of generations of Zags.