Living Off Campus

By Jae Webb and Jill Yashinsky-Wortman, Student Life Case Managers

Students at Gonzaga are required to live on campus for the first two years of their Gonzaga experience.

This is part of what lends to our great sense of community amongst our student body. The act of being in community is something that is a cornerstone of the Jesuit tradition. In fact, Jesuit education includes a core idea of forming students to be men and women in service others. We believe that living in community for the first two years of the Gonzaga experience are the first introductions of how students can be in constant community with others.

There are thousands of stories of adventures that happen when groups of 18 and 19 year olds live together. It’s the unique nature of this community that makes this time in life so memorable. Where else in the world can you find so large a group of burgeoning young adults living together in such community except on a college campus?

The Gonzaga community sits shoulder to shoulder with another community: The Logan Neighborhood.  The Logan Neighborhood is a lot like any neighborhood.  It’s composed of young families just starting out, elderly couples that have seen generation after generation grow up, and everything in between, as well as a general mix of people coming and going.  Our junior and senior students who live off campus are a part of that mix.  Students that are living out in the Logan Neighborhood get the opportunity to have a foot in two communities, both very different, yet both with a strong and proud identity.  Most of our students thrive successfully as members of both communities.  These are the students you can see screaming their heads off at the basketball game and then the next morning (or afternoon) taking out their trash, doing yard work, and helping out their neighbors.  The majority of our students in the Logan Neighborhood are better off for their time there.

We wanted to share some tips with you about how to help your student exist as successful part of the GU community and as part of the local neighborhood.  These are things we share with our students that choose to move off-campus into the Logan neighborhood but also apply to on-campus students that choose to venture from campus into the neighborhood to see friends or socialize:

• Be Safe
  • Don’t walk alone late at night. Campus Security offers an escort service across campus and to houses close to campus for students.  Students can call 509-313-2222 to arrange for an escort.
  • Gonzaga has a free Safe-Ride program available through contacting 509-586-8000. Students who find themselves in an unsafe situation can get a free cab ride home by calling the number above.

• Be Smart
  • Students should always know where they are.  They shouldn’t try and find a place for the first time late at night.
  • Students who live off campus and want to have friends over should keep gatherings small and within legal expectations.  If a gathering looks like a party, the likelihood is that it is going to attract others who may want to join, even if they weren’t invited.  Sometimes these gathering also attract police attention and citations.
  • Gonzaga’s Student Code of Conduct extends to off campus conduct also.  Students are expected to espouse the values of our code of conduct at all times.

• Be Neighborly
  • Students should be aware of how much noise their group may be making – Spokane does have a 24 noise ordinance and the neighborhood is home to families with children as well as the elderly.
  • Student should provide their contact information to their neighbors.  This builds a strong bond and promotes communication if there are issues.
  • We often ask students if their own parents or grandparents would want to live next to them in Logan Neighborhood.  This is often one way to help students consider the impact of their actions on their neighbors.

We want it to be a place that prepares students for the world, forms lasting friendships and memories, and does so in a manner that represents respect and love to those around us.  We truly appreciate the influence that you as parents can have in talking to your student about these issues.  Our hope is that partnering together will help to make this community the best for everyone involved.