Living in a Jesuit Community at Gonzaga
By: Brad Reynolds, S.J.
If you ever find yourself on Highway 93, outside of Missoula, Montana, pull over when you reach Stevensville. The first Jesuit mission in the northwest was established there in 1841 by Fr. Peter DeSmet and five companions. The church and the Jesuit residence are still there and can be toured. A visit is well worth the stop!
Forty-six years later, Father Joseph Cataldo opened Gonzaga College on the banks of the Spokane River. There were 18 students that first year, and 17 Jesuits. Tuition was $250. Oh, for the good old days!
Today, 129 years later, the incoming class of students will total over 1,200. And the tuition? Well, if you multiply that $250 by the number of years Gonzaga has existed, you’ll come close. Surprisingly, the number of Jesuits at Gonzaga has remained about the same. This year our Jesuit community has 20 members.
The Gonzaga Jesuit community is just as dedicated to this campus and the students as our forefathers. We work as administrators, teachers, staff members and campus ministers. Eight of us are living in residence halls as chaplains. Yes, living in the midst of 200 or more young men and women your own student’s age. My heroes have always been chaplains.
We will meet your students in the residence halls, the classrooms, the dining halls, the chapels and the sidewalks that connect all of campus. We will welcome students into the Gonzaga community, and then we will teach them, counsel them, laugh with them, pray with them, encourage them and sometimes, perhaps, even scold them. We will love them. For those of us who continue the Jesuit traditions on this campus, there is no one here more important than your student. You can take that to the bank.
I want to describe two opportunities to get to know more about the Jesuits, our history and our traditions. One is for you and one is for your student.
At this year’s Parent and Family Orientation, there will be a presentation about the Jesuits, just for you. It will be in St. Aloysius Catholic Church on Saturday, August 27th, at 9 a.m. And for your students, make sure they know about the annual Pilgrimage to the Old Jesuit Mission at Cataldo, Idaho. That will be on Saturday, September 17th. It’s a 10-mile hike with stops for rest, reflection and prayer. About 200 people participate, so it’s a good way to get to know folks, besides learning something about the history of the Jesuits, how they came into the northwest and ended up at Gonzaga. At the end, there’s a barbecue lunch, followed by Mass. It’s a great experience that has been going on for almost 50 years. (And parents, it’s open to everyone in the Gonzaga community, including yourselves!)
As this new academic year gets underway, know that the Gonzaga Jesuit community will do everything we can to make this an incredible experience for your student, and indeed, your family. In those immortal words of our founder, St. Ignatius Loyola: “Go Zags!”
Brad Reynolds, S.J.