Finding my place
in the story of
Gonzaga University
In October 2014, I claimed my place at Gonzaga University, though I had yet to receive the offer of employment I sought. That news came the following month, as I joined the staff of the Marketing & Communications team, specifically as editor of Gonzaga Magazine. And thus began my journey of finding and telling the stories of this renown institution of higher learning.
But the real learning and the real story development began when I entered the School of Leadership Studies as a graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in communications and leadership. From theory and ethics, to intercultural studies and then contemporary strategies to counter hate, I discovered a new path in the Gonzaga story.
And thus was born an extensive research project to uncover more of the Jesuit missions among the Interior Salish tribes of the Northwest in the 1800s as the origin story of Gonzaga University. Through Jesuit and public archives, Native and non-Native scholars, I am eagerly piecing together a more complete story of what has unfolded along the the rivers and mountain passes of the Northwest, with hopes for opportunities to work with others toward truth and reconciliation.