Note: This message was originally sent on May 10, 2024
In a “normal year” the Class of 2023 photo you see above is a tradition Gonzaga undertakes with each incoming first-year class during their orientation week. Fall of 2020 was not a normal year, which means that unfortunately, there is no Class of 2024 photo like it. Instead, this class was greeted with images like the ones below – one from the August 12, 2020 edition of the Gonzaga Bulletin depicting the make-up of the class (with a masked bulldog at the center); another image was the ever-present “reopening campus plan” graphic that would link members of the Gonzaga community to the details they needed to plan for a very different start of the academic year.
In the fall of 2020, Gonzaga was one of the first universities in the western United States to welcome students back to campus, maintaining support for students through both in-person and hybrid instruction. It was an unprecedented time that was met by an unprecedented class who rose to the challenge. I encourage you to read: Reflections from the “COVID Class.” In particular, one reflection that really stood out to me from this piece is from Sydney Fluker ’24:
“Patience, empathy, endurance. Whether or not I am aware of it, I carry the lessons I learned through life on a college campus during the pandemic with me everywhere.”
Today the campus is abuzz with families and friends gathering for events as we prepare to celebrate 1,932 graduates in three separate ceremonies. For the 1,148 undergraduates who will walk across the stage on Sunday morning, we know this will be a very special moment, as they did not get to experience an in-person ceremony when they graduated from high school. We are all so proud of what these students have achieved – starting college in the early days of a global pandemic and for “the lessons” they have learned that they will carry through life.
We are also incredibly grateful to Gonzaga’s staff and faculty colleagues who worked incredibly hard to support these graduates over the last several years. We are grateful for the alumni, benefactors and friends who stepped forward with financial support, internships, mentoring, career advice and so much more. This Gonzaga community has circled around these Zags to help them grow and develop into the graduates they are today. We are incredibly excited to see what they will do for their communities and professions, or wherever they may land.
You can follow along with all the festivities this weekend here!