Senior Spotlight: Gus Ringo puts the COG in Congress

This piece is part of our Senior Stories series, in which we highlight GU students throughout the year.

Name: Gus Ringo

Studies: Political Science, Communications minor

Hometown: Bellingham, Wash.

Gus Ringo (’24) is part of a unique club that can say they’ve worked in the COG and the United States Capitol. 

Hailing from Bellingham, Washington, Gus got the opportunity in the summer of 2023 to work as a legislative intern with the representative from Washington’s 2nd district, Rick Larsen. 

Applying to work in the House of Representatives, Gus figured it was a long shot that he’d spend the summer on the East Coast. After his Zoom interview (dressed in his finest dress shirt and basketball shorts), Gus didn’t put much thought into his chances. 

At this point, Gus was wrapping up his spring semester of junior year. He spent his time between class, volunteering and living at the Logan House, and working as a key contributor in the COG serving and slicing veggies at Simple Servings. Weeks after his interview sitting in Foley Library, he got an email that nearly knocked his socks off. He’d be crossing the country from the Puget Sound to the Potomac.

Upon making the trip from Washington State to Washington D.C., Gus was crammed into a single-room dorm with three other interns. That was to be home base. From there, he commuted to and from the Capitol every day, working nearly 10-hour days for the whole summer. 

“It was a lot of work,” said Gus. 

Most of those days consisted of giving Capitol tours to constituents, logging data, calls, briefings, and even writing co-sponsorship recommendations. Co-sponsorships are vital to potential legislation as they determine if a bill has enough support to reach the House floor. One of the bills Gus recommended to Rep. Larsen is on the House floor right now.

Of course, he wasn’t able to pick up on everything, as interns aren’t given top-secret clearance. (Even some of Gus’s roommates weren’t allowed to say where they worked.) He took away many positive memorable experiences that propelled him into his final year at GU. 

Throughout his four years, Gus remained involved at Gonzaga and every experience helped shape him into who he is today. Whether it be winning debate competitions, working as a GSBA senior senator, studying abroad and riding a camel in Morocco, or even walking through the Rotunda in D.C.

“It went by fast,” said Gus. “It went by really fast. But, I’m really grateful for all the friends I made and the time I spent here.”