To Be Continued? Absolutely!
I began my career here Nov. 17, 1981, following three years honing my chops as a reporter at The Spokesman-Review and a year at the Muscular Dystrophy Association raising dough for Jerry’s kids.
I loved both jobs, but when then-Athletic Director Dan Fitzgerald asked if I’d like to interview for a job at Gonzaga, I was taken aback. Why me? Apparently, colleagues at the paper had told Fitz I might be a good fit for sports information director. After a half-hour “interview,” Fitz talking for 25 of those 30 minutes, he asked: “When can you start?”
So began a blessing so impactful on my life that even this storyteller has a hard time putting it into words.
Admittedly, when I began my work here, I didn’t know if a Jesuit was a nut, acorn or pinecone. I later found out it was an order of Catholic priests, highly regarded as educators, opening new frontiers for people to find God in all things.
Some of the greatest, most impactful human beings I have ever known are Jesuits, people like Fathers Art Dussault, Pat Ford, Peter Ely (who married my wife, Mary, and me on old Pecarovich baseball field), Tony Lehmann, Robert Spitzer, Ken Krall and the most influential mentor in my life, Bernard Coughlin (pronounced BURR-nerd COG-lynn).
Barney, as his friends called him, instilled within me an understanding that being an effective leader starts with love and care for people. And he was a shining example because nearly everyone who met him fell in love with this caring, charismatic and genuine soul.
During the nearly 43 years I have walked these grounds I have witnessed tremendous growth in every aspect of university operations: particularly in fundraising (endowment increased from $1 million when Coughlin took over to almost $500 million today), and infrastructure (more than three dozen new buildings or major grounds projects, and significant expansion and renovation projects). Countless new academic majors, minors, concentrations, certificate programs, delivery systems, new schools and departments and an increasingly highly trained faculty educating our children are big parts of Gonzaga’s success.
As a result, for the last four years, Gonzaga has been ranked among the Top 100 colleges and universities in the nation.
Our graduates lead courts, cities, all kinds of businesses, industries and hospitals. Spokane-area schools are led by Gonzaga-educated teachers, counselors, principals and superintendents. Our institution is led by one, too.
I look at Ed Taylor (’82, ’85 M.Ed.), our undergraduate commencement speaker this spring, vice provost and dean of undergraduate academic affairs at the University of Washington, and a basketball player at GU when I arrived. He recently told a group of faculty and staff about feeling alone when he arrived here. Then he started hanging with Jesuit scholastics, whom he saw quietly walking campus in thoughtful reflection. Soon, basketball and the Gonzaga community began to come together for him, and he started building friendships. Look at him now!
Gonzaga brings people together and sends them out to make the world a better place. Zag grads lead the way.
As public relations director for 22 years, I and our wonderful team helped Gonzaga through some tough issues – racial harassment of GU law students and the University’s part in establishing the Spokane Task Force on Race Relations, the very short presidency of one Jesuit followed by an extraordinary 11-year term by his successor, and the arrest of a well-known student athlete (who recovered, thanks in part to the care of Gonzaga).
I marvel at the things I never thought I’d see here during my career: a player in the NBA (now, I don’t have enough hands and feet to count them all); 25 straight trips to the NCAA basketball tournament by the men and 15 overall tournament appearances by the women, both teams supported so well by this Spokane community; the University’s ranking as one of the 100 best academic institutions in the country; a student center as nice as the Hemmingson Center; a highly regarded lay president (who shall remain nameless); a campus ranked among the country’s 56 most beautiful (thanks to our tremendous grounds crew); and an amazing core of skilled academicians and administrators planning for the future of higher education that seems impossible to predict.
This place has immeasurably blessed my family – wife Mary (’84), son Ben (’16), daughter Brook (’21), all Zags – and I am forever grateful for Gonzaga’s positive impact on our lives.
This campus and our buildings are beautiful. But what makes this place special is our community of people – staff, faculty, administrators, Trustees, Regents, friends, and most of all, our students. They are what have kept me here. They make a difference.
I retire in September, but I will always be a part of this precious Gonzaga community. It’s always a great day to be a Zag.
As a good friend to many of us would always say in parting, "God bless you. To be continued . . ."
The Goodwins - Ben, Mary, Dale and Brook - in 2022 when Dale received an honor from GU's Board of Trustees.
Editor's Note
Surveys among Gonzaga's alumni audience show that favorite stories from Gonzaga Magazine are nearly always those written by Dale Goodwin. His flare for human interest pieces, historical accounts and Mystery Zags are the most beloved. Readers will be glad to know that Dale will continue to pen such pieces for GU publications! If you have a note to share about Dale's imprint, please visit this page: gonzaga.edu/editor.
And to read more about Dale's illustrious career at Gonzaga, check out these pieces:
- Alumni
- Alumni
- Gonzaga Magazine
