Christy Larsen Reflects on Time as Board Chair

Sowing the Seeds of Leadership

On any given day you might find Christy Larsen (’88) elbow deep in dirt, wrangling a herd of goats or sitting in a Gonzaga Board of Trustees meeting helping determine the direction of the University.

The mortgage executive-turned-farmer served as GU’s first female chair of the Board of Trustees for the past three years, leading through countless big moments and challenges – most recently selecting and sitting on the committee that ultimately decided Gonzaga’s next president.

It’s a role she took very seriously.

 

“Our goal was to be thoughtful, deliberate and methodical,” she says. “Higher education is a unique landscape; you have to understand the economics of it and the challenges that come with it.”

After more than a decade serving the University in various roles, Larsen is well-traveled in this particular landscape, in both the good and the bad. It was with her at the helm that Gonzaga was able to transition back to some sense of normalcy after the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. In September 2022, Larsen was selected by President Thayne McCulloh to represent the University and meet Pope Francis, a moment she called the “experience of a lifetime.”

Then in May 2024, Larsen played a critical role in celebrating the 60th anniversary of Gonzaga-in-Florence, a program she’s always felt a particular kinship with from the moment she set foot on campus as a student.

Through all she’s experienced, Larsen maintains McCulloh’s appointment as the first lay president was a defining moment for the University.

“That was a major change for the institution,” Larsen says. “It was the breakthrough that led to hundreds of other breakthroughs.”

McCulloh opened the door for change and, in turn, pushed Gonzaga’s appeal outside the bounds of the Pacific Northwest. In other words, she believes his leadership helped put the University on a larger map.

“McCulloh has been an incredible president. He’s done amazing things for the University, and he deeply cares about this institution.” She says this knowing Gonzaga is now on the precipice of another standout moment, the first new president in 16 years.

“Our job was not to replace him or remedy the things we think he didn’t do well. It was to find someone else who understands the landscape.”

Larsen never was a typical board chair.

As the first woman to hold the position in Gonzaga’s history – her appointment was a breakthrough in itself.

“I’m so very proud,” she says, “to be a part of an institution that recognizes leadership qualities regardless of gender.”

“It was a big deal – for her and the institution,” says Pat Reese, a senior principal giving officer in University Advancement. “And although she has had to navigate some challenges, which isn’t uncommon for board chairs, she’s handled them thoroughly and thoughtfully. She’s a good listener, a collaborator and a critical thinker.”

Larsen feels her historic title means even more for those who will come after her.

“I think the most important thing about it,” she says, “is that other young women at Gonzaga and beyond will see that if they’re authentic to who they are, their talents and their skills will be recognized.”

Larsen’s skillset is unique – ranging between the likes of Julia Child and Mike Rowe’s “Dirty Jobs.” Not two people you’d typically read about in the same sentence, but Larsen, taking a few characteristics from each and many more, is truly one of a kind.

After starting her professional career in the mortgage business and retiring in 2001, Larsen turned to her roots for guidance on what to do next. At the heart of her Italian family is a deep love and appreciation for good food. "Fabulous cooks” is what she calls them, and tells stories of waking up on Sunday mornings to the warm aroma of Sunday supper already slow-roasting in the oven.

Sizzling olive oil, roasted garlic and the crackling crust of fresh baked bread – her next steps seemed obvious. In 2003, Larsen enrolled in the California School of Culinary Arts specializing in pastry and baking.

“Cooking has always been an important part of my life,” she continues, saying her mother taught her to value real, whole foods. “She was kind of crunchy that way,” Larsen laughs, but the impact was clear. She graduated from culinary school and eventually decided she needed to know exactly where her food came from.

“It started with me wanting to control what we ate.” It then spiraled into what she calls the farming starter package. “A couple of chickens, ducks, goats and dogs. Lo and behold, two years later, you’ve got a hundred animals and you’re eating year-round off your land.”

Larsen and her husband Mike, who comes from a family of cranberry growers and cheesemakers, did just that on a plot of land, off the beaten path, in San Miguel, Calif. They call it Vicarious Ranch, after friends and family repeatedly told them they wanted to live vicariously through them.

They’ve embraced the name, but Larsen says farming is not nearly as glamorous as it’s made out to be, especially on social media.

“People have this idea that you wake with the sun and do some yoga with baby goats and you’re a farmer!” She’s laughing, but says the truth is a little grimier.

 

“You are dirty most of the time. You're exhausted all of the time, and things never go the way you want them to.” She smiles before adding, “But that’s the beauty of it, right?”

A lifelong lesson in taking control and letting go of it too.

Now with the presidential search behind her, Larsen is stepping down with three years as board chair under her belt. She believes her future role at Gonzaga is one of support.

“I still see myself as someone who is responsible for making sure the University continues on the right trajectory,” Larsen says. “But I’m no longer in charge, so I will follow the lead of the new president and the new chair, Mike Reilly (’81), and I will support them as best I can.”

To the University as a whole, she is gracious, “for being supportive throughout the search, for being open and honest with the team and giving us the parameters to determine our next great president. It’s evident to me we have a place where everybody deeply cares about the institution and the students. I just want to say I see it, I recognize it and I appreciate it.”