This Work Changes the World

"The Road Less Traveled” – the 1978 inspirational classic by psychiatrist M. Scott Peck – kept peeking out from a bookshelf behind President Thayne McCulloh’s shoulder as he and I sat in his office to discuss the guiding philosophies of his 16-year presidency in 90 minutes.

He wove together the common themes of Gonzaga history and accomplishments – namely the acknowledgment that all good work requires teamwork – and
as I listened, “The Road Less Traveled” remained in my line of vision.

Apropos, I decided. If there is a way to represent the path McCulloh took as a layperson leading a Jesuit school during its rise to national limelight, “The Road Less Traveled” could be it.
Peck’s work describes the attributes of a fulfilled human experience – “the ability to delay gratification, accept responsibility for oneself, a dedication to truth, and balancing” as well as “reconciling multiple, complex, possibly conflicting factors that impact an important decision on one’s own behalf or on behalf of another.”

In my decade writing stories about McCulloh, nothing has brought such light to the workings of his mind and heart as this outlook from “The Road Less Traveled.” All the descriptors – the responsibility, commitment to truth, evaluating complexities for the greater good (my words) –represent his presidency quite accurately.

The Pursuit of Excellence

Relentlessly pursuing excellence is a focus Thayne McCulloh (’89) adopted early in his tenure as president of Gonzaga University, first as interim in 2009 and then formally in 2010. That pursuit of excellence wasn’t his to claim; he says it was the foundation of predecessors like Father Edward Glynn, Harry Sladich, Father Robert Spitzer and Father Bernard “Barney” Coughlin – the pulse of Gonzaga as president and chancellor for 42 years.

“In the early ’90s, Barney said we have to be more selective and more focused on becoming a higher- quality institution, and he set us on a path towards pursuing that,” McCulloh says.

His relationship with Fr. Coughlin went back to his early days as a nontraditional student, having first served in the Army as a way of paying for his education. Coughlin, originally from Galveston, Texas, had heard McCulloh’s home state of record was Texas and quickly sought a connection.

Their ties would deepen as McCulloh took his first job at Gonzaga in student life, and when he questioned whether to return to Oxford for a second year of graduate studies, Coughlin was quick to assure him he would still have a job at the University when he returned.

McCulloh did so, picking up where he left off, adding teaching classes in psychology to his slate. Stints in financial aid, academics and administration followed, and in 2009, when McCulloh was serving as interim academic vice president, board leaders looked to him to be president on an interim basis before offering him the permanent role. At just 44 years old with three young children, McCulloh was hesitant to accept. But Coughlin again offered assurance, acknowledging the sacrifices of the role and promising to support him.

The trajectory set, and pursued, by his predecessors was essential for McCulloh’s leadership of Gonzaga’s continued – and deepened – focus on becoming a premier national institution. Because, as he says, “The peril of not relentlessly pursuing excellence is that we’re not going to survive. It’s just that simple.”

Together, We Are Gonzaga

At McCulloh’s 2010 inauguration in a packed McCarthey Athletic Center, delegates representing the boards, Jesuits, alumni, benefactors and community leaders all presented their challenges and hopes for his presidency: McCulloh was to serve, inspire others to serve, and to do so selflessly.

If McCulloh had considered an escape route (he was, after all, cloaked in the Oxford gown he calls his “Dracula cape”), he was soon reassured by another consistent message ringing loud and clear from each speaker that day: This is a community. Together, we are Gonzaga. We are a team.

That notion became McCulloh’s rallying cry.

“I have always been conscious that this is a ‘we’ project, not an ‘I’ project. If we don’t collaborate, the work is not going to be as effective,” he says. “You could look at a list of Gonzaga’s major accomplishments, and there’s nothing that would be there without a dependence on a lot of other people to get it done.”

New facilities, advanced programs, building the endowment – those are all important pieces of growing in national prestige and points of progress over the course of McCulloh’s tenure (see page 24 for examples). But equally significant to him are the waysthe University responds to the national challenges facing higher education, everything from questioning its value to ensuring it is addressing pressing issues like shortages in health care providers and an alarming housing crisis.

“We have our moments when we’re like, ‘Is this going to work?’ But then we go to an arena for something like December’s Battle in Seattle men’s basketball. Twenty-thousand people show up and most of them are there for GU and even people who aren’t alums are enthusiastic and supportive of us,” McCulloh says.

From the exuberant cheering of basketball fans, to the benefactors who translate their financial support into bold ideas, to the faculty and staff modeling for students what it means to be a responsible and caring member of society – collectively, this propels us as a team.

Being Jesuit, Without Being a Jesuit

McCulloh was the first president not to be a Jesuit since Gonzaga’s founding in 1887, other than two short interim stints by the beloved Harry Sladich, who served the University in other roles for 40+ years. Some supporters questioned: How could a Jesuit university retain its deep Ignatian mission under a lay leader?

But he had a strong circle of Jesuits around him – several who taught him in classes, others who knew him as a young staffer – who liked to say they watched him grow up.
Gonzaga Jesuits are some of McCulloh’s biggest fans, as it turns out. He represents the Society of Jesus as well as some who wear the collar.

Father Michael Graham, S.J., former president of Xavier University, Cincinnati, met McCulloh at a time when there was an influx of lay people becoming presidents at Jesuit schools and says, “I always had a soft spot in my heart for them, because they were coming into such a different world.”

“I can’t begin to tell you the number of times where it’s clear that Thayne likes deflecting the attention from himself to the people around him, to the folks who do catering, or the folks in residence life, or fill in the blank. He doesn’t need to polish his own reputation. He prefers to shine the spotlight on unsung people.”

Father Bob Lyons, S.J., longtime broadcasting professor and current chaplain at GU, says, “People see Thayne as a leader and relate to him as a friend. Thayne brought people together. Even when they did not agree, he created a climate of civility and respect.”

Lyons credits McCulloh with updating and defining the relationship among the University, the Society of Jesus, the Jesuit Community and the Board of Members (GU Jesuits) with language that “shifted the relationship from seeing Jesuits as watchdogs over the University’s operation to one of active collaboration.”

“I believe that’s a big deal,” he says. Perhaps, says Joe Poss (’97), vice president of University Advancement, it took having a layperson in the president’s seat to ensure GU had the mission formation opportunities needed to maintain Jesuit values in an era of rapidly declining numbers of priests.

“If you look at where we are today in terms of Jesuit formation – all the programs for faculty, staff and students – that's an important part of Thayne’s legacy,” Poss says. “It took a person who didn’t go through the practice of becoming a Jesuit, but who is very Jesuit, to understand the importance of having those programs in place.”

Poss also believes McCulloh modeled a new focus on work-life balance that inspired faculty and staff. “Thayne’s experience as a dad and husband brought new perspective we hadn’t seen before.”

High Praise

“Here’s what I like about Thayne,” says Blaine Garvin, professor of political science at GU for 54 years. “He is open and approachable. What other university has a president that everybody calls by his first name?”

Garvin recalls clearly how campus felt back in 2009. “Let me be frank. We were dispirited,” he says. “Thayne took on the presidency at a time of discontent and forged a happier, more productive university.”

Another professor was overheard saying to a new faculty member, “He is healing us,” Garvin recalls.

Ann Ciasullo (’92), professor of English and women, gender and sexuality studies, was an undergraduate student at the same time as McCulloh.

“Everyone knew Thayne,” she says. “To quote a recent movie title, he was ‘everything, everywhere, all at once.’ He was a resident director and student body president, but more than that – even then
– he was a person who embodied the values and spirit of Gonzaga.”

Ciasullo continues: “I’ve had many interactions with Thayne over the years, some of them on difficult or controversial issues, and in every circumstance, I knew he did not arrive at his decisions lightly. His thoughtfulness and his willingness to listen and learn – from students, from faculty, from staff – distinguishes his leadership.”

Interim Provost Mia Bertagnolli (’88) agrees.

Bertagnolli cites the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal and its widespread impact, plus major changes in the higher education landscape that impacted enrollment and finances. And then the COVID-19 pandemic response plan. “His dedication to the experience of our students and to the well-being of our community has been consistent and powerful and has earned him a level of trust that is rare for an academic leader.”

Professor of English Tod Marshall recalls McCulloh taking time out of his busy schedule to visit students in a first-year seminar on visionaries. “He joined us late in the semester, when the anxious newbie students of late August had transformed into jaded scholars who moved with confidence and had figured everything out. Not everything: When they realized the president was coming to chat with them about the question ‘What is a visionary?’ and, most importantly, listen to them, they were a bit awestruck and remembered why they came to Gonzaga.”

Serving the Common Good

Blaine Garvin, one of Gonzaga’s longest-serving faculty members, says, “I almost said that I can’t imagine a better president. But there was Fr. Coughlin. Coming in second to Fr. Coughlin ought to be honor enough.”

For all who knew Coughlin, that message is clear. But for those less familiar, Marshall adds this perspective: “During his tenure, Thayne navigated Gonzaga through economic challenges, conflict driven by hate, anxiety about the future of higher education, and grief about the loss of members of our community. In all these circumstances, his manner was measured yet thoughtful, transparent and steady.”

McCulloh’s care is evidenced by the length of time he offered the board to find his successor. Months before the new president would be named, McCulloh was putting frameworks in place, documenting structures and preparing donors and the campus community.

“McCulloh has been an incredible president,” says Christy Larsen (’88), who, as chair of the Board of Trustees when he announced plans to retire, led the process to find his successor. “He has done amazing things for the University, and he cares about this institution. Our job wasn’t to replace him or remedy the things we think he didn’t do well. It was to find someone else who understands the landscape.”

Katia Passerini, Ph.D., fills that bill (see story, p. 28), and McCulloh stands ready to support her.

“I want to be of service to Dr. Passerini and for her to feel like she has a resource at the ready that is going to be authentic and confidential,” McCulloh says. “I just want to optimize her success.”

He knows the risks and the responsibilities of trying to lead a place where 18-year-olds come to discover who they are while their parents have expectations of what the University will do to safeguard their every move and ensure their success. He understands the demands of regulations and the dwindling public support of higher education. He gets the complexities of following enrollment trends and the nuance of being prestigious but also accessible.

To McCulloh, all those things are in service to the common good.

“There are a lot of people struggling in our society and across the array of dimensions of existence, you know? We were supporting students who were technically non-citizens before DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) ever came on the horizon. There are others who would never have been able to finish if we had not provided support. There are students who lost parents, whose families had to make hard decisions about what to do next. With our support, some of them stayed. What we do here changes people’s lives,” McCulloh says.

“And when we change people’s lives, we change the opportunity for society,” he continues, “because Gonzaga grads are going to go out and do work that changes others’ lives.”

That’s a perspective McCulloh continually brought himself back to amid criticism or frustrations. He recalls a period while serving on the board of Providence Health Care when he would occasionally go to Spokane’s Sacred Heart Medical Center’s Children’s Hospital and stand at the nursery window where the tiniest infants struggled with their beginnings.

“All of a sudden, my own issues were a little different,” he says. “And then I realized that we teach the people who take care of those babies, and some day in the future, I may be taken care of by a GU nurse.”

"Our culture needs well-educated people who bring with them a sense of dignity for human life. Gonzaga’s work is in service of the belief that this is a noble purpose, a great goodness worth doing.

“Take GSBA President Maddie Ediger (’25). Listen to her talk so passionately about her experience and the things she’s concerned about and how much she loves this place and what Gonzaga has done for her,” McCulloh says.

Pulling a notecard off his bookshelf, he continues:

“Take Michael Larson (’21), a former foster child who came to GU and explored his studies on the streets of Spokane and then went on to create a nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness of housing challenges and solutions. He recently wrote a note to me that says, ‘As you finish out your last year as president, I hope you know that what you did helped to catalyze my work of doing justice for
the world.’ ”

As McCulloh places the handwritten card back on the bookshelf among others next to “The Road Less Traveled,” he says, “This is why we do this work. This is our call.”