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Gonzaga University belongs to a long and distinguished tradition of humanistic, Catholic, and Jesuit education. The trustees and regents, faculty, administration and staff of Gonzaga, are committed to preserving and developing that Christian tradition and communicating it to the students and alumni.

Gonzaga College started in 1881 with $936 in hard silver dollars. It bought Gonzagas founder, Father Joseph Cataldo, S.J., 320 acres of land and water, what people then referred to as the old piece of gravel near the falls. Six years later, the College officially opened the doors of its only building for young Scholastics, whose ambition it is to become priests. Exclusively for boys, the College was under the charge of the Jesuit priests. Enrollment for the 1887-88 academic year was 18 boys and young men.

Today, it is known as Gonzaga University, a private, four-year institution of higher education. More than 105 buildings dot the 131-acre campus overlooking the Spokane River. Students include both women and men, who can enroll in a multitude of undergraduate or graduate programs. 

A constant throughout the years is Gonzagas educational philosophy, based on the centuries-old Ignatian model of educating the whole person – mind, body and spirit. At Gonzaga, students discover how to integrate science and art, faith and reason, action and contemplation. "Cura personalis," or care for the individual, is our guiding theme.