Lilia Klute and Cade Hajovsky

John Collett
Emerging Media
5 April 2023
Podcast Script

Podcast Name: Getting to Know Gonzaga

Episode Title: Behind the Mission
Description: This episode focuses on Gonzaga University’s mission statement and specifically
the promise to educate students as “the whole person.” We explore what being educated as the
whole person means to students, how Gonzaga has successfully lived out the mission
statement, and what areas the school could improve in. We interviewed two seniors, an
education major and an engineering major, as well as a freshman who is transferring to a
different university at the end of the year.

MUSIC: (fade in/fade out) quiet enough in the background to hear answers

NARRATOR: Do you think that Gonzaga has educated you as a whole person?

STUDENT PARTICIPANTS SELECTED AT RANDOM: Yes. No. No. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
Yeah. Yes. No. Yes. No. Yes. No. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

CADE: Hello and welcome to “Getting to Know Gonzaga.” I'm Cade.

LILIA: I'm Lilia.

CADE: On this week's episode, we are figuring out what students think about Gonzaga
University's mission statement.

LILIA: To start off, we went around the Hemmingson Student Center and asked students
whether they think the Gonzaga education has educated them as a whole person just from their
core curriculum.

CADE: We had a mixed review of yeses and noes and so we decided to dive a little bit deeper,
interviewing several students from different majors and backgrounds to get a better idea if the
Gonzaga mission statement has truly educated people as the whole person. For our first set of
interviews, we talked to junior Kelly Bender and senior Olivia Tufte and asked them the
question, what does being educated as a whole person mean to you?

KELLY: Hi, I'm Kelly Bender. I'm majoring in special education with certifications and special
education and general education, and I'm a junior.

LILIA: Awesome, thank you so much, Kelly. We're excited to talk to you today. Our first
question is: what does being educated as a whole person mean to you?

KELLY: I think it means being aware of what's going on around you. Not just in like, obviously
your own personal life, but in society as well, and being aware of the different facets that holds
and how you can be an active participant, and aware, and take part in those things.

LILIA: Do you think Gonzaga has successfully educated you beyond the classroom?
KELLY: Yeah, I think it's has done a really good job of that as much as we complain about the
core curriculum. I think there's something to be said about, like what conversations come out of
some of those classes. And as much as like philosophy can be annoying, I think there's some
really good topics that we discussed, and so, I think it does a great job at well-rounded
education.

LILIA: Do you think certain majors receive a more well-rounded education compared to others?

KELLY: I mean, I'm a little biased, I'm not sure entirely. I know for education; we talk a lot about
like minorities and people who fall into different categories. And so, I think there's a lot of
education within the education school that we cover, but I can't speak on other majors and
things like that.

MUSIC: (fade in/fade out)

LILIA: Now I'm sitting with a Gonzaga senior Olivia Tufte who studies mechanical engineering.
She’s going to answer a few questions for us about the mission statement. Olivia, what does
being educated as the whole person mean to you?

OLIVIA: To me that would mean learning about more than what I get to see every day, so
learning about other beliefs, other cultures, other places in the world, and also other just
demographic regions in the city that I live in.

LILIA: Do you think Gonzaga has done a good job of educating you as a whole person?

OLIVIA: I think for the most part in core classes I've gotten a really good understanding of that,
like, ethics and stuff like that. I think as an engineering major, the mission statement, and
learning as a whole person isn't necessarily incorporated into my engineering courses as much
as it might be in like psych major courses or even business major courses. I think, in
engineering classes, it could be incorporated more frequently and more heavily emphasized.

LILIA: Is that why you take part in certain extracurriculars? Is that what motivates you to get
more of that holistic education that you might not get in your classes or not so much?

OLIVIA: Yeah, I think like being involved in certain mission & ministry activities, and I don't know
just trying to meet other people in different majors. That gives me an understanding of the whole
person more than I think I would just if I went to class. I definitely do try and put myself out
there.

MUSIC: (fade in/fade out)

LILIA: So, from what we’ve heard upperclassmen have ranging opinions and experiences
depending on their major or the school that they studied in. So, we thought we would talk to a
freshman named Bridget to see what her perspective is after only attending Gonzaga for one
year.

BRIDGET: Hi, my name is Bridget, and I am a freshman. I'm studying psychology and I will be
transferring to Biola next year. Being educated as a whole person, to me, means to be educated
spiritually, culturally, and socially. I definitely think Gonzaga has successfully educated me
beyond just the classroom. I have learned so much culturally and socially that I have not been
educated on before. My worldview has been stretched and challenged for sure.
LILIA: Next, we asked whether Gonzaga style of education has contributed to her decision to
transfer or not.

BRIDGET: Gonzaga’s style of education has contributed to my reasons for transferring is

definitely not my primary reason because I have truthfully really enjoyed my classes and I've
enjoyed being challenged. I've enjoyed my professors and my classmates, but I think that for
me personally, I just desire to be educated with a Christian worldview being the primary reason
for the education as a Christian I just believe that my purpose is to love God and love others
and show people God that's my purpose as a Christian. I don't think that's the primary like
purpose for this education and so, for me personally, that's just what I desire and that's why I'll
be transferring to a university that has more of a Christian worldview.

MUSIC: (fade in/fade out)

CADE: After talking with these students, it's clear to us that Gonzaga has room to grow in the
way that educates students as a whole person. We wanted to ask our interviewees about the
ways they think that Gonzaga could improve and educating all the students at the university as
a whole people.

BRIDGET: I think Gonzaga could do a better job of living out the mission statement of educating
students spiritually. Like I said, I'm a freshman so I haven't taken religion courses. But I think
that there isn't much integration with the affiliation with the Jesuit church and that doesn't really
play out in the classes from my experience. I also think Gonzaga could do a better job of stating
in their mission statement, they talk about creating leaders and people who live out the common
good. I think if the Gonzaga really established what that standard of the common good is, they
would kind of live that out a little bit better.

OLIVIA: From my experience, I would have liked to take more core classes because that is part
of the reason I picked Gonzaga was to get a liberal arts education. I would have liked to have
more core classes and more religion courses and ethics courses.

MUSIC: (fade in/fade out)

LILIA: Thank you all so much for tuning in to “Getting to Know Gonzaga: Behind the Mission.”

CADE: We hope you learned something about what the mission statement means to the
student body at Gonzaga University.

LILIA: I’m Lilia.

CADE: I'm Cade.

LILIA: We'll see you next week.

MUSIC: (fade in/fade out)