The Gonzaga Bulldogs men’s basketball team is gearing up for another strong season and appears destined to give fans more thrills come March Madness. 

It’s important to note, however, that Gonzaga already is giving the Spokane community something big to cheer about with its $250 million capital campaign. 

The private Jesuit university that serves as an anchor of Spokane’s University District has raised $226 million in the first year of the aggressive campaign and has announced a number of large projects that will be funded by dollars donated to the campaign, which is called, “Gonzaga Will: The Campaign for Our Future.”

Gonzaga reports that more than 32,000 campaign contributors have put money toward the effort so far, showing that while some donors have stepped forward with big checks, the campaign has garnered broad-based support. 

Due in large part to the campaign’s success, the school hosted groundbreakings for two major projects in September and has a third ready to come out of the ground next spring. 

Work has started on the Volkar Center for Athletic Achievement, a $24 million building near the McCarthey Athletic Center on the campus’ east end. 

At the other end of the campus, work started in September on the new $12.3 million Jesuit Residence. The 36,000-square-foot building will include both living quarters and office space for Jesuits. 

Next spring, Gonzaga plans to break ground on the Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center, a $30 million facility that will feature a 750-seat theater among its amenities. Preliminary site work has started for the theater building, and the university’s board of trustees will decide whether to give the project final approval in coming months.

Multiple multimillion-dollar projects such as those planned or in the works on the private school’s campus bring work for construction, architecture, and engineering professionals in the short term and stand to make Gonzaga a more attractive option to prospective students in the long run. Having a quality student body at the private school is an instrumental part of the business community’s efforts to attract and retain more emerging professionals. 

Of course, not all expansion at Gonzaga involves bricks and mortar right now. The University of Washington School of Medicine-Gonzaga University Regional Health Partnership brought its first 100 first- and second-year medical students to campus this fall. The start of that partnership, coupled with Washington State University’s new medical school, will ensure more aspiring physicians are trained in Eastern Washington. 

Gonzaga also launched its Center for Public Humanities, Center for Undergraduate Research, and Digital Humanities Initiative.

Collectively, it’s an impressive lineup of new projects and programs. So while the Bulldogs are electrifying crowds on the hardcourts this season, keep in mind that there’s another buzz of GU activity that should bring us to our feet.