Crew Program Celebrates 25 Years

On Friday, June 18 the Gonzaga Crew community came together to celebrate 25 years of the rowing program on Eye Street. 

The evening included a reunion and dinner, tours of the new crew room in Kohlmann Hall, and a program in Sheehy Theater with Science Teacher and longtime Assistant Coach Paul Hamm '03 serving as the emcee. The crowd--which included alumni, parents, coaches, and fans--watched a short video call of co-founders Matt Weeden ’95 and former faculty member Kevin Harris and then watched a video produced by Frank Vasquez (P '14, '17, and '20) celebrating the history and founding of Gonzaga Crew in 1995 (to watch the full length video tribute, click here). The crowd then heard remarks from several speakers including, former coach and past parent Tom Daley, past parent and current member of the Gonzaga Board of Trustees Dr. Mary Beth Connell, recent Crew alumni Conor Shaheen ’21 and Ryan Link ’21, and current Head Coach Andy Bacas. The videos that were presented in Sheehy Theater are embedded at the bottom of this page.

During his remarks, Tom Daley spoke about what he called "Team Gonzaga" -- "the wider Gonzaga community here on campus, at home, and across the world." 

"Long before I set foot on campus each afternoon," he said, "Team Gonzaga teachers and other professionals -- who could be a thousand other places doing a thousand other things -- take up Gonzaga's mission, choosing to educate our sons in this tradition. Before we coaches ever get to teach port and starboard, bow and stern, members of Team Gonzaga are molding the clay of a young boy into a Gonzaga man, a man for others."

After the program, alumni were invited to sign the wall in the new crew room in Kohlmann Hall. Thank you to everyone who joined us for this special event, and a special thank you to Gonzaga parent Mark Shaheen '86 for all of his help with the planning. We hope you enjoy the great photos and the videos from the evening.



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