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The following are all submissions received between January and July 2025.

You’re Gonna Laugh

Every comedian’s path to the stage is unique, but there are a few common traits. A desire to make people laugh. An inquisitive mind. An ability to look at a situation from a perspective most wouldn’t consider.

For Dan Cummins (’99, psychology), all of those traits are certainly part of what’s led him from growing up in small-town Riggins, Idaho, to four years at Gonzaga, to performing comedy across the country and hosting massively popular podcasts from his Coeur d’Alene studio. Cummins (pictured above) credits his years at Gonzaga with expanding his world outlook in a way that made his comedy career possible.

“What I’m really thankful for is Gonzaga’s educational style, the focus on diverse core classes where you have to take critical thinking, theology, philosophy classes,” Cummins says. “Just the overall well-rounded education has served me really well.”

In a 2023 stand-up special, Cummins tells the packed theater that despite all our differences, we need to keep talking to each other as human beings. That enthusiasm and advocacy for leaning into tension and communicating respectfully is something that resonates with anyone familiar with a Gonzaga education. And Cummins’ popular podcast “Timesuck” – a weekly deep dive into history, conspiracy theories and mysteries – certainly benefits from the liberal arts education and research skills learned while he was a 51�Թ�.

“‘Timesuck’ is built on being curious” Cummins says. “It’s built on critical thinking. It’s approaching topics analytically, with humor. I owe a tremendous debt to Gonzaga for shaping my mind in a way to want that, because who I was when I showed up at Gonzaga and who I was when I graduated are wildly different. I grew up a lot and became more of a global citizen thanks to the Study Abroad program.”

And More to Laugh 51�Թ�

’21 Isabel Thurston and her husband (below) opened Goof’s Comedy Club in Boston, after meeting in the comedy scene and running a show from their basement for the last three years.

Beyond 50

In 1992, Debra (Bailey) Whitman left Gonzaga with a degree in economics, minors in math and international studies, and fond memories of experiences at Gonzaga in Florence. Over the following decades, she’d complete master’s and doctoral degrees in economics and found her way into the field of aging. She was staff director for the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging – a role that allowed her to advocate for retirement security, lower health care costs and better protection for seniors.

For the last decade, Whitman has further served seniors through AARP, where she is executive vice president and chief public policy officer, leading policy development, analysis and research, as well as global thought leadership advancing the interests of individuals age 50-plus. She serves on several boards, including the National Advisory Council on Aging for the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Aging, the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, the National Coalition on Health Care, and the Pension Rights Center.

As Whitman approached her own 50th birthday, she dove deeper into questions of aging from a more personal perspective. Last year, the economist-turned-expert-on-aging authored “The Second Fifty: Answers to the 7 Big Questions of Midlife and Beyond.”

Promoted!

’01 Scott Peters was elected to the bench of the Pierce County Superior Court. (above right)
’03 Josh Gana is assistant vice president for 51�Թ� life and the executive director of housing and food services at the University of Washington.
’06 Jill Fitzgerald achieved full professor, the highest academic rank available, at the United States Naval Academy.
’11 Ryan Candee is assistant professor of medicine at the University of Colorado. He also received an award from the Department of Internal Medicine for Excellence in Education.
’23 Matthew Loutsis is operations procurement agent structures III at the Boeing Company. (above middle)
'23 Ph.D. Nicky Freeburg is president of Escuela de Guadalupe, Denver’s only dual-language Catholic school. (above left)

Of Note

’02 Jaymie Fuentes, ’03 Stephanie Hartsog and ’13 Kaitlin Monnahan work in leading roles at Seismic, an AI-powered revenue enablement platform. All three credit their foundational education from the Gonzaga School of Business Administration, particularly from Peggy Sue Loroz, with shaping their customer-first approach.
’04, ’16 Brenda (Proznick) Hulett completed her Ph.D. in nursing at Washington State University and now teaches nursing at Eastern Washington University.
’13 Erik Fuentes founded True Edge Engineering, the first and only state-certified, minority-owned dedicated civil engineering firm in Spokane.
’14 Alicia Wolfe and her husband opened a coworking, community gathering center in Cambutal, Panama, called La Colectiva. (above right)
’16 Karrie Miyamoto joined Animal Urgent Care in Denver, Col. after graduating from St. Georges University Veterinary Medical School. She specializes in surgery for small animals. (above left)
’21 J.D. Justin Meyer joined the Portland office of Baker Sterchi as an associate. His practice focuses on mass tort, personal injury, complex litigation and legal malpractice.
’22 M.A. Chris Schnabel became the senior manager of content for the Houston Texans football team.
’23 Max Friedli launched Summit Media, a digital marketing agency in Alaska, helping promote major concerts and working with local businesses across nightlife, hospitality and retail. (above middle)

Crowning Victory

After winning Miss Spokane in February, Amber Pike (’23, ’25 M.B.A.) went on to be crowned Miss Washington 2025 in June. She’s raised more than $28,000 in scholarships for the Miss Washington Scholarship Organization.

In Print

These Zags are proud to share recent publications they’ve authored.

’74 James J. Welsford: “Teaching Jesus and His Paschal Mystery”
’76 Michael Fox: “Lifelong Mentorship: Touching All the Bases”
’91 Bernie Beck Jr.: “The Drama-Free Business: From Inception to Succession”
’13 Chelsea Caslie: “Smoke Screen”
’09 Paul Condon: “How Compassion Works: A Step-by-Step Guide to Cultivating Well-Being, Love, and Wisdom”
’21 Kevin Carver: “The Forbidden Parallel,” a novel with a 12-song soundtrack