For nearly 90 years, Gonzaga Prep formed only young men in the Jesuit way of educating the mind, body, and spirit. Then came the fall of 1975. The arrival of women reshaped classrooms, student life, and eventually leadership itself—opening a new chapter that still defines the school today.

This week, the community gathers for the Mass of the Holy Spirit—a Jesuit tradition dating back to 1548 in southern Italy and celebrated at Jesuit schools around the world. It’s a reminder that Jesuit education has always sought to form students intellectually, morally, and spiritually. 

“When I went to Prep, there were so many Jesuits there that they didn’t say, ‘this is how Jesuits think, this is how Jesuits teach, this is a Jesuit Ignatian value,’” says 1976 graduate and current board president Jim Brasch. “It was just done. It was a way of being. It was how they taught, how they developed critical thought, how they encouraged intentionality, how they celebrated the person; that was all there.”

Welcoming young women at Prep broadened the reach of Jesuit education and gave it a balance that reflected life beyond campus. In 1973, Jesuit Superior General Fr. Pedro Arrupe’s call to be “men (and women) for others” emphasized service, especially to those at the margins. At Prep, boys had long joined the service club Knights of the Leash.



In 1975, Ancilla, a companion club for girls, was added. The two groups coexisted for nearly five decades before combining into a single service club in 2024. Along with the annual Food Drive, these clubs embodied the Ignatian call to be persons for and with others.

Soon after coeducation began, the Jesuit Secondary Education Association introduced the Profile of the Graduate, which articulated what makes a Jesuit education distinctive. At Gonzaga Prep, graduates are formed to be open to growth, intellectually engaged, religiously alive, loving, and committed to doing justice. The presence of girls as students and then graduates enriched not only their own experience but also that of the entire school.

“Ignatian spirituality teaches that God is in all things, and that we do not need to retreat from the world to find God,“ says former principal Cindy Reopelle. “ This spirituality is the foundation of Jesuit education, and both deepens and broadens the education of young women and men. Giving young women the opportunity to receive this unique education is transformative, while representing the world we live in.”



Reopelle ’s four decades in nearly every role at Prep show how this spirituality and the Profile take root in daily life. A graduate of Jesuit schools herself, she began teaching theology at Prep in 1980, later serving as campus minister, coach, admissions director, the school’s first female assistant vice principal, and eventually, its first female principal. Like the female students, she experienced both challenges and breakthroughs in those early years. Her leadership grew beyond Spokane when she became provincial assistant for Jesuit secondary and middle schools for Jesuits West, before returning in 2012 to serve eleven years as principal. “I believe [Jesuit education is] transformative,” she told the Spokesman-Review at the time, “It gives any student the opportunity to reach his or her full potential.”


In 2024, Jesuit United States Conference honored her as one of the “Women Leaders in the Ignatian Family”—a fitting recognition of how her formation has shaped generations of students, colleagues, and communities. Her path shows how Jesuit schools do more than educate—they form leaders who, in turn, form others.

“Women and men learning, collaborating, and serving together to make this world a better place—to make a difference—is what truly makes Jesuit coeducation unique,” she says.