As she gave her first official address as Gonzaga University’s new president, Katia Passerini said she had visualized giving this exact speech throughout her entire professional life.

“I have played this moment in my head for so long,” she told the crowd gathered at McCarthey Athletic Center.

To the students at her inauguration, Passerini hopes her experience might represent a lesson in visualizing where you want to be in life and then achieving it.

In many ways, it was a moment for Passerini that may not have been possible in another time and place. She is the 27th president of Gonzaga and the first woman to hold the post.

A native of Italy, Passerini first came to the United States for graduate school and has since led several Catholic universities in the United States. Most recently

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