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It happens fast. Internet trends come and go, seemingly overnight.

Social Media Specialist Grace McElligott (’23) graduated from Gonzaga less than two years ago but already says keeping her finger on the pulse of what is relevant to students is somewhat of a guessing game.

Instead of playing the game, she and fellow Social Media Specialist Erin de Silva (’19, ’21 M.A.) are leaving nothing to chance and going straight to the source.

Meet the Zagfluencers.

Six students – varying in years, majors and interests but all incredibly trendy – are employed by GU's Marketing and Communications Department to be the faces of Gonzaga’s social media platforms.

It may be hard to imagine a world where Instagram and TikTok dictate which university a student chooses to attend, but McElligott says that’s becoming more of a reality every day.

“A video on a university’s social media page will go viral, and suddenly prospective students who didn’t even know that school existed are clicking on its profile, just because they saw one video,” she says. “If we know that and we’re strategic, we can create content that specifically targets those students and puts Gonzaga on their radar.”

“The Â鶹¹ÙÍø’s social media has become incredibly relevant,” de Silva agrees. “We know when prospective students are researching schools, the first place they go is the website, but right below that are social media pages.”

The internet’s most rapidly evolving platforms are now critical recruitment tools in higher education.

So, why does it work? How are six students able to skyrocket interaction and comments on Gonzaga’s social media channels with fun, silly videos? De Silva says it’s a matter of relatability and connection. The group meets biweekly to brainstorm content ideas and how to communicate with students and prospective students in a way that will actually resonate with them.

“People want authenticity,” Zagfluencer Maddy Campbell (’26) says. “They want to see what the inside of a dorm room looks like, they want to see campus on a good day and a bad day, they want to see what a classroom looks like. The only way to really capture that is to be a student, to pull your phone out and get that raw, authentic footage.”

Her favorite video this year was a running interview with GSBA President Maddie Ediger (’25). Campbell used a mini microphone and asked Ediger questions about her time at Gonzaga as they ran (and walked a little) along the Centennial Trail. The video introduced potential students to a prominent person on campus, but it was also a good visual aid to show just how close campus is to downtown Spokane.

In the fall, current students may have seen another Zagfluencer, Jenna Johnston (’26), cruising around campus on a golf cart rigged with a karaoke machine, enticing anyone who dared to sing along and be featured on Gonzaga’s social media. Johnston says those goofy videos serve a higher purpose than just good fun.

“It’s a pretty clear indicator of student life,” she points out. “If you have students who are comfortable hopping on a golf cart and singing karaoke, dressing up in a full princess outfit in the middle of campus or just doing ridiculous things in the name of making content – that shows prospective students the type of community we have here. At the end of the day, it’s a safe, inviting space.”

They call it the fastest four years – and in that time trends will change a thousand times over, but here to capture it all are the Zagfluencers. And who knows, they may recruit a few new Zags along the way.

“My parents and I both say coming to Gonzaga was the best decision I ever made,” Campbell says. “I’ve found a community here, I’ve found people that I love, and I hope we show that in the videos we make.”