A President for All (Students)

It’s a Monday afternoon in the summer and Diego Gonzalez, ‘26, is golfing for the first time. But he’s not there for the love of the sport but rather as a speaker for a scholarship fundraiser supporting first-generation, marginalized students of color like himself.  

Gonzalez is not particularly a fan of public speaking, but his passion for serving his community continually puts him in front of an audience.  

“I’m speaking here and spending my entire day here because it’s going to help low-income, marginalized students. It’s for the betterment of others and that’s enough motivation,” Gonzalez says.

This philosophy is a driving factor for the criminal justice major, who assumed the role of Student Body President in September. Now in his third and final year at SU—he is graduating a year early—Gonzalez brings past student advocacy experience as senator for the College of Arts and Sciences and the Vice President of Academic Affairs to the role. Post-graduation, Gonzalez will take a gap year to study for the LSAT and plans to apply to law school, including the Seattle University School of Law.

During his time at SU, he’s made it his mission to attend as many SU events and clubs as possible, making Gonzalez a familiar and friendly face to many. As President, he plans to focus on advocacy for students and lean into the power of student clubs as support systems. By allocating more funding to the 120+ campus clubs, the club leaders can spend more time building community and fostering belonging.  

Raising awareness about the Student Government of Seattle University (SGSU) is also a priority for Gonzalez. Along with advocacy, SGSU addresses student needs through projects and resources such as providing $100 ORCA transportation cards or $25 laundry cards.

“Overall, the hope of all these programs is to improve the university experience and have students leave SU proud to be Redhawks,” Gonzalez says.

As a first-generation, low-income student, Gonzalez originally chose to attend SU because of the generous financial aid support, namely the Costco Scholarship, and the proximity to his hometown of Redmond, Washington.

“My parents immigrated from Guadalajara, Mexico, looking for a better life for their kids,” Gonzalez says. “I’m very fortunate to get my degree and become the first lawyer in my family—first college graduate and first law school graduate.”

But the reason Gonzalez loves SU is the people, the students, faculty and staff who create a community supporting everyone’s success. Gonzalez also takes SU’s Jesuit values to heart in his approach to his career pursuits and leadership style. In a religion class, Gonzalez was especially inspired by the leadership philosophy of St. Oscar Romero, a Salvadoran Archbishop who advocated for human rights.

“It’s not about leading from afar,” Gonzalez says. “You have to lead with the people and for the people.”  

Though he’s had a career in law in his sights for some time, Gonzalez decided to change his goal of becoming a defense attorney to becoming a prosecutor.

“I want to be a prosecutor, which means you work with people who have committed crimes all day,” Gonzalez says. “People think criminal justice is just locking up the bad guys, but really, it’s a more holistic approach when we think about what leads to criminals and produces crime. The ethics classes and religion classes make you take a step back and think of people as people.”

Currently, Gonzalez is interning with the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in the Records Unit & Protection Order Advocacy Program. He works with case files for domestic violence survivors, a process that requires a high attention to detail, care and respect.

“If you scan a file wrong, you’re harming someone’s case and their potential for justice,” Gonzalez says. “You learn to treat those inanimate files as people.”

A drive to serve his community has led Gonzalez to several other leadership positions, including as Vice President of Circle K International, a service club, and serving as Interim Board Chair for El Centro Cultural Mexicano in Redmond. He also volunteers as a youth advisory board member for Team Child. You could say volunteering is something he takes seriously.

“I went to Commencement early and I was like, ‘Hey, can I volunteer?’ That’s how I wanted to spend my post-finals days,” Gonzalez says. “If anyone has any volunteering recommendations, let me know.”