Standing in a huddle of students at a recent orientation event, Gonzaga University’s next president anticipated the arrival of her Kawasaki Z400 from New York. Katia Passerini is already planning a trip up Mount Spokane on her motorcycle this summer. In a few months, she’ll bring up her skis. “Is it true they open up the slopes at night?” Passerini asked the students, adding night skiing to her growing list of Spokane activities.

A mountain within an hour’s drive of downtown is one of the many Spokane-specific quirks Passerini didn’t know she was missing while in New York City, where she lived for years before starting her role as GU’s 27th president in July.