In 2019, Rockhurst began a service-learning partnership with Operation Breakthrough, the largest early learning center in the Kansas City region.
Under the agreement, Rockhurst occupational therapy and speech-language pathology students work with some of the hundreds of kids at Operation Breakthrough, learning how to properly evaluate children and provide intervention.
Rockhurst asks students to challenge themselves, inspire others, and impact our world. For the University’s first Peace and International Studies (PAI) students, who walked with the Class of 2021 in May, they truly do aim to “impact our world.”
Like many other veterans, the last two weeks have brought a lot of old feelings to the fore for Ellen Stephenson, DNP, assistant professor of nursing.
The images of the evacuation of Afghans who helped American and NATO forces in the country has, for Stephenson and others, brought to mind their own experiences in the country, and inescapable feelings of grief and anger at the thought of leaving people behind. As well as the American casualties in the 20 years since the fighting began.
Another year, another incoming class at Rockhurst University.
In the fall of 2017, Saint Luke’s College of Health Sciences opened its doors to a first cohort of 26 students attending the Pathways to Health and Science Education program. Pathways was conceived as a bridge program designed to introduce diverse students to careers in healthcare professions.
In 2020, the program transitioned with the College to Rockhurst University and was renamed the Early College Pathways Program.
The Rockhurst University School of Education got a report card of its own in May. And it’s one they’re going to want to hang up on the fridge.
While Commencement marks the finish line for many students, others have miles and miles to go.
For pre-med students at Rockhurst, they have exhausted the University’s opportunities and resources, earned a bachelor’s degree, and are off to medical school as official RU alumni.
These graduates have made their mark on RU. Now they make their mark on the world.
Hyoyoung Wells
At age 40, Hyoyoung Wells said she feels like she’s starting over.
It wasn’t easy. Coming to America from South Korea at age 20, Wells raised her two children, but otherwise felt she had little purpose or drive. She didn’t speak English, either, furthering a feeling of isolation.
As the sun sets on the Rockhurst University campus’ tulips for the spring, some new plants are getting a chance to shine.
On Friday, members of the biology faculty and students planted an assortment of pollinator plants in a small plot north of the Ignatius Science Center.
Around a central redbud tree are now rows of coneflower, butterfly flower and coreopsis, among others.
Kat Dolan, ’20, came to Rockhurst University having already had what some might consider a lifetime of experiences. And they’ve all played a part in a new piece in the latest issue of America, the national Jesuit magazine.
