Rockhurst News

Saint Luke’s College of Health Sciences becoming part of Rockhurst University means lots of new connections are being forged — between faculty and staff colleagues and students. For sophomore Emma Barben, it’s meant sharing a surprising new connection with her grandmother.

“It was special to see mail arrive from Rockhurst for both myself and my grandmother,” said Barben. “It was not until this past fall, with the discussion of the merger, that I fully realized my grandmother graduated from Saint Luke’s College of Health Sciences.”

In 2011, Rachel Stotler Clasemann, ’97, MOT ’99, was driving home from work in Omaha, Nebraska, when a car accident changed her life.

The immediate result of the accident was a ruptured spleen and traumatic brain injury. In the years since, she has endured multiple surgeries, successes, setbacks, infections and therapy. But, according to those who know her, Rachel has never shied from a challenge, and remains steadfast in her path to recovery alongside her family, including her two sons.