Rockhurst News

Together, they have served Rockhurst University for 155 years, longer than Rockhurst has existed as an institution.

In recognition of that service, the University celebrated eight faculty and staff members who will be retiring this academic year in a ceremony Friday.

Sandra Cassady, Ph.D., University president, said all those retirees have made significant contributions to the University. But they also made an impact on their students and colleagues, evidenced by the heartfelt comments submitted for Cassady to read in honoring the retirees:

David Brooks, New York Times columnist, bestselling author, and guest of the 11^th annual Rockhurst University Leadership Series event on Tuesday evening at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, knows how to work a Kansas City crowd. He started with a compliment for the new Kansas City International Airport, and then quoted a familiar source in his talk about what he’s learned in a career analyzing current events and the people behind them — Kansas City’s own Jason Sudeikis.

When Nilufer Guler, Ph.D., associate professor of education, started asking for proposals for her latest project, she wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of responses.

But the theme of her new book, titled “At School in the World: Developing Globally Engaged Teachers,” must have been pretty inspiring. Guler and her co-editor, Carine Ullom, Ed.D., received 58 chapter proposals around incorporating global citizenship and intercultural competency into the classroom.

In November 2022, Rockhurst University etched a new chapter in its history, inaugurated its first lay, first female president, Sandra Cassady, Ph.D. In honor of Women’s History Month, we asked Cassady about her experience as a female leader and history maker in her own right.

Who have been some of the female leaders you looked up to in your career — either those you personally knew or who were examples from your own life?

Rockhurst University will begin enrolling students in certificate programs for diversity, equity and inclusion at both the graduate and undergraduate level in fall 2023, offering students a curriculum that will prepare them to lead confidently and compassionately in a multicultural world.

As part of the annual Rockhurst University Leadership Series event on Tuesday, March 28, Rockhurst University will honor Madeline Romious, a 1995 graduate of the school’s MBA program, with the Rashford-Lyon Award for Leadership and Ethics.

Romious currently serves as Regional Vice President of External and Legislative Affairs with AT&T Missouri. She has been responsible for AT&T’s external, legislative and civic engagement in the Kansas City area since 2005. Prior to that she served in various leadership roles in network at AT&T, having joined the company in 1988.

For the fall 2023 semester, the Helzberg School of Management at Rockhurst University is launching a new way to earn their signature MBA degree — one that lets students build it from the ground up.

The new Stackable MBA, the first of its kind in the region, lets students build a degree by earning three certificates — one of which being the business administration certificate. It’s the same makeup of the traditional MBA degree, with courses in management, marketing, business intelligence and economics in addition to a Jesuit core values course.

David Brooks, a New York Times columnist and bestselling author of “The Road to Character,” will bring his unique perspective on the American life and keen insights into present-day politics and foreign affairs to Kansas City as the keynote guest of the 11^thRockhurst University Leadership Series event at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 28, 2023, at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City, Missouri.

Rockhurst University awarded close to 300 degrees at its winter commencement ceremony, held Dec. 11, 2022, at Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland in downtown Kansas City.

The program featured two student speakers, with Nhukim Nguyen, a biochemistry major, representing undergraduate students, and Jessica Davis, a Doctor of Education degree recipient, representing graduate students.

Students who earned degrees are:

Erica Akins

Celeste Allen

Jennifer Amundson-Mullins

Erin Anderson

Annabel Avery

Ettore Ballestracci

Emily Bange

Rockhurst University student-athletes are at the top of their conference and in the top 10 nationally among all NCAA Division II schools in a new report measuring academic success.