Rockhurst News

Rockhurst University President the Rev. Thomas B. Curran, S.J., met virtually Wednesday with members of Missouri’s federal congressional delegation with a simple message — double the Pell.

The next full-scale Rockhurst University Leaders Series event, with national speakers, will have to wait for another time as the world continues to recover from the pandemic.

This fall, students will notice some changes to the Thomas More Dining Room in Massman Hall. Emphasis on the “More.”

The campus dining hall is getting a complete remodel this summer, aimed not only at expanding the space to accommodate more diners during peak times, but to expand the available options for students, faculty and staff.

"In our time, when day by day humanity is being drawn closer together, and the ties between different peoples are becoming stronger the Church examines more closely her relationship to non-Christian religions.

Rockhurst University has announced the dean’s list for the spring 2021 semester. This honor recognizes students who have achieved a grade-point average of 3.5 or above.

The following students earned a spot on the list:

Ashley Abbott

Macee Adams

Peyton Aerni

Erica Akins

Shereen Al-Saoudi

Balem Alamerew

Le'Bonet Alfaro

Alexandra Allen

Michael Allen

Heba Alsousi

Litzy Alvarado Islas

Joseph Alvey

David Anderson

Kathleen Anderson

Madelyn Anderson

Marianna Anderson

Capping an academic year unlike any other, Rockhurst University graduates were able to walk across the stage in person to receive their degrees in a commencement ceremony Friday afternoon at Children’s Mercy Park.

Last year’s ceremony was held virtually because of the pandemic, and as the masks and spaces between families at the ceremony could attest, concerns about COVID-19 haven’t disappeared completely. But the fact that there was an in-person ceremony at all is a testament to where these graduates have been and how far they’ve come.

The small gesture, moving the tassel from left to right, officially marks the passage from student to graduate.

It’s a moment that Niki Sanchez waited a long time for. Not just because she, like so many others, had worked very hard to complete her college coursework. But because she had to wait, withstand a pandemic, and travel nearly 2,500 miles to take part in it.

Sanchez has been at home in Belize City, Belize, since campus was shut down in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, completing the work for her accounting degree from afar.

The class of 2020 at Rockhurst University is noteworthy for so many reasons.

For one, their commencement was the 100^th in the school’s history. But to most, this group will most likely be remembered for how profoundly the COVID-19 pandemic affected their college experience, eventually causing their in-person commencement to first be postponed, then moved completely online.

Kristy Bayer has been named the new director of athletics at Rockhurst University, effective July 6, 2021. Bayer comes to Rockhurst from Emporia State University where she has served as the deputy director of athletics and senior woman administrator since December 2017.

1989 was a turning point for Saint Luke’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences.

In April of that year, the Missouri Board of Nursing approved a plan for a four-year degree program for the college, establishing a Bachelor of Science in nursing degree that generations of nurses have since pursued as a rigorous foundation for their own career in health care.