Rockhurst News

The greenery around campus makes every spring a wonderful time on the Rockhurst University campus.

But there’s more to the tree canopy at Rockhurst than aesthetics — all that foliage helps make the campus a more livable, sustainable place for faculty, staff, students, biodiversity and our communities. And in recognition of continuing efforts to keep the campus’s trees healthy and vibrant, Rockhurst University has been recognized as a Tree Campus by the Arbor Day Foundation — the first institution in the Kansas City area to earn that distinction.

Sean Klippel is an educator and a member of the LGBTQ+ community who was recently honored for his research as part of Rockhurst's Doctorate in Education program. Klippel's project, "How K-12 Teachers Perceive a State Bill and LGBTQ+ Affirming Curriculum," earned him a Rockhurst Outstanding Research Award (RORA) as part of the University's Festival of Student Achievement. 

In the following Q & A, Klippel explains why he's passionate about the project, as well as why it's so important now:

Craig Prentiss, Ph.D., professor of Religious Studies and Theology at Rockhurst, was recently granted a Fulbright Scholar Award to teach at the University of Bucharest in Romania in spring 2023. Fulbright Scholar Awards are prestigious and competitive fellowships that provide unique opportunities for scholars to teach and conduct research abroad. 

Rockhurst University will present the 2022 St. Ignatius Award to national healthcare leader and physician Dr. David Wild, ’19 EMBA. The award is presented annually to a Rockhurst graduate in recognition of outstanding accomplishments, leadership, and reflection of Jesuit values in the person’s professional career.

Startland News photo

Some students go to college undecided on a major, and that’s just fine. Others, like 2016 Rockhurst graduate Kaitlin Doyle, know exactly what they want to do.

Doyle’s mother grew up as a child of a deaf adult (CODA) and Kaitlin had an uncle who had cerebral palsy and spent a lot of time in therapy. She saw how her grandparents took care of him and guided him through everyday tasks.

To help meet the growing demand for cybersecurity professionals, Rockhurst University is joining forces with Saint Louis University to offer a Bachelor of Science in cybersecurity.

This interdisciplinary program, beginning in August, combines elements of computer science, analytics, criminal justice, intelligence gathering, and risk planning.

Freshman nursing major Hope Daga has earned a spot in a leadership institute aimed at developing the next generation of leaders who can address disparities in the delivery of care.

The Bluford Healthcare Leadership Institute is a two-phase program — the first consisting primarily of education, the second an internship at one of a number of health care-related sites, from hospitals to insurance providers to the Centers for Disease Control.

Mathapalooza started a decade ago as exactly the sort of event that name would imply — an invitational, gleeful exploration of the sometimes-dreaded school subject.

That was the goal — to make mathematics approachable and even fun for young students. For Zdenka Guadarrama, Ph.D., professor of mathematics who founded Mathapalooza with a colleague, what started as a single-day event has turned into a program that has reached thousands of students in Kansas City and well beyond.

As an 18-year-old high school graduate, Mariah Schneider made the decision to stay in her hometown of Kansas City and find a full-time job. She ended up at one of Rockhurst students’ favorite places to eat in nearby Brookside, Jalapenos Mexican Restaurant, for more than 10 years.

The student support network at Rockhurst is strong and is made stronger by student leaders who serve as tutors or supplemental instruction (SI) leaders in the Aylward-Dunn Learning Center.