Rockhurst News

The beginning of December brings more than one milestone this year — it marks the end of the fall semester, but it also means Rockhurst University completed its fall semester with COVID-19 restrictions in place and without needing to shut down.

The work at every level that went into making that possible was recognized with a resolution passed by the University’s Board of Trustees during its December meeting, which thanked every member of the campus community for the sacrifices made to resume in-person classes:

On Saturday, the Rockhurst University community celebrated those students who completed their coursework in December. It not only marked the return of an older tradition, as the last time the University hosted a December commencement was in 2005. But it did so in a very 2020 way — virtually.

Approximately 200 students were eligible for degrees at the first of what is expected to become an ongoing tradition for those students who complete their coursework at the close of the fall semester.

Rockhurst University is one of a few bucking the trend of many Missouri colleges and universities facing enrollment headwinds as a result of COVID-19 and demographic changes, according to a new report from the state coordinating board for higher education.

A fall enrollment report recently issued by that body indicated that most Missouri institutions of higher education, both public and private, saw drops in headcount enrollment in the fall of 2020 compared to the previous year, with an overall decline of 5.9%.

Pain is a fact of life. It’s a lesson many of us learn early on, with tears the stimulus response accompanying a scrape or a bump on the head.

But for many, pain is not simply temporary but a chronic or constant reality. And whatever form it takes, managing pain with medications often carries its own risks in the form of addiction.

Some Rockhurst University offices will amend their hours during the coming holiday season. The following hours will be observed.

Rockhurst University

University offices will be closed Nov. 23-27 for Thanksgiving break.

University offices will be closed Dec. 24 through Jan. 1, 2021, for Christmas break.

Greenlease Library

Greenlease Library will be closed Nov. 21 through Nov. 29 for the Thanksgiving break.

Dr. Petia Bobadova, Chair of the Chemistry Department, recently received the Daniel Brenner Scholarly Achievement Award.

Excerpt from the nomination letter:

It can be hard for college students to leave their non-academic struggles at the classroom door, especially in a time of greater uncertainty or stress with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

It is with that in mind that this month Rockhurst University became one of seven college campuses in the state piloting a program from the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development and the Missouri Department of Social Services aimed at helping connect students (as well as faculty and staff) to the resources they need to be successful.

Mark Cuban of ABC’s hit reality show “Shark Tank” tells potential entrepreneurs to “Find something you are good at and do what it takes to be great at it. We all have something special about us. The hard and exciting part is figuring out what it is."

All of Rockhurst University’s Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) students are good at what they do. It’s how they earned positions at some of the most successful businesses in the Kansas City area like Honeywell, Bayer, H&R Block and Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.

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.”

With more than 80 years of service between them, Rockhurst men’s soccer coach Tony Tocco and former Rockhurst women’s volleyball coach Tracy Rietzke have already cementing their place as legends in the University’s athletics program.

But in November, they will be enshrined into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2020 on Sunday, Nov. 15 at Kansas City’s Hy-Vee Arena, the renovated facility formerly known as Kemper Arena.