"We Are Called" Announced As Presidential Inauguration Theme

The inauguration of Rockhurst University’s 15^th president, Sandra Cassady, Ph.D., is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 11, 2022. The afternoon of events will mark Cassady’s ceremonial installation as president and a milestone for Rockhurst as the first woman and first lay president of the institution.

It is certainly cause for celebration. And to commemorate, Cassady has chosen “We Are Called” as the theme of her inauguration — a reference to Rockhurst’s rich history and an invitation to be part of its promising future.

Coming from the inscription on Rockhurst University’s iconic bell tower, which begins with “You Are Called.” Taken from a 1997 address by the Rev. Peter Hans Kolvenbach, S.J., former Superior General of the Society of Jesus, in which he called on students of Jesuit institutions to engage with the world around them and to use their gifts and their knowledge in pursuit of the greater glory of God. The phrase is a reminder for all who pass by it to be contemplatives in action. And it remains as relevant today.

Rockhurst University, like the Jesuits, has since its founding adapted to the needs of the communities we serve. Rockhurst’s founders were called to establish an educational institution for young men in what was then the southern end of the city. Leaders were then called to welcome a new population of young veterans and their families following the second World War. We were then called to become a co-educational institution in the 1960s to provide opportunities to an increasing number of women entering college. And, most recently, we were called to help our community and nation fill the need for qualified, compassionate health care professionals, renovating our campus’s oldest building and welcoming the Saint Luke’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences.

Dr. Cassady is called to lead this institution in its next chapter. We are called, each in our own way, to be a part of the project of transformative Jesuit education at Rockhurst University. We are called to make our community, our nation and our world a better place with our gifts. We are called to pursue true knowledge in the spirit of the core value of wisdom. We are called to seek justice, to pursue peace, and to always strive for the greater glory of God in the spirit of the value of “magis,” no matter where our future may lie.

Please check your email between now and Nov. 11 for information on how to take part in inauguration events.