In its Mission and Values statement, Rockhurst University proudly states that it is a learning community, centered on excellence in undergraduate liberal education and graduate education. It is Catholic and Jesuit, involved in the life and growth of the city and the region, and committed to the service of the contemporary world.

Rockhurst University strives to bring students to an awareness of their great dignity and destiny through a quality and caring education, and to model that awareness in their behavior toward others.

Learning
Through learning students come to recognize and develop their gifts. They not only acquire information, but they also learn how to think critically and how to apply that knowledge to a changing world.

Leadership
Through leadership students take responsibility for their own learning and apply that learning in the complex world beyond the boundaries of the campus. Students who take initiative will become leaders who strive continually to develop themselves and others.

Service
Through service students gain the capacity of not only serving individuals but of helping to create social structures which better reflect moral and spiritual values. Students use their gifts to transform the world, making it a better place for all people.

Catholic Jesuit Tradition
Through the Catholic Jesuit tradition, students experience a University that is faithful to Catholic teaching and to its Jesuit spiritual heritage. Students have the opportunity to integrate life with faith, to examine moral and ethical questions, and to view religious experience and religious questions as integral to understanding human existence and human culture.

Rockhurst University aspires to develop the very best in the minds and hearts of men and women who will be leaders in the service of others. To do this, the University

• Emphasizes active participation of the student in the educational process, the practical application of theory, critical thinking, ethical decision making, effective communication, and lifelong learning.
• Stresses a humanism of rigorous inquiry, creative imagination, and discerning reflection on the deepest desires of the heart.
• Seeks students, faculty, and staff who appreciate the intellectual challenge of examining different systems, traditions, and beliefs as they consider how best to live, individually and communally, in today’s world.
• Focuses on respect for all creation, regard for peoples and cultures, care for the individual person, justice, and leadership-in-service.
• Challenges all to attain the inner freedom and the courage which are essential to making decisions which change for the better one’s own life and the lives of others.