Father Curran Timeline

The Rev. Thomas B. Curran, O.S.F.S., becomes the 14th president of the University and is formally inaugurated Oct. 27.

– 2006

Rockhurst begins a comprehensive strategic planning process and introduces a new shared vision developed with broad input from the University community.

– 2007

Rockhurst celebrates the centennial anniversary of its charter with the theme “Learn, Lead, Serve, Celebrate!” A series of events culminates in an evening dinner under a large tent on Kinerk Commons followed by fireworks.

– 2010

The University breaks ground in March north parking garage and retail facility, which is completed in December.

– 2011

A branding campaign is launched featuring the tagline, “Where leaders learn.” University welcomes the largest freshman class in its history with 450 students.

– 2012

Rockhurst University, with the help of a number of community partners, open the Prosperity Center for Financial Opportunity, a center located in the north parking garage offering free employment coaching, financial help, and income support services to the community.

– 2012

The University marks a new campus milestone on March 7 by breaking ground on its new academic building, Pedro Arrupe, S.J., Hall, located south of the signature bell tower. The building opens at the beginning of the 2015 fall semester.

– 2014

In May, Fr. Curran professes his final vows, officially becoming a member of the Society of Jesus in a Mass celebrated in St. Francis Xavier Church with students, faculty, staff, friends, and family. Fr. Curran walks the 497-mile Camino de Santiago in Spain in July.

– 2015

New residential housing option Rock Row opens south of campus. Improvements to Loyola Park baseball field dedicated.

– 2016

Fr. Curran announces the launch of the Campus Climate Survey, asking staff, faculty and students to help shape the University’s diversity and inclusion efforts.

– 2017

The University announces its five-year “Go Forth” strategic plan, focusing on Jesuit identity; sustainability; and diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. “For the Greater,” a fundraising campaign, the centerpiece of which is the reimagining of Sedgwick Hall, begins.

– 2018

University welcomes first chief inclusion officer to lead the newly created Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, a direct result of the campus climate survey. On July 31, the Feast of St. Ignatius Loyola, Rockhurst University announces that Saint Luke’s College of Health Sciences will become part of the University, allowing Rockhurst to greatly increase its capacity to meet the region’s need for skilled and compassionate health care providers. A new on-campus wellness center, the Magis Activity Center, opens.

– 2019

The University completes the purchase of Saint Luke’s College of Health Sciences.

– 2020

Fr. Curran announces he will depart at the end of the 2021-22 academic year, beginning the search for a new president. Fr. Curran is honored by the Jewish Community Relations Bureau in November with its Henry W. Bloch Human Relations Award. He announces a project for his final year — the establishment of the Alvin Brooks Center for Faith-Justice, a building on the campus’s south side that will house many of the University’s faith-justice related efforts, including a chapel, mission and ministry programs, and diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

– 2021