Campus Provides the Perfect Setting for this Alumni Proposal

Saturday, Dec. 1, was just another beautiful 60-degree winter day for Katie Larson, ’10. To ring in the holiday season, she and her boyfriend of five years, Bryan Jackson, ’09, planned to attend Rockhurst’s annual Musica Sacra concert at St. Francis Xavier parish.

Little did she know her typical day would turn into one of the biggest days of her life. Jackson proposed on campus near the belltower, pointing out a brick in the ground that revealed a special inscription he had written: “Katie, will you marry me? –BryJack.”

“Since Katie and I met at Rockhurst, I always envisioned proposing on campus because this is where we have so many memories together,” said Jackson. “I thought a brick would be the perfect opportunity to involve Rockhurst in my proposal, and it would be something we could go back and visit in the future.”

Larson had no idea Jackson had been planning his proposal for months.

“As we walked by the pergola, I tried to turn her attention to all the bricks that were under our feet as we walked,” said Jackson. “As casually as I could, I asked if she knew any of the people whose names are on the bricks. As she was looking, I pointed down to our special brick and asked, ‘Do you know these people?’  I could see the tears starting to well up in her eyes as I went down on one knee and asked her to marry me. I’ll never forget that moment.”

“I had a feeling something was up when he started to slow his pace,” she said. “Then there he was down on one knee asking me to spend the rest of my life with him. I feel so blessed and could not have imagined a more perfect proposal for us.”

Both sets of parents were on-hand to watch the proposal from a distance, along with eight other family members ranging from siblings to nieces and nephews.

“There was also a group of 15 of our closest friends waiting to greet us outside St. Francis Xavier with a handmade congratulations sign displaying photos of Katie and I,” said Jackson. “We then went to the concert and reception as planned.”

And no alumni celebration is complete without a trip to Mike’s to end the night, of course.

Congratulations, Katie and Bryan!