Rockhurst News

As most student-athletes can tell you, teamwork is just that — work. But it’s also rewarding.

That’s been the case for members of Rockhurst University’s men’s basketball team this year as they’ve continued a yearslong effort to foster relationships with third through sixth grade students at nearby Troost Elementary School. From helping them with their schoolwork to having impromptu arm wrestling competitions, the players build positive bonds with these younger students and encourage them as they grow.

Rockhurst University has received the NCAA Presidents’ Award for Academic Excellence for achieving four-year Academic Success Rates of 90 percent or higher among its student-athletes for the 11th consecutive year.

Forty-three Division II member schools are recipients of the Presidents’ Award for Academic Excellence. Rockhurst is one of 10 schools to have earned the recognition every year since the award was started in 2011.

Positive male role models have shaped the life of Rockhurst Master's of Education (M.Ed.) student Donnell Fletcher from a young age, and now the Raytown, Missouri, teacher is doing the same for future generations.

Before he started leading students at Raytown Middle School, Fletcher learned life lessons from influential figures in his family and through high school sports.

It’s been a while since Rockhurst University last hosted a December commencement ceremony in person, on campus.

Rockhurst prides itself in providing learning opportunities beyond the classroom, but now it can add Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, to the list of its educational environments.

This fall, six Rockhurst Honors Student Association E-Board members attended the National Collegiate Honors Council’s 54th Annual Conference after having to miss last year due to its COVID-19 cancellation. RU Honors Program Director Maureen Walsh accompanied the group to the site of this year’s event, Disney World.

Rockhurst University students working out in The MAC (Magis Activity Center) will regularly see individuals in yellow shirts asking if they’d like assistance. They’re not doctors, but they help students get a healthy dose of medicine.

A new pilot program at Saint Luke’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences is opening career doors as early as high school for some future Kansas City healthcare heroes.

The work Rockhurst students do in the classroom often doesn’t stay in the classroom, and instead makes a true impact in the real world.

A Rockhurst MBA team completed a capstone project that led Pediatric Associates Kansas City to open a new clinic in Overland Park.

Mike Paar, Dr. Saba Siddiqi, Matt Seifert, Nick Timmons, Amin Wakas, Alexander Wegener and Brian White were all part of a Rockhurst team that helped determine if there was enough demand for a new PA medical clinic – and if so, where?

A campus leadership and professional development program is growing exponentially thanks to the competitive advantage it gives Rockhurst University grads entering their careers.

Like a lot of college students, Maddie Dierkes, ’19, ’21 M.S., said she came to Rockhurst University not knowing exactly what she wanted to do.

She arrived planning to major in computer science, but it didn’t quite fit. She took mathematics courses, too, and “floated around” while looking for what clicked with her.