Rockhurst News

It was a great weekend to be a Hawk — the annual Family and Alumni Weekend festivities brought hundreds of Rockhurst University alumni and families back to “the nest” for the biggest party on campus.

More than 1,000 visitors registered to attend one of the events on campus happening over three days. Activities included class reunions, including the 1973 Golden Hawks, the Hopkins Skip and Run 5k, the Ellen Spake Lecture Series featuring University President Sandra Cassady, Ph.D., as the guest speaker, and campus tours and events for families.

It’s been a while since first-year occupational therapy student Lindsey Fuentes sat down to really draw something.

The mother of three said she does scribble shapes by request for her children. But it’s been a while since she really focused on observing a person or object and translating what she sees onto paper.

“It was kind of intimidating at first,” she said.

Over the next six years, Rockhurst University will receive $1 million in Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics grant funding from the National Science Foundation as part of a holistic program to help cohorts of students with financial need complete their undergraduate degrees in the sciences.

Rockhurst University earned a number of accolades for individual programs and for the University as a whole — including a best-in-area ranking — in the 2024 U.S. News and World Report Colleges list, released today.

Since 1548, Jesuit colleges and universities have marked the beginning of their academic year with a unique tradition.

At the Mass of the Holy Spirit, faculty, staff and students at Jesuit institutions pause in gratitude for the gifts of the Holy Spirit and recommit themselves to their work and to the Jesuit core values that guide it. In welcoming the more than 150 attendees, University President Sandra Cassady, Ph.D., said the Mass of the Holy Spirit is a chance at the beginning of the academic year to remember the shared purpose of the University community.

Mark your calendars for Friday, Sept. 29. Family and Alumni Weekend will bring hundreds of Hawks — past and present – and family members to campus for the annual Family and Alumni Weekend festivities. The centerpiece that night will be the tailgate, with food and activities for attendees while volleyball and women’s and men’s soccer games take place in Mason-Halpin Fieldhouse and on Bourke Field, respectively.

Wednesday, Sept. 6, will be the first official Rockhurst Night at Kauffman Stadium, complete with a tailgate, a custom RU/Royals jersey for those purchased special tickets, and a night at the historic Kauffman Stadium watching the Royals alongside fellow Hawks.

For Rockhurst University President Sandra Cassady, Ph.D., it’ll also mean getting out on the field, at least for pregame activities. With the focus on RU for the night, it only made sense for someone from the University to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. Cassady got the first call. It was not a hard decision.

Do you feel that?

Yeah, us too. Move-in and orientation weekend means Rockhurst welcomes about 350 new freshmen to campus. It’s always a team effort, with staff, faculty and current students pitching in to help get those students moved in and the amazing orientation team taking it from there with a weekend of activities to integrate the newest Hawks into college life and this place so many have called home.

So who are they? Let’s meet the class of 2027:

More than 97% of the May graduates from Rockhurst University’s Saint Luke’s College of Nursing and Health SciencesBachelor of Science in Nursing program who took the NCLEX — the National Council Licensure Examination — passed, according to new data from the Missouri State Board of Nursing.

The next time you pass through Van Ackeren Hall, look up.

On the ceiling of what was formerly a mostly white entry way is a burst of blues and greens in the form of a new mural celebrating different faith traditions and the connections between them.

The new campus art is the result of a Faithfully Forward grant from the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, awarded to institutions in the hopes of celebrating religious diversity on the campuses of Catholic colleges.