Seeing Rockhurst University in a New Way:

From a place of freedom and through the lens of Magis

Almost twenty years ago, Rockhurst went from being a college to a university. Now, with Saint Luke’s College of Health Sciences, it is seeking to become a larger university with an increased focus upon nursing and the health sciences, without losing sight of its deep roots as a liberal arts college. Our history, success and blessings as a Jesuit university, steeped in the humanities, will now help instruct, inform, and animate us — through an interdisciplinary approach — for the next generation of students.

So, how did we get here? Why are we in this situation? Things seemed to be just fine. Why not leave things as they have been?

There is no denying that we have worked very hard to get the University to where it is today. Over a decade ago, we faced yearly deficits, we had enrollment challenges, our debt was twice the size of our endowment, and the campus infrastructure needed a major overhaul. To address this, we went through a reduction in force, we closed some academic programs, and we placed ourselves on a very disciplined budgetary diet. All of it was rooted in faithfulness to our mission and identity as a Jesuit institution.

To help prevent these circumstances from reoccurring, we established two structural safeguards: creation of a University Planning and Budgeting Committee and the formation of a strategic planning process. Today, we are modestly prosperous as we are experiencing our third Strategic Plan (2018-2023).

One of the strategic initiatives identified in the plan is:

“To become a regional leader in health care by building innovative partnerships and by preparing the highest caliber graduates from across all university disciplines.”

    - 2018-2023 go forth. Pillar I: Be a Leader in Educational innovation. Initiative #3.

This initiative is significant for several reasons. The first is that our city, region and nation are facing serious unmet needs for health care professions. And demographics indicate that these needs are expected to grow exponentially for a generation to come. Related to this is that Rockhurst already enjoys a very strong and reputable presence in health science education. One can argue that this presence and reputation is based upon the University’s claim that it is “in the city for good.” As part of our Jesuit way of proceeding, we meet people where they are and accompany them in their needs and objectives.

Another reason that led to this transaction was the uncertainty around the long-term partnership with Research College of Nursing. We will always be grateful for the 40-year partnership that resulted in the education and formation of 2,500 nurses with a bachelor of science in nursing degree. However, our options to grow the program were limited because we were not able to engage in graduate education and we were seeing diminished returns from the undergraduate program. In their fiduciary responsibility for the University, our Board of Trustees charged the administration to find a long-term remedy consistent with our Jesuit values, history and competencies.

The second part of initiative #3 is “preparing the highest caliber graduates from all across all university disciplines.” This translates into our graduates getting all Cs: as competent; compassionate; being of character; and of conscience. Our core helps us realize this on the undergraduate level. However, it does not stop there. Our interdisciplinary approach, in our undergraduate and graduate education, is what makes our alumni distinctive and sought after by employers, organizations, civic groups and churches in our community and beyond. Yes, we have our core, but we also have our core values. Together, they make us distinctive.

Our formal agreement with Saint Luke’s College of Health Sciences must be rooted in a freedom that allows us to care about what truly matters. The need for health professions and the highest caliber graduates from all university disciplines provides us with the opportunity to enter into and embrace the action of God in our lives. It will teach us to care about becoming true companions who are awestruck and live in wonder. And, it will teach us to care about upholding the human dignity that we all deserve.

The transition to our new size, scope and dimensions will take place over the next 3-5 years. There is no denying that there will be consolations as well as challenges along the way. It will begin by getting to know one another and learning from one another. It will continue with the realization that things will not be the same and there may be a longing to return to what was familiar and comfortable.

For the first couple of years, we will be operating two sites. Ultimately, Sedgwick Hall will house most of our efforts in nursing and the health sciences. This original campus building will receive an infusion of $23 million dollars between now and May 2022. This hybrid structure of new (23,000 s.f.) and renovated space (27,000 s.f.) will then satisfy Initiative #3 of Pillar IV:

“... reimagining existing property including Sedgwick to support growth in new academic programs”

    - 2018-2023 go forth. Pillar IV: Ensuring Vitality & Financial Sustainability for the Future.

And, we will be adjusting to performing tasks in a new way. Be assured that there will be no shortage of opportunities to ask ourselves, “How do I focus upon what really matters?”

This is also an exciting time for us. It’s the first of what will be many occasions to discern what the Spirit of God is calling us to be and to do. The concept of “holy indifference” is one that may be difficult to understand at first but I believe it can help energize us as we embark on our new endeavor and to provide comfort if we find ourselves struggling with our new identity. Permit me to explain with help from T.S. Eliot.

“Teach us to care, and not to care.”

These words come from Eliot’s poem, “Ash Wednesday.” They appear to contradict one another; either you care or you do not care. Or, is Eliot possibly inviting us to experience the tension of both caring and not caring so as to live in freedom?

“Ash Wednesday” was written almost 90 years ago. Eliot wrote his first long poem after he experienced his conversion and became a person of faith. The poem captures both the consolations as well as the desolations involved with being a person of faith.

The desire to be taught to care and not to care captures the practice, in a life of faith, known as holy indifference. It means being focused upon those things that matter and not being bothered or distracted by less significant matters. It refers to the experience of operating out of freedom. We freely choose to embrace those things that are significant and ignore the less significant ones. For us, this freedom and its practice of holy indifference, is essential to our way of proceeding, as a Jesuit enterprise in higher education.

As we move towards the experience and lived reality as “a new University,” caring about what really matters will position us, in freedom, to enter fully into this new era.

It will require us to begin with a sense of wonder and adoration. This will enable us to see all things and all people around us as sacred. On our campus, we have designated sacred spaces such as our chapel and our campus reflection sites. Now, we are invited to see all of our campus and all who come to it as sacred and holy. We call this ‘finding God in all things.’ Rumi, the Persian mystic and poet, describes this as how “there are a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the ground.” May we, and all who come to our campus, see it as a place where all people and all things are holy.

If we approach our new companions at Saint Luke’s and their work as sacred, it will follow that we will treat them and their work with reverence and awe. Accordingly, we will care more about our shared dignity and less about having all the answers and solutions to what lies ahead of us.

The result will be the creation of a sacred space of “we” versus us and them.

Our Jesuit core value for the upcoming academic year is magis. It is translated as more; it comes from Ad Majórem Dei Gloriam (AMDG) – For the greater glory of God.  Its intended use can teach us how to care and not to care. How so? Magis equips us to live in freedom, to practice holy indifference, i.e. how to be at peace. Ignatius Loyola intended the use of the magis to assist in determining which good thing to select when there are two goods before me. He recommends choosing the good that will bring about the greater glory of God.

In our current context, there will be many good things to consider and possibly pursue as we join with SLCHS and become a new University. As a Jesuit university, magis instructs in how we are to proceed. If we always choose and pursue the magis, we will be about the greater glory of God. We will be operating from a place of freedom where we care about what matters more. 

Twenty years ago, our college became Rockhurst University. It required seeing the school in a new way. With SLCHS, we are invited to reimagine Rockhurst, again.  As our way of proceeding, I suggest we make use of the practice of the magis – to choose the better good. If we practice the magis, we will be about the greater glory of God. We will care about what really matters – seeing one another and where we work as holy and sacred.

This “better good” will benefit our Kansas City community. It will assist Saint Luke’s in its significant work. And, it will solidify Rockhurst University’s future as a Jesuit university committed to its mission. While there is much work ahead, we have great reason to give thanks and to celebrate along the way. 

Thomas Curran, S.J.
31 July 2019
Feast of Saint Ignatius Loyola