Rockhurst 101

The first class of high school boys at Rockhurst

One of the greatest things about being a student at Rockhurst while the university celebrates its centennial year is learning about all of the history that went into making Rockhurst what it is today.  When Rockhurst first started up in 1910, it was originally meant to be an all-boys high school.  Over time, however, Rockhurst High moved to a different campus further south and the old high school buildings were officially transferred over to the Jesuit college.

At the very beginning when the Rev. Michael Dowling S.J. founded Rockhurst, the Kansas City area did not have a very large Catholic population and Fr. Dowling experienced a lot of difficulty getting the school off the ground - especially when it came to finding funding.  Even once the first building (Sedgwick Hall) was complete and the school was ready to open to its 42 new students, it torrential rained so badly in Kansas City that Rockhurst has to cancel morning classes on its very first day.  That's certainly not the case today!  Rain or blizzard, don't you worry, Rockhurst will always have classes.

53rd and Troost, where Rockhurst sits today.

Fr. Dowling named his new Jesuit school "Rockhurst" because of the rocky terrain on which it was built.  In those days, Rockhurst was located on the edge of Kansas City in the thriving Rockhill district, just off the prestigious Paseo Blvd.

Colleges classes officially started in 1917 and the first college academic building - Conway Hall - was completed 20 years later in 1937.  As Rockhurst College built a name for itself, it also built up a darn good football team.  It was around that time that the Rockhurst College newspaper, the Sentinel, held a contest to give their team a "tradename."  Out of over 300 entries, "Hawks" was selected because it was "distinctive and indicative of dash and courage."  The Hawks football team came to a sudden halt in 1949 as a result of WWII, when the head coach joined the Marines.  Rockhurst football was never reinstated after that.

Another 20 years down the line, women were allowed to be full-time students at Rockhurst in 1969.  At that time, the percentage of women compared to men was very small - in fact there were only 3 female faculty members - but these days women outnumber men at Rockhurst nearly 2 to 1!

Throughout Rockhurst's history, a few familiar faces have made an appearance on campus.  One of the first visiting scholars was Robert Frost, and JFK received an honorary degree from Rockhurst in 1956.

In 1999, Rockhurst College officially changed its name to Rockhurst University and by 2000 Rockhurst completed its trademark bell tower (visible from any point on campus) and pergola.

In 2010, I witnessed Rockhurst history when the university received the largest donation ($10 million) in its history, launching a new campus renovation and construction campaign!

Learning about the history of Rockhurst does not even scratch the surface of all the incredible things Rockhurst stands for and all that it does for its students and the surrounding community.  I hope you've enjoyed this little history lesson and stop by Rockhurst to see history in the making.

Conway Hall in the late 1950's, lit up at night.

Centennial Celebration BASH

Things here at Rockhurst have been so crazy this past weekend as everyone gathered to officially celebrated Rockhurst's Centennial!  The anticipation has been growing for so long as Rockhurst staff prepared to throw the party of the century.  By the end of this past week, over 5,000 people were registered to be on campus for all of the big events.  On Friday, students, faculty, alumni and the like were invited to campus for the Centennial Bash during the men's and women's soccer games against UMSL.  The bash was held on a grassy field to the east of the soccer field where students set up fundraising tables and the university brought in inflatables, entertainment and food.  It was an absolutely beautiful day for the festivities and everyone looked like they were having a blast!

Some of the delicious baked goods we sold at our cake walk fundraiser.

The old (left) and new (right) Rockhurst Hawk.

Marianne and Rachel enjoying the free snow cones, cotton candy, and popcorn!

Marianne attempting to play cornhole - a game I had never heard about until coming to college and having a roommate from Indiana.

On Sunday night, some of my friends and I discovered the centennial cake just hanging out in the Fishbowl in Massman Hall, so of course we had to take a picture with it!  Happy Birthday Rockhurst!

There Is No Place Like the Plaza.

Photo from Plaza Photo Tour.

When I first visited Rockhurst as a junior in high school, I was having a really hard time figuring out what I wanted from a college and what sort of major I would be pursuing.  When I visited Rockhurst with my dad, not only was it the first time I had ever been in Kansas City, it was also the first time I had ever seen the Country Club Plaza.  Amazed by the Plaza’s chic stores, beautiful architecture, and plentiful fountains (Kansas City is known as the city of fountains), I realized that going to Rockhurst would give me easy access to such a great and convenient place.  

Photo from Plaza Photo To

Living only five minutes away from the Plaza has enriched my experience in Kansas City.  A fun fact about the Plaza is that it was actually the first suburban shopping mall in the nation.  The Plaza is practically “an outdoor museum of romantic Spanish architecture and European art,” according to the Plaza website, and is designed to mimic Seville, Spain.  It’s also infamous for its impressive lights display during the holidays, an effect that adds the perfect twinkle to the holiday atmosphere.  I have met people who have come from all over the country just to shop there and see the lights.  

Photo from Plaza Photo Tour.

The Plaza has turned out to hold plenty of great opportunities for a college student like me.  I’ve held two part-time jobs on the Plaza, been to numerous SAB sponsored $3 movie nights at the Plaza’s Cinemark theater, spent way too much money at my favorite stores (Urban Outfitters, J-Crew, Gap, Forever 21, Paper Source, and Barnes and Noble – just to name a few), and I can always rely on something tasty at my favorite restaurants (Ingredient, Coldstone, The Cheesecake Factory, California Pizza Kitchen, Chipotle, the Mixx, and Noodles & Company). It’s perfect for date night, going on a shopping spree with the girls, or getting dressed up for a night on the town.  Also, there’s nothing like walking around the Plaza on a beautiful fall or spring day to raise your spirits after a long week of classes.  All in all, us Rockhurst students are really fortunate to have such a thriving community within walking distance to our own tight-knit campus community. 

Hopkins, Skip and Run - 5K Memorial Run

I'm one of those people that considers myself to be a partial morning person. While the physical act of dragging myself out of bed in the morning to go to work or class might be pretty difficult, once I'm up and at'em, I'm in a really good mood. This morning was one of those instances.

I got up at 8:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning to go participate in the Hopkins, Skip and Run 5K on campus. The run was put on by two Rockhurst Greek organizations who are raising money for the Hopkins Scholarship, in memory of Nelson E. Hopkins, Jr., a high school student who was found murdered on the perimeter of campus in December of last year. Nelson died with a college application for Truman State in his back pocket. His murderer has still not been found to this day. The scholarship fund was established to help send Nelson's younger siblings through school and to start a regular college scholarship for students at his high school.

The runners at the start of the race.  The first three finishers received $50 gift cards to a local spa.

I'm really proud of the Rockhurst students who put so much effort into putting this whole event together! They've been working on it ever since February, and I bet it was rewarding for them to have such a great turnout. I opted to walk the whole course, as I've never been much of a runner, but it was extremely pleasant to walk through Brookside, the Trolley Walk path, and the UMKC campus on such a pleasant day. The sky was perfectly blue, there was a gentle breeze, and the 72 degree weather was a welcome relief after the humidity of the day before.

My sorority sisters at the end of the race with Nelson E. Hopkins, Sr., the father of the young man who was murdered with a college application in his back pocket.

Looking forward to coming back to Rockhurst and participating in the run again next year!

The Joy of Pepsi

If there's one thing I love about being a senior, it's that the classes I'm taking are more concentrated to my major.  Well, for the most part.  This being said by a senior who's taking an intro computer application course and Precalculus, but that's just because I put it off for too long.  Don't do that!

One class in particular that I have really enjoyed so far this semester is my Advertising Copywriting class.  Right now I'm doing research for a project focusing on a famous ad campaign: the Pepsi Generation.  Now, I'll admit I've never been much of a Pepsi fan - in fact I was a little disappointed when Rockhurst switched out Coke for Pepsi on campus, but I wanted to study this campaign because I found it interesting how successful it was and continues to be.  Pepsi was just a small, little-known company before the Pepsi Generation campaign came along.  

I love how in this campaign Pepsi solicited to the common American desire to be youthful and free.  My research came up with a quote which stated that Pepsi informed Americans that "there are Coke people and there are Pepsi people, and if you’re a Pepsi person you are young and the future’s on your side."  

After watching this ad here, I think I'm well on my way toward picking the Pepsi side of the cola wars!