This occurs through group projects, oral presentations and classroom discussion. Our faculty members are committed to helping students take responsibility for their own learning and to helping them apply that learning in the complex world beyond the boundaries of the campus. We promote initiative at Rockhurst because we believe that students who take initiative will become leaders and will develop themselves and others. Education for leadership has always been part of the Jesuit educational experience, and at Rockhurst University we strive to be faithful to that tradition. We expect our graduates to be men and women who take responsibility for their gifts and talents, and do all they can to build up the gifts and talents of others.
Service is the third word on the inscription.
Rockhurst begins and ends the academic experience with service. As soon as new freshmen say goodbye to their families, they come together on the quadrangle where they divide into groups and go to various areas of the city for service projects. In May, seniors participate in the Van Ackeren Service Project, working together only hours before graduation. Rockhurst students give more than 25,000 hours annually in service to others, much of it in Kansas City, but we also sponsor special service trips to Central America, South America and Mexico. Service at Rockhurst is voluntary, but more than 85 percent of our students take part in service projects during their years of studies.