Rockhurst Sentinel

Issue date: 11/10/06 Section: News

Media Credit: Andrew Young Fr. Curran

On June 1st, 2006, Father Thomas Curran officially began work as Rockhurst University's new president. His inauguration ceremonies will take place October 28, capping a week full of events commemorating his new position as the University's head official.

On Tuesday 0ctober 10th, Father Curran held a Town Hall Meeting specifically for student observation and inquiry. In a refreshingly honest manner, our President addressed the current financial distresses of the school and discussed what would need to be done in order to remedy those problems, revealing yet perhaps the most important facet of his character, his presidential initiative.

The meeting opened with a "State of the University" address given by Farther Curran. The main focus of the address was to hone in on the nature of Rockhurst's financial standing. After grabbing a few laughs from the crowd by touching upon the St. Louis, Kansas City, and Omaha make-up of the student body, the President went directly into discussion of the money situation at the University. Fr. Curran continuously made reference to the general trend of private universities across the U.S. and compared those statistics to the current standing at Rockhurst. Tuition, according to his speech, typically covers 80-90% of private University's costs. Wtihin Rockhurst, however, tuition covers only 62% of costs. Fr. Curran broke down the numbers even further, stating that the University, in paying employees and taking care of various other amenities, currently costs $44 million to run. The University's current revenue? Only $35 million. This deficit grows even graver when considering the current conditions that dominant the University. Father Curran did not attempt to dodge the rather questionable stature of Rockhurst's residence halls and Sedgwick Hall. Instead, he emphasized their need for attention, acknowledging that, in the past, a lack of attention propelled the University into its current circumstances. He asserted that roughly $14 million worth of maintenance is needed within Rockhurst, and currently, only $7,000 per year goes to solving these maintenance problems. This fact, coupled with the diminishing endowment for the University to draw from, appears to leave Rockhurst in a fairly vulnerable state.

It was at this point in the meeting when Father Curran began glow with brutal but undeniably respectable honesty. "We need to make some cuts, and raise tuition." He said, with a stern and frank face. The President mentioned briefly that among the 28 Jesuit school across the nation, Rockhurst is the least expensive to attend. This was not done to fully justify a tuition raise, but simply to show that perhaps it isn't such a ludicrous idea. Father Curran discussed the fact that, in taking into account the high demand that Rockhurst currently possesses (illustrated by a consistently growing freshman class), a tuition raise is a feasible solution to adequately solve the University's deficit problem. Father Curran consistently referred within his speech to the cuts and tuition raises as what the University "has to do," existing as a option being exercised only due to its unique ability to solve Rockhurst's current problems. As far as cuts were spoken about, the President made it blatantly clear that no cut made would do anything to jeopardize or affect Rockhurst's accreditation, mission, or the quality of the University's final product. This was stated as a sincere promise, not only to those in attendance of the meeting, but to all current and potential students whose fears are heightened simply with the mentioning of "cuts." And due to the honesty Father Curran had thus far exemplified within the meeting, all in attendence could assuredly do nothing more that place their trust in the President's word.

Continued...

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