Rockhurst Sentinel

Issue date: 5/6/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Andrew Young

Imagine having to deal with all the pressing issues concerning Rockhurst University that are the most talked about among students. Now double, or even triple, those thoughts and you may be somewhat close to what Fr. Tom Curran works with every day as the President of Rockhurst University. Everything from the precarious financial situations, increasing number of students living on campus, creating and improving relationships with the surrounding community, or pitching ideas to be used by the public relations office. This is just a fraction of what goes on behind the doors of the president's office. I have a slim idea of this very busy office because I was fortunate enough to spend the majority of April 11 shadowing Fr. Curran due to my victory in the Student Alumni Association sponsored raffle "Day with the President."

The day began just like any other. I attended my first class of the day, but afterward the business of the day began. My time with Fr. Curran began with a brief interview. We spoke about a couple of the different issues facing the campus today. Many of them included the previously mentioned housing problem, but also the state of the campus buildings and the changes of personnel that have occurred. This interview was very informative and reiterated how open Fr. Curran is with the campus as a whole, which has been displayed in the town hall meetings that have happened. Once this had finished it was on to the luncheon hosted by the Rockhurst University Library Guild.

Now the luncheon was definitely the highlight of the day. The Library Guild is made up of many influential ladies from around the city that are also very fun to be around. This particular luncheon was set up for the release of the book River of Doubt. Candice Millard wrote the book and she was present to give the crowd a brief overview of the book. River of Doubt is about an expedition of Theodore Roosevelt's on a tributary called the river of Doubt. Ms. Millard told a brief story of the journey embarked upon by Roosevelt and his team. More interestingly, to me anyway, was that she was able to actually travel to the river itself and do some research of the surrounding area. The excitement exuded by the author conveyed to the room that the research for this book was one of the most enjoyable experiences of her life. When she finished speaking about the book Fr. Curran and I were literally running to the next meeting.

Continued...

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