Community Supporters Make The Goppert Rock Plex Facility Possible

It was announced in February 2022 that Rockhurst High School had finalized the purchase of the Red Bridge YMCA and will be known as The Goppert Rock Plex, as The Goppert Foundation made a $1 million gift to the facility.

Lead gifts were also made by the Ann & Gary Dickinson Family Foundation ($500,000) and The McDonnell Foundation ($250,000). These generous gifts made possible the new permanent home of Rockhurst’s swim & dive program (the AquaHawks), as well as space for potential uses that include STEAM-supportive academic curriculum, physical education courses, athletic rehabilitation, service learning activities, retreat center, student camps, health & wellness center for faculty and staff members, and more.

Rockhurst is also making the facility available, through written agreements, to other schools and student-athletes, including St. Teresa’s Academy, Notre Dame de Sion, and Center School District.

Autumn Markley of The Goppert Foundation shared this about the foundation’s partnership with Rockhurst:

The Goppert Foundation is pleased and honored to offer this gift as it gives Rockhurst’s swim & dive team a place to call home, as well as offer space for other area schools and clubs in need of a pool facility.

“You may have your identity or think you want to do something specific, but Rockhurst is a great learning ground to be exposed to a lot of different experiences, opportunities, and even different economic levels,” explained Shelton to a group of freshmen. “Be willing to be led where God will lead you.”

Nugent shared similar advice, “The people sitting next to you right now will likely be leaders in whatever they go on to do in life,” added Nugent. “Soak up these relationships - especially those who don’t look like you or don’t come from where you do. You all have been given a great opportunity by being at Rockhurst, so make the most of it.”

Rockhurst also hosted a faculty panel for students to attend during an Activity Period; the teachers spoke about their viewpoints as Black men and women. This panel included Greg Buckman, Dirk Lawson, AJ Taylor ’16, Judy Diamond, Allen Roberson ’84, and Billy Thomas. The conversation was facilitated by Andrew Murga ’22 and Miles White ’22, members of Rockhurst’s Student Diversity Union.

Rockhurst High School continues to work to make its community ethnically and socio-economically diverse. For the 2021-22 school year, 20% of the student body self-identified as students of minority racial backgrounds.