PLEASE JOIN the Board of Trustees of Rockhurst High School with President David Laughlin and also with
volunteer leaders Bonnie & Jerry Kelly ’73 Barbara & David Dehaemers ’78 Veronica & Peter Mallouk ’88 and student special guests
FOR A SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT TO STRENGTHEN EVERY ASPECT OF OUR SCHOOL
WATCH A REPLAY OF THE PROGRAM BY SCANNING THE QR CODE.
SEPTEMBER WEDNESDAY
9th
AT 4: 3 0 P M
2026
ON THE BASEBALL F IEL D AT ROCKHURST HIGH SCHOOL Inclement weather location to be provided if necessary Appetizers and beverages Kindly RSVP by Monday, August 31: rockhursths.edu/announcement “Come as you are” attire; families welcome IF YOU ARE U N ABLE TO ATTE N D IN PE RS ON W E W ILL BE LIVES TRE AMIN G THE E V E N T. SC A N THE QR C OD E TO THE LE FT.
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QU E S T I O N S ? C O N TA C T D R. D I A N E M A RT Y 816.36 3 . 2 0 3 6 X 5 3 8 O R D MART Y @ R O C K H U R S T H S . E D U
WE WANT TO MAKE SURE YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION IS CORRECT. PLEASE UPDATE YOUR INFORMATION BY SCANNING THE QR CODE TO STAY UP-TO-DATE ON ALL THINGS FORTIS!
On September 9, 2026, Rockhurst High School hosted a very special event in the school’s 116-year history… After more than four years of convening, strategizing, prioritizing, and planning, President David Laughlin, along with the Board of Trustees, Jesuit partners, students, and special guests announced the public launch of the $40 million FORTIS Campaign. As FORTIS is Latin for “strength,” the campaign will serve to strengthen every operation of Rockhurst High School so that the school may—as was expressed to President Laughlin by alumnus Dr. Travis Hiles ’92—always adapt, but never change. This publication introduces you to and invites you to join The FORTIS Campaign, created because we live in a changing world… but are proud to have a lasting mission.
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DEAR ROCKHURST COMMUNITY, For over a century, Rockhurst High School has aspired to excellence in care of its students and its mission. With all glory to God, it is easy to look back on our history and see great iterations of care leading to and building upon excellence. In each era then, it is the duty of the community to work to build upon the strength of the past and to endeavor that Rockhurst continue to lead with excellence. It is in that spirit that our community has come together to consider a wide variety of aspects of our mission, and to put together a thoughtful plan which deepens our commitment to our students and our mission. To be more affordable, more accessible, more intentional in character formation, more focused in our caring for our young men, more adaptive for curricular success, and to be more forthright in building community surrounding our daily lives, including through some new facilities and enhancements.
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Strength and deepening. This FORTIS Campaign is just that. It is our effort to prioritize who attends Rockhurst, who walks alongside our students in mission, and how we work together in new ways for ever greater excellence. We live in a changing world, but possess a mission that is lasting. I am grateful to so many who have helped launch this chapter of Rockhurst in our time, and I invite those who are still learning of these priorities, to prayerfully consider joining us. May it be for God's Greater Glory!
GO HAWKLETS! God bless,
DAVID J. LAUGHLIN PRESIDENT
A STRONG FOUNDATION
ENABLES OUR NEW CHAPTER
This is a story of the last five years. A story demonstrating how focus enacted strategy; strategy became investment; investment became possibility; and possibility is now becoming reality for young Hawklets and their families. The culmination of planning, engagement, and philanthropy has created momentum that is already changing the Rockhurst experience. Now we invite you all to help us continue building our story. Ahead we get to build not just facilities, but—by strengthening every aspect of our operations through FORTIS—we get to build young men prepared to lead in a changing world… all because of our lasting mission. We hope you’ll join us.
“It's a fair statement to say never in the history of Rockhurst High School has there been a campaign like this... I think that's what makes it so special because there are a lot of points of light in this campaign instead of asking, for instance, for a single facility. And it's great to know that we've already started some of the initiatives, too. It's not like we're waiting to raise money and then we're going to start spending. The spend's already started, which is another great thing.” ~Mark Teahan ’78
DIANE J. MARTY, EdD EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT STRATEGIC PLANNING VICE PRESIDENT – PHILANTHROPIC INVESTMENTS
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IN THE BEGINNING In the spring of 2023, Rockhurst High School published Toward a HopeFilled Future, a vision for the school’s next chapter rooted firmly in its enduring mission. Introducing the vision, Board Chairman Owen Zidar ’75 and Vice Chairman David Staker ’88 reflected on the school’s remarkable consistency through decades of change:
“Our school may have existed in different locations and with developing curriculum, but the core of our mission—forming young men as ‘men for others’ and preparing them to serve in every sector of society—has remained constant.” The 2023 vision was the result of a three-year strategic planning process that engaged trustees, alumni, parents, faculty, staff, students, and friends of Rockhurst (a complete list of the hundreds involved can be found online in The Rock News Spring 2025, p. 15). Together, they reaffirmed the school’s mission and identified priorities that would shape its future: expanding accessibility and affordability, investing in exceptional faculty, advancing academic and co-curricular excellence, and strengthening community engagement.
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A CHANGING WORLD,
Guided by these priorities and the Universal Apostolic Preferences of the Society of Jesus, trustees developed a strategic framework centered on Catholic, Jesuit identity, formation of the whole person, excellence and innovation, and community engagement. Nearly 40 initiatives emerged, with two priorities rising above all others: ensuring a Rockhurst education remains accessible to deserving students and attracting, developing, and retaining outstanding faculty. Today those priorities come to life through The FORTIS Campaign. FORTIS captures the purpose and the promise of the campaign. It reflects the campaign’s commitment to strengthening Rockhurst’s mission by expanding opportunity, supporting exceptional educators, and enhancing the programs and facilities that prepare young men to lead lives of purpose.
This campaign will help Rockhurst evolve to serve students and families of the present day while remaining steadfast in the mission that has defined Rockhurst for more than a century. THE FORTIS CAMPAIGN: A CHANGING WORLD. A LASTING MISSION.
A LASTING MISSION.
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FROM VISION TO FORTIS:
THE INVESTMENTS THAT CHANGED WHAT WAS POSSIBLE Even before strategic planning unfolded across 2023 and 2024, there was a question rooted in the Jesuit tradition: What more ought we do? President David Laughlin invited 15 members of a temporary President’s Advisory Council (PAC) in August 2022 to imagine what Rockhurst could—and should—become. Together, they reflected on four enduring priorities: an unapologetically Catholic, Jesuit identity; formation of the whole person; academic excellence and innovation; and meaningful community engagement. Those priorities became the lens through which every conversation was viewed: What must never change? What must evolve? And what investments would make the difference? The answer began with leadership by example. PAC members reaffirmed their commitment to Rockhurst by each continuing or increasing their philanthropic support of operations, believing deeply in both the school’s enduring mission and the promise of its evolving vision. 8
As those conversations deepened, six PAC members stepped forward as Visionary Investors, committing $15.9 million to strengthen Rockhurst’s future—$13.8 million to build the school’s long-term invested resources and $2.1 million to support operations, including the strategic planning process described on the preceding pages. That planning process became the bridge between vision and action, producing the strategic priorities later affirmed by the Board of Trustees. Today, those priorities come to life through the public launch of the FORTIS Campaign, engaging an outside facilitator to lead a comprehensive strategic planning process involving faculty and staff, alumni, current and past parents, and strategic partners. That broader process would become the bridge between vision and action. The resulting strategic plan identified the priorities that would guide Rockhurst into its next chapter. The Board of Trustees subsequently affirmed those priorities, providing both the direction and the conviction to move forward. Present-day, Rockhurst stands on the threshold of that next chapter with the public launch of the FORTIS Campaign, an ambitious effort to strengthen every element of the Rockhurst experience and ensure that a Jesuit education remains accessible, relevant, rigorous, transformative—and worthy of our students and their families who engage us in their formation. Of the six Visionary Investors, two along with their wives – Bonnie & Jerry Kelly ’73 and Barbara & David Dehaemers ’78 – continue in service to Rockhurst High School as Honorary Co-Chairs of the campaign, joined by Veronica & Peter Mallouk ’88.
PAC MEMBERS These individuals were among the first to put resources behind a simple but consequential belief: Rockhurst should not simply preserve what is excellent. It should invest boldly in what is possible Anonymous Brad Batz ’91* Steve Butler ’65 David Dehaemers ’78 Ken Felter ’68* Jerry Kelly ’73* Mike Kincaid* Rich Mattione ’74 Tom McDonnell ’62 Tom McCullough John Sherman Matt Smith ’00 Mike Trigg ’96 Fr. Derrick Weingartner, S.J. Owen Zidar ’75 David Laughlin, President Fr. Thomas A. Pesci, S.J., President Emeritus
*These individuals continued in service to Rockhurst by working on smaller strategic working groups 2023-24.
STAFF (IN 2023) Fr. Vincent Giacabazi, S.J. PRINCIPAL
Kelly Herdlick
EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT
Diane Marty, EdD
VICE PRESIDENT, PHILANTHROPY & ENGAGEMENT
Allen Roberson ’84
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
John DeGraffenreid
DIRECTOR OF FACILITIES
Mike Comiskey ’03
DIRECTOR OF ADMISSIONS
VISIONARY INVESTORS: Anonymous Barbara & David Dehaemers ’78 & The Dehaemers Family Charitable Trust Bonnie & Jerry Kelly ’73 & The Kelly Family Foundation The McCullough Family Foundation The McDonnell Foundation, Inc. Sherman Family Foundation
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A BOLD CAMPAIGN TAKES BOLD LEADERSHIP
INTRODUCING OUR HONORARY CO-CHAIRS
Rockhurst High School was fortunate to have three forward-thinking, successful, and generous couples serve as honorary co-chairs for the FORTIS Campaign Bonnie & Jerry Kelly ’73 have Rockhurst roots dating back to Jerry’s dad, Gerald A. Kelly, graduating in 1948 through Bonnie and Jerry’s son, Scott Kelly, graduating in 2006.
KELLY FAMILY
The couple is confident that Rockhurst High School will fulfill its mission of forming men of competence, conscience, and compassion. Jerry notes that he and Bonnie have placed their trust in the school to continue delivering for its students, through faithbased teachings, academic
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rigor, serving the community as “men for others”, and personal development through athletics and co-curriculars. That trust is embodied through the Kellys and the Kelly Family Foundation founding the Laughlin Scholars, a tribute to President David Laughlin and his administration at Rockhurst for their work since 2018. Now the family will be part of countless future Hawklets’ experiences at Rockhurst as Laughlin Scholars.
“Supporting Rockhurst has been based on a foundation of trust. We trust David Laughlin and his administration, we trust the teachers, and we trust the school’s mission. Rockhurst took a big step in meeting 100% of demonstrated need—and the Laughlin Scholars helps achieve that.” Jerry Kelly ’73 ON THE
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE LAUGHLIN SCHOLARS, CREATED BY BONNIE & JERRY KELLY AND THE KELLY FAMILY FOUNDATION
assistance to attend The Rock. The scholarship fund is a key component in Rockhurst’s ability to meet 100% of demonstrated financial assistance for all families. The family’s goal in their support of Rockhurst is “to open the doors to boys with the ability but not the means.”
The Dehaemers’ gift was among those that paved the way for strategic planning, which shaped the FORTIS Campaign’s four strategic pillars.
DEHAEMERS FAMILY
Barbara & David Dehaemers ’78 helped catalyze the FORTIS Campaign. While David was serving on the President’s Advisory Committee, he and Barbara, parents to two alumni (Jason ’05 and Zach ’06), made a visionary lead investment in Rockhurst High School that inspired others to likewise invest more boldly in its future—laying the foundation for what would become the FORTIS campaign. Understanding first-hand what the school provides to young men and their families made it a worthy investment in their eyes.
“I want more young men to have the opportunity that I had and my sons had to attend a great college preparatory school with a Catholic focus. And Rockhurst putting an emphasis on providing opportunities for student mentorships, internships, and immersive learning is just a furtherance of the school’s outstanding education.” David Dehaemers ’78 ON BEHALF OF BARBARA & DAVID DEHAEMERS MAKING A LEAD GIFT DURING ROCKHURST’S VISION PROCESS
MALLOUK FAMILY
The pillars that became the FORTIS Campaign spoke to Veronica & Peter Mallouk ’88. The couple, among Kansas City’s greatest philanthropists with their family foundation having granted nearly $100 million to local organizations since 2014, have made Peter’s alma mater a priority. The Mallouk Family’s commitment to Catholic education has included the establishment of the Mallouk Scholars at Rockhurst, making the school more affordable and accessible. In the 2026-27 academic year, 41% of current students will rely on tuition
Rockhurst thanks the Dehaemers, Mallouk, and Kelly Families for their leadership in guiding the school’s lasting mission.
“I am a product of this school and this community. ‘Men for others’ isn’t a slogan but a way of life. This scholarship fund is my attempt to answer it: to open the doors to boys with the ability but not the means, and to let them do the same for someone else one day.” Peter Mallouk ’88 ON THE FUTURE IMPACT OF THE MALLOUK SCHOLARS, CREATED BY VERONICA & PETER MALLOUK
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THE COMPANIONS WHO CARRIED FORTIS FORWARD Members of the Board of Trustees, under the successive leadership of Owen Zidar ’75, David Staker ’88, and current Chair Amy Holewinski, provided essential leadership during the campaign’s quiet phase. Alongside them, a Campaign Committee of trusted school and community leaders took on the day-to-day work of building momentum for FORTIS. These 13 volunteers brought more than their names to the effort. They brought their credibility, relationships, influence, time, professional and personal networks, and personally meaningful financial commitments. They opened doors and made introductions. They hosted and participated in events. They shared their belief in Rockhurst with peers, alumni, current and past families, friends, and allied partners. And, perhaps most importantly, they were willing to make the ask—to invite others to invest in the future they believed Rockhurst could create. A dedicated 11-volunteer-member Baseball Subcommittee took on that same charge with particular focus, championing the vision for a new baseball stadium and engaging the Rockhurst community around what will become a transformational space for students, families, alumni, and friends. These trailblazers helped make FORTIS personal. Their advocacy and generosity demonstrated that this campaign was not simply a set of institutional priorities; it was a collective investment in the education, formation, opportunity, and belonging of generations of Rockhurst students.
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By the time FORTIS publicly launched on September 9, their efforts— along with the generosity of the donors they engaged—had helped Rockhurst secure nearly $32 million toward the $40 million campaign goal. And their work continues. Today, these volunteers remain ambassadors for FORTIS, inviting each of us to join them in making a personally meaningful commitment to the campaign—and in becoming advocates for the students and families whose futures depend on the strength of Rockhurst. Their example is an invitation to step forward, invest boldly, and help write the next chapter of the Rockhurst story.
FORTIS CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE MEMBERS
STAFF (AS OF 2025)
Kevin Connor ’82
PRESIDENT
Erica & Shawn Creger Patty & Rob Hummel Paul Holewinski Will Manson ’15 Elyssa & Matt Moderson ’04 Courtney O’Farrell Beth & David Reintjes ’90 Mark Teahan ’78
David Laughlin Fr. Carlos Esparza, S.J. SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO
THE PRESIDENT
Diane Marty, EdD
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT,
STRATEGIC PLANNING
VICE PRESIDENT, PHILANTHROPIC INVESTMENTS
Mark Blanck, Jr. ’98 VICE PRESIDENT
PHILANTHROPY & ENGAGEMENT
BASEBALL SUBCOMMITTEE MEMBERS Ryan Anderson ’01 Terry Anderson ’02 Mike Czinege Tim Dunn ’96 Brian Gillespie David Hayob ’00 Greg Kratofil ’92 Jerry Mancuso ’08 Jim Ortbals Mark Teahan ’78 Dan Walsh
STAFF David Laughlin PRESIDENT
Diane Marty, EdD
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, STRATEGIC PLANNING
VICE PRESIDENT, PHILANTHROPIC INVESTMENTS
Mark Blanck, Jr. ’98
VICE PRESIDENT PHILANTHROPY
& ENGAGEMENT
Tom Kruse
ATHLETIC DIRECTOR
Rockhurst High School is home to six Jesuits in the 2026-27 school year. Fr. Derrick Weingartner, S.J., Fr. Stephen Kramer, S.J., and Fr. Carlos Esparza, S.J., celebrated Rockhurst High School’s Baccalaureate Mass on May 17, 2026.
Will Gorden
HEAD BASEBALL COACH
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WE’RE ALREADY GETTING STRONGER
It is a community excitedly watching a new scoreboard, working out together in a renewed Goppert Rock Plex, or sharing another experience that reminds everyone: this place belongs to all of us— and its future belongs to all of us, too.
NEARLY $32 MILLION INVESTED. AND ALREADY, THE IMPACT IS EVIDENT.
Together, we’re stronger. Together, we’re creating more than campaign projects. We are actively creating a stronger Rockhurst.
A campaign may be measured in dollars. But its impact is measured in something far more meaningful: what those dollars make possible.
The FORTIS Campaign is officially underway. Join the many alumni, parents, grandparents, and friends who have already invested in the next chapter of Rockhurst’s mission.
For the nearly $32 million invested in FORTIS during its quiet phase, the answer is already visible across the Rockhurst community and campus.
THE FORTIS CAMPAIGN: A CHANGING WORLD. A LASTING MISSION.
It is a family able to choose Rockhurst because of more than $16 million in new scholarship investments and the transportation to make the journey possible. It is faculty empowered to focus on forming young men through enhanced compensation and professional development. It is students growing in faith and character through the new Virtue Education program, learning to live lives marked by courage, justice, prudence, temperance, and fortitude. It is the naming of the William Dunn, Sr. Memorial Baseball Field, honoring a 1940 alumnus whose legacy will inspire generations to come.
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HIGHLIGHTS THROUGH THE FORTIS CAMPAIGN TO DATE MORE THAN $16.5M IN NEW INVESTMENTS 7 GIFTS OF $1M+
Largest current parent gift during the current administration, from Ryan & Erika McCarthy of McCarthy Auto Group to provide three scoreboards (installation dates all yet to be determined but will include one at Dasta Memorial Stadium; one at our new baseball stadium; and in the performance gym).
$6.57M TOWARD THE SHIELD OF DREAMS
BASEBALL STADIUM INCLUDING LEGACY, MEMORIAL, AND NAMING GIFTS:
The William H. Dunn, Sr. Memorial Baseball Field The Rhodes Family Pitching & Batting Tunnels The Mancuso Family Right Field Foul Pole
4 FAMILIES MAKING SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENTS IN FACULTY SUPPORT
INVOLVEMENT OF NEW DONORS: 83 donors as of Summer 2026 had made gifts of $25,000 or more. Of those: 32 (39%) of those 83 are alumni donors, ranging from 1965-2015 and representing $16.822M in gifts
51% of donors $25K+ have made gifts that represent 70% or more of their total lifetime giving 18 of 83 (22%) = 70-89% of their total lifetime giving 24 of 83 (29%) = 90-100% of their lifetime giving ($12.827M) We see this as quantitative evidence of the community’s affirmative response to the ways the School has reached out over the last five years to meaningfully engage alumni, parents, past parents, grandparents, and friends.
“We are so excited not only for the tangible impact Rockhurst had on Luke and our family’s lives, but the impact Rockhurst will have on countless more families over the next several generations. There has never been a time when families, communities, and our nation need young men learning leadership, character, and what ‘men for others’ looks like lived out day to day than at present.” ~Scott & Barb Eckley “Our parents sacrificed to send us to Rockhurst High School, believing in the power of a Catholic, Jesuit education to form their sons for success in this life and glory in the next. We created the Daniel & Kathleen Sexton Memorial Scholarship to both honor their legacy and pay forward their gift to future generations of Rockhurst men.” ~Terry Sexton ’87
LIST OF NEW FUNDS ESTABLISHED DURING THE FORTIS CAMPAIGN: LISTED IN THE ORDER THEY WERE CREATED
Laughlin Scholars Fund The Reverends Tom and John Divine, S.J., Faculty Compensation Fund Mallouk Family Scholars Fund Daniel & Kathleen Sexton Memorial Scholarship Class of 1975 Men for Others Fund FORTIS Scholarship Timothy K. and Jerry C. Jones Scholarship Fund The May Family Fund for Athletics Blessed Miguel Pro, S.J., Fund John ’68 and Carol Kafka Donor Fund Sabaugh Family Fund Eckley Family Scholarship Fund Gound Family Fund Class of 1976 Scholarship 15
PILLAR 1
ACCESSIBILITY & AFFORDABILITY // $24M OPENING THE DOOR. MAKING THE JOURNEY POSSIBLE.
Every striving young man deserves the opportunity to pursue an education that will challenge him academically, form him spiritually, and prepare him to lead a life of purpose and service. YOU CAN MAKE THAT OPPORTUNITY POSSIBLE. Your investment in Accessibility & Affordability ensures that financial circumstances never determine whether a deserving student can experience a Rockhurst education. Through the FORTIS Campaign, donors are creating new investments in scholarships, faculty support, and programming that will help Rockhurst fulfill a transformative promise: meeting 100% of every family's demonstrated tuition assistance need. And because affordability means little if a student can't get to campus, transportation initiatives remove that barrier—ensuring opportunity is truly within reach.
More than financial assistance, your generosity creates pathways where barriers once existed. You are expanding opportunity, strengthening the educators who shape young men every day, and changing lives for generations.
A LEGACY THAT LIVES ON: IN LASTING MEMORY OF JESUITS TOM AND JOHN DIVINE, S.J. Throughout their lives, Tom (RHS Class of 1917) and John (RHS Class of 1921) were Jesuit-educated, faith-filled, and committed to providing opportunity through education and formation to those in their midst. Each brother became a noted priest and scholar in his own right, Fr. Tom at Marquette University and Fr. John at Saint Louis University High School. The Divine brothers dedicated their lives in service to God and their communities. They were men of competence, conscience, and compassion.
REV. TOM DIVINE, S.J.
REV. JOHN DIVINE, S.J.
In the fall of 2024 a fund was created at Rockhurst High School in honor of these Jesuit brothers by Rosemary Kilker, whose mother took the Divine brothers in and raised them as her own following the death of their mother when the boys were young. The intent of this fund is foremost to support, recruit, and retain the highest caliber faculty to walk with Rockhurst High School students, daily living out the school’s Catholic, Jesuit mission.
The first new invested fund created through the FORTIS Campaign.
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PILLAR 2
FORMATION & CARE FOR THE WHOLE PERSON // $1M INVESTING IN THE HEART OF OUR SCHOOL
A Rockhurst education is about more than academic excellence. It is about forming young men of character who lead with humility, choose integrity, seek justice, and place others before themselves. YOUR INVESTMENT HELPS MAKE THAT FORMATION POSSIBLE. Beginning this fall, the FORTIS Campaign is strengthening formation and care for every student through a comprehensive Virtue Education Program that intentionally cultivates faith, hope, love, prudence, temperance, justice, and fortitude throughout daily school life across all classes, teams, clubs, and co-curricular activities. Your support also expands Rockhurst's counseling model, ensuring every student is known and accompanied through an enhanced counseling team that includes additional school counselors and a full-time social worker to support students' academic, emotional, social, and spiritual well-being.
FORTIS SUPPORT HAS EXPANDED ROCKHURST’S COUNSELING DEPARTMENT TO INCLUDE ADDITIONAL COUNSELORS AND A FULL-TIME SOCIAL WORKER. THE GROUP MEETS EACH MORNING TO DISCUSS HOW TO BEST CARE FOR THE YOUNG MEN OF ROCKHURST.
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These may not be the most visible campaign investments, but they are among the most important. A building can be measured. A scholarship can be counted. But character is formed one relationship, one conversation, and one experience at a time. Through your generosity, every young man is surrounded by the people and programs that help him become the man God is calling him to be. PILLAR 3
ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL SUCCESS // $1M PURPOSE IN PRACTICE
Every generation asks the same question: How do we prepare young people not merely to know more, but to become more? You can help answer that question. Your investment in Academic & Professional Success will strengthen a transformative initiative that connects classroom learning with real-world experience through mentoring, internships, interdisciplinary collaboration, career exploration, and the extraordinary expertise of Rockhurst's faculty and alumni. Imagine engineers, physicians, entrepreneurs, attorneys, and civic leaders helping students discover that every discipline has a purpose beyond the classroom. Through authentic experiences and meaningful relationships, young men will gain the confidence, 18
curiosity, and practical skills to thrive in college, lead with integrity, and serve others with purpose. Your generosity also invests in the educators who make these experiences possible, expanding professional development, encouraging innovation, and strengthening collaboration across departments. The result is a distinctly Jesuit education—one that prepares young men not simply to excel academically, but to connect knowledge with action, conviction with service, and learning with lives of lasting purpose.
PILLAR 4
ATHLETICS, CO-CURRICULARS, & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT // $14M
friendships, and create lifelong connections among students, families, alumni, and friends. Because when you invest in community, you build far more than facilities.
YOU HELP FORM YOUNG “MEN FOR OTHERS”.
BUILDING PLACES. STRENGTHENING COMMUNITY.
Some of life’s most important lessons are learned long after the final bell rings —on fields and courts, in the pool, on stages and service trips, where young men discover teamwork, resilience, leadership, and what it means to place others before themselves.
Below, a draft promotional image for the new baseball stadium to be made possible by the FORTIS Campaign (pending approval by the City of Kansas City, Missouri).
YOUR INVESTMENT CREATES THE PLACES WHERE THOSE LESSONS COME TO LIFE. This initiative strengthens the spaces that unite the Rockhurst community, including the Shield of Dreams baseball complex anchored by the William H. Dunn, Sr. Memorial Baseball Field, enhancements to Dasta Memorial Stadium, renovations to the Goppert Rock Plex, and other athletic and co-curricular facilities that support generations of Hawklets. More importantly, your generosity strengthens the culture these spaces foster. Every practice, performance, competition, and gathering becomes an opportunity to build character, deepen 19
A NEW PLAYBOOK THROUGH FORTIS The athletic experience at Rockhurst goes beyond competition. Leadership, teamwork, and fortitude are emphasized. Those are naturally going to be byproducts of an athletic program that has 89 State Championships and finished top-3 at State 172 times. But for many of the school’s 13 varsity programs, service is also ingrained in their team’s culture. The array of community service opportunities has only grown with the addition of Martin Radosevic, Jr. ’16. A donor’s gift to FORTIS enabled his hire as the school’s Director of Community Engagement, working with athletic programs and co-curricular groups to organize service experiences, Masses, and parent events. This role was a result of Rockhurst’s strategic plan to provide new ways to implement formation, growth, and spirituality into all aspects of the school. The AquaHawks, the winningest swim & dive program in Missouri history under Coach Paul Winkeler, annually participate in Christmas in October. Swimmers, divers, coaches, and parents alike spend a Saturday in the fall doing yard work and home improvement projects for local families in need. 20
Teams have even used service projects to recenter themselves before the postseason. Three days ahead of their first playoff game last fall, Coach Matt Daby ’00 had his Soccer Hawklets, the #6 team in the country at the time, swap scrimmage for service. Instead of heading to Dasta Stadium to prepare for Neosho, the team loaded into school vans and drove to Uplift to organize food and clothing donations for the homeless.
“While the goal of our service day with Uplift is to serve the less fortunate in our community, it’s also an opportunity to give some perspective to our kids,” said Coach Darby. “They can get so wrapped up in the wins and losses, and the stresses of being a teenager. But when we take a step back and view things from a different lens, it helps us to see just how blessed we are.” The student-athletes themselves will take the initiative. Conner Vickers ’26 planned, organized, and ran the “Chippin’ For The Garden” Golf Tournament last October. With the help of his Rockhurst Golf teammates, Vickers raised $17,000 through the event to support Pete’s Garden in Kansas City. The event will continue this fall as golfers in the Class of 2027 will undertake the fundraiser. The service program will only continue to expand, as will the impact of our student-athletes in the community. 21
THE FUTURE IS ALREADY TAKING SHAPE.
NOW, TOGETHER, WE STRENGTHEN WHAT COMES NEXT The FORTIS Campaign has never been about reaching a fundraising goal. It has always been about strengthening a mission.
The question before us is the same one that has guided Rockhurst High School for more than a century: How will we prepare them—not only for college, but for lives of purpose, leadership, and service?
Already, our lasting mission is being strengthened in remarkable ways to meet the challenge of a changing world. New scholarships are opening doors for deserving young men. Faculty support is ensuring extraordinary teachers continue to shape extraordinary lives. New programs are deepening faith, character, and care for the whole person. Facilities are being renewed, new opportunities are emerging, and investments in the Rockhurst experience are already changing lives.
The answer has never rested with one generation alone. It has always belonged to a community. To alumni who remember the teachers who changed their lives. To parents and grandparents who want future Hawklets to experience the same transformative education. To faculty and staff who faithfully carry the mission forward every day. To friends, foundations, and benefactors who believe that forming young men of competence, conscience, compassion, and courage is one of the most worthwhile investments they can make.
AND YET, THE MOST IMPORTANT WORK OF FORTIS STILL LIES AHEAD.
Together, you have already demonstrated a bold vision can become reality.
Because every fall, another class of young men walks through our doors. Each arrives with gifts waiting to be discovered, talents waiting to be developed, and a future waiting to be shaped.
Nearly $32 million has been invested during the quiet phase of The FORTIS Campaign. Those gifts are already strengthening Rockhurst today while laying a foundation for generations of students yet to come. Now, as FORTIS moves forward, we invite every member of the Rockhurst family to become part of this story.
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Whether through a leadership commitment, a multi-year pledge, a planned gift, first gift of any amount, or even an exploratory conversation… every act of generosity strengthens the mission we share.
Because of your generosity, we are getting stronger. Because of your partnership, our students’ hope-filled futures are brighter. Because of your faith in Rockhurst, the next generation is already rising.
BECAUSE EVERY GIFT ACCOMPLISHES SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY.
The momentum is real. The impact is lasting. And together, we will continue to strengthen what matters most.
IT OPENS A DOOR. IT SUPPORTS A TEACHER. IT FORMS A YOUNG MAN’S CHARACTER. IT BUILDS COMMUNITY. IT EXPANDS OPPORTUNITY. IT CREATES EXPERIENCES THAT WILL SHAPE A LIFETIME.
Most importantly, it ensures that the next generation of Hawklets receives the same life-changing education that generations before them have cherished.
Please join these generous individuals by making your individual, family, or multi-generation gift to the FORTIS Campaign today.
THE FORTIS CAMPAIGN: A CHANGING WORLD. A LASTING MISSION. AMDG
WITH GRATITUDE To every donor, volunteer, alumnus, parent, grandparent, faculty member, staff member, student, and friend who has already invested in The FORTIS Campaign: thank you.
SCAN THE QR CODE TO MAKE YOUR FORTIS GIFT TODAY.
Thank you for believing in young men. Thank you for believing in Catholic, Jesuit education. Thank you for believing that Rockhurst High School’s greatest impact is not measured by buildings or programs, but by the lives of the young men who leave this place prepared to lead, to serve, and to become “men for others.” 23
POSTAGE FPO FALL 2026
ROCKHURSTFORTIS.COM