In the pursuit of making Rockhurst a more accessible school, a shuttle service has been implemented for some areas to ease the travel burden for students. This morning-only service is meant for students that live farther away from Rockhurst.
Rockhurst-emblazoned vans go to specific locations to pick up kids before bringing them to school. While some of these vans were at Rockhurst beforehand, two new vans were purchased for the purposes of providing this service. Right now, there are four parts of the metro area that are either currently being reached or will be in the near future: the Northland, Midtown, Lee’s Summit, and western Kansas City, which is specifically in Lenexa.
Rev. Stephen Kramer, S.J., the principal, played a big part in the rollout of this service. In fact, he was there on the first van to pick up kids on Dec. 8. Kramer says transportation is one of the main obstacles that prevents a family from choosing Rockhurst. The cost to go here has traditionally been another.
“Some people think they can’t afford Rockhurst, and we have raised enough money where if you don’t have any money, you can still go here,” Kramer said.
With the financial part addressed, administrators turned their attention to the transportation piece. That’s where the shuttle service comes in. Allen Roberson, the chief financial officer at Rockhurst, was also involved in the process of getting the shuttles up and running smoothly.
“I think the main goal was really … understanding that there’s some barriers, maybe, for students to be able to get here from a transportation perspective,” Roberson said. “[We’re] trying to really kind of eliminate barriers for accessibility for students to come to Rockhurst, so we thought providing some type of morning transportation would help with that for our current students as well as prospective students.”
This service has already had an impact on the community as it adds a new level of convenience for students and parents alike.
“I called all the parents and said, ‘Hey, tomorrow we’re running a route, and we’re going to be there,’ and the amount of screaming on the telephone of ‘Thanks!’ and ‘oh my God … what a great community,'” Kramer said.
Students who have used the shuttles say they are grateful for the help, as they can get to school earlier and more conveniently. It has also helped their parents get to their respective jobs earlier as the errand of getting their kid to a school that is far away is removed.
The other goal of this–besides helping current students–is the future impact. The new shuttles will open opportunities for more families to access Rockhurst that otherwise wouldn’t be able to.
“I think the second impact is this… our admissions team is now… going to the schools, the parishes… around these areas, [and] we’re like, ‘Hey, we got a pickup spot right there. You don’t have to drive 30 minutes across town or 25 minutes in traffic to get here. We’ll come get you,’ and that’s a big deal,” Kramer said.
Roberson said that these shuttles–combined with things like the increased financial aid–represent one of the core pillars of what Rockhurst stands for, and they will continue to focus on into the future.
“We’ll continue to… look and monitor and see those things… where we can provide… assistance or support in making Rockhurst affordable and accessible to any young man who wants… a Rockhurst education.”
