Bill Stancil presents Rockhurst University: The First 100 Years, a lecture supplemented with numerous historical photos, on Sunday, October 17, at 2 p.m. at the Central Library, 14 W. 10th St.

Michael Dowling, S.J., arrived in Kansas City in 1908 to establish a Jesuit university with no money in a city with relatively few Catholics. There was prejudice to overcome, convincing to do, and competition to be faced. Struggle would become an overarching theme in the history of Rockhurst University: a struggle to build, to gain accreditation, and to attract students. Rockhurst’s ability to adapt, then and now, has been key to its survival and its success.

Stancil is a professor theology and religious studies at Rockhurst.

This presentation is part of the Missouri Valley Speakers Series, a program of the Missouri Valley Special Collections at the Central Library. The series is made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.