ROCÍO DE LA ROSA DUNCAN, Thirty Years of Service to Rockhurst

Have you ever been in a place where you notice that you don’t belong? Like a square peg in a round hole. Imagine the excitement of going to college to pursue your dream of obtaining an undergraduate degree, and the environment is like nothing you have experienced. You look around and find nothing familiar; everyone seems very different from you, so you try to find someone that might be familiar to you. Rocío De La Rosa Duncan, Ph.D., was that someone for many of our alumni of color in the Jesuit tradition of building a home for all.

Ani Haroian, ’16, was recently at an event that included several Rockhurst alumni. Word of Rocío’s June, 2023 retirement spread, and the typical remark from many at the event, “she was the reason I stayed at Rockhurst.”

In honor of her 30 exceptional years of service and being a beloved professor at Rockhurst, a group of her alumni has come forward to raise money for an endowed scholarship in honor of Dr. Duncan on her retirement from Rockhurst.

Rocío, originally from Córdoba, Veracruz, México, obtained a degree in Spanish literature from the Universidad Veracruzana, along with a masters and Ph.D. from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

RU service trips to Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras increased her interest in Central American Literature written by women. Duncan has served as director of the Department of Modern Languages several times throughout her career. In May 2011, she received the Excellence in Teaching award, and in 2012 the Harry B. Kies Award for extraordinary service. And in 2015, Dr. Duncan was named Faculty Member of the Year by Rockhurst University students.

Through her active participation in SOL (Student Organization of Latinos), service trips and study abroad trips, Rocío helped change the world view for many students, says Haroian, ’16.

For more information on Dr. Duncan’s Scholarship, please contact bebe.harrington@Rockhurst.edu.