11–20
11 } Globetrotting
Students can see the world thanks to study abroad programs in 40 countries.
12 } Seeing kids smile
Fifty-five percent of children in Missouri who qualify for Medicaid do not receive adequate oral health care. Thanks to Partnership for Smiles, more of these children and families in the Kansas City area receive the care they need. School of Dentistry faculty and students have treated thousands of patients who otherwise might not have received any care at all.
13 } SIFE
Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) brings together students from different academic units on campus, academic professionals and industry leaders around the mission of creating a better, more sustainable world through the positive power of business. SIFE develops and implements projects that improve the lives of people worldwide, such as programs that educate people about market economics, entrepreneurship and financial literacy. The team at UMKC is hugely successful, having won its regional competition five years in a row. This year’s team also received the Club 44 Award, which recognized UMKC SIFE as one of the largest teams in the U.S. for the second year in a row.
14 } Housing
Students live the “suite” life when they live on campus. Both the Johnson and the Oak Street Residence Halls offer suite-style rooms in convenient, hop-skip-and-a-jump locations to everything on campus for about 1,400 students.
15 } Soccer pitch
With seating for 850, locker rooms and offices, concession areas and an outdoor track, the Stanley H. Durwood Soccer Stadium and Recreational Field provides athletes, students and community groups with one of the top soccer facilities in the Summit League and the Midwest.
16 } Bobby Watson
With tracks like “Beef on bun” and “Heavy on the sauce,” Watson has deliciously combined two of Kansas City’s great loves—jazz and barbecue—in the album he composed, Gates BBQ Suite. As an educator and the director of jazz studies at the Conservatory of Music and Dance, Watson brings the wisdom that comes from recording and producing more than 100 compositions over a career that has lasted almost four decades. A Grammy-nominee, Watson wrote original music for Robert DeNiro’s film A Bronx Tale, has recorded 26 records as a leader and appears on more than 80 recordings. Two of his albums, Gates BBQ Suite and From the Heart, both made jazz radio’s top five. As a world-renowned musician/educator, he taught at William Patterson University and the Manhattan School of Music before returning to his hometown Kansas City to teach at the Conservatory.
17 } Stack
John Stack Auditorium was named to honor Stack’s impact on the university and the many students he taught. Before his passing in 1998, Stack taught and influenced Roos for almost 25 years with energy and passion that became the stuff of legend. “He was a mainstay of our department in terms of enthusiastic, engaging and challenging teaching of the Western Civilization survey from 1600 to the present,” said Professor Dennis Merrill, who has been with the History Department since 1987, of Stack in 1988. “He would speak at the top of his voice, he would wave his arms, and I’ve heard stories of him standing on a table to make a point. That kind of enthusiasm can be contagious.”
18 } The house on the hill
Epperson House has weathered many changes during its 88 years perched on the hill, but it still stands steadfast. To read more, click here.
19 } Meti-man
When one is studying the health field, learning on an actual human patient can’t be beat—unless you’re learning to get those IV catheters just right. That’s where the human patient simulator labs in the Health Sciences Building come in so handy.
20 } Kasey
If you’ve noticed lately that Kasey has an extra spring in his step, you’re not seeing things. After five years of the same look, he debuted a new costume last fall, and the result was a spiffed up version of himself. The kangaroo is a rare mascot, and UMKC shares it with a slight few. Just two other colleges in the nation use Kangaroos as a nickname—Austin College in Sherman, Texas, and State University of New York at Canton.