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UMKC celebrates 75 years of history
By: Kurt Kloeblen, Staff writer
The University of Missouri-Kansas City embarks on its 75th anniversary celebration in hopes of educating those in and around the city about the school’s rich history.
The school’s anniversary committee is preparing events throughout the year, but one way to find out about the school’s history is to talk to some of the people who have been on campus for a while.
Two of those people are anniversary faculty co-chair Bruce Bubacz, university distinguished professor in philosophy and law, and former Kansas City Mayor Pro-Tem Alvin Brooks. Bubacz has been at UMKC for nearly 35 years, while Brooks earned both undergraduate and graduate degrees from UMKC, has taught classes at the school and has volunteered on a number of school committees.
Bubacz said spreading the word about the importance of the school in Kansas City is a chief principle of the anniversary celebration.
“I care about the place,” Bubacz said. “I think it is one of Kansas City’s most underappreciated institutions. It’s a really well-kept secret. We’ve grown a lot in the direction that the region has grown in. We reflect Kansas City quite a bit and the area. As a result, what’s important for us to do is just tell people what our story is. And it’s a really great story.”
Bubacz notes UMKC is one of six universities that both a Supreme Court justice and president have attended. When Brooks made a run for mayor against Mark Funkhouser in 2006, he ran against a fellow UMKC alumnus.
Brooks earned his bachelor’s degree from UMKC in 1959 while working for the Kansas City Police Department. He and two colleagues became the first police officers to have degrees on the force..
Brooks said he is finding more and more UMKC graduates throughout the city.
“I get around in the political and social arena,” Brooks said. “If you go in the medical profession, lawyers, judges, people who are native to the community, you find they have gone here for their undergraduate or graduate education.”
UMKC, formerly the University of Kansas City, opened its doors for the first time on Oct. 2, 1933. Bubacz said in the late 1920s people in the community felt like the time had come for Kansas City to have its own university.
“The University of Kansas City originally chartered in 1929, because a number of local movers and shakers decided we need a university in Kansas City and they were prepared to start one,” Bubacz said. “An interesting thing that happened between the charter and the first classes is something called the Great Depression. But they went ahead and did it. And interestingly enough, so did the Nelson in 1933, the Kansas City Philharmonic in 1933. The city itself was making a lot of commitments, Municipal Auditorium, where we still play basketball, in 1933. That year brought about a lot of interesting things happening in Kansas City. It was really reflective of some prominent citizens in this community to start a university.”
The school joined the University of Missouri system in 1963, and has since been known as UMKC.
The school will celebrate some key dates and alumni throughout the year. Alumni will deliver lectures and appear at university functions.
Some distinguished alumni come from professions in which UMKC has a history of producing strong graduates. Several UMKC schools are older than the anniversary itself.
“We have a dental school that’s 126 years old, we have a pharmacy school that’s 122 years old, a conservatory of music that’s 101 years old and we have a law school that’s 112 years old,” Bubacz said. “Now how did that happen? Kansas City had determined that those proprietary professional schools were important and they established those schools long before we had a university. In the first third or so of the 20th century, professional schools became more and more associated with university.”
Bubacz and Brooks agreed most law firms and dental offices in the Kansas City area are likely to employ a UMKC graduate.
Despite its academic success, UMKC has not always been on residents’ radar. With the University of Missouri, University of Kansas and Kansas State University receiving more prominence, partially because of athletics, UMKC has had to fight for its market share.
“It’s been called somewhat of a sleeping giant,” Brooks said. “I haven’t found it that way, but I understand because KU is less than an hour away and MU is an hour and 45 minutes. More and more, this institution has come into its own.”
With a ratio of undergraduate to graduate students at about 55 to 45 percent, Bubacz said his favorite part of UMKC is the students.
“My favorite part of the experience is so many of our students come to class with life experience,” Bubacz said. “It adds so much to the experience in class. People who are established in their family, they have businesses and degrees; they have a lot of life to talk about. That is my favorite part, the rich experience with students.”
Brooks said the best part of his experience with UMKC is everyone who has come through the school.
“My favorite part is coming into contact with the increased number of UMKC alum,” he said. “You see it more and more and more. It’s the success stories that make you feel good.”
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The school’s anniversary committee is preparing events throughout the year, but one way to find out about the school’s history is to talk to some of the people who have been on campus for a while.
Two of those people are anniversary faculty co-chair Bruce Bubacz, university distinguished professor in philosophy and law, and former Kansas City Mayor Pro-Tem Alvin Brooks. Bubacz has been at UMKC for nearly 35 years, while Brooks earned both undergraduate and graduate degrees from UMKC, has taught classes at the school and has volunteered on a number of school committees.
Bubacz said spreading the word about the importance of the school in Kansas City is a chief principle of the anniversary celebration.
“I care about the place,” Bubacz said. “I think it is one of Kansas City’s most underappreciated institutions. It’s a really well-kept secret. We’ve grown a lot in the direction that the region has grown in. We reflect Kansas City quite a bit and the area. As a result, what’s important for us to do is just tell people what our story is. And it’s a really great story.”
Bubacz notes UMKC is one of six universities that both a Supreme Court justice and president have attended. When Brooks made a run for mayor against Mark Funkhouser in 2006, he ran against a fellow UMKC alumnus.
Brooks earned his bachelor’s degree from UMKC in 1959 while working for the Kansas City Police Department. He and two colleagues became the first police officers to have degrees on the force..
Brooks said he is finding more and more UMKC graduates throughout the city.
“I get around in the political and social arena,” Brooks said. “If you go in the medical profession, lawyers, judges, people who are native to the community, you find they have gone here for their undergraduate or graduate education.”
UMKC, formerly the University of Kansas City, opened its doors for the first time on Oct. 2, 1933. Bubacz said in the late 1920s people in the community felt like the time had come for Kansas City to have its own university.
“The University of Kansas City originally chartered in 1929, because a number of local movers and shakers decided we need a university in Kansas City and they were prepared to start one,” Bubacz said. “An interesting thing that happened between the charter and the first classes is something called the Great Depression. But they went ahead and did it. And interestingly enough, so did the Nelson in 1933, the Kansas City Philharmonic in 1933. The city itself was making a lot of commitments, Municipal Auditorium, where we still play basketball, in 1933. That year brought about a lot of interesting things happening in Kansas City. It was really reflective of some prominent citizens in this community to start a university.”
The school joined the University of Missouri system in 1963, and has since been known as UMKC.
The school will celebrate some key dates and alumni throughout the year. Alumni will deliver lectures and appear at university functions.
Some distinguished alumni come from professions in which UMKC has a history of producing strong graduates. Several UMKC schools are older than the anniversary itself.
“We have a dental school that’s 126 years old, we have a pharmacy school that’s 122 years old, a conservatory of music that’s 101 years old and we have a law school that’s 112 years old,” Bubacz said. “Now how did that happen? Kansas City had determined that those proprietary professional schools were important and they established those schools long before we had a university. In the first third or so of the 20th century, professional schools became more and more associated with university.”
Bubacz and Brooks agreed most law firms and dental offices in the Kansas City area are likely to employ a UMKC graduate.
Despite its academic success, UMKC has not always been on residents’ radar. With the University of Missouri, University of Kansas and Kansas State University receiving more prominence, partially because of athletics, UMKC has had to fight for its market share.
“It’s been called somewhat of a sleeping giant,” Brooks said. “I haven’t found it that way, but I understand because KU is less than an hour away and MU is an hour and 45 minutes. More and more, this institution has come into its own.”
With a ratio of undergraduate to graduate students at about 55 to 45 percent, Bubacz said his favorite part of UMKC is the students.
“My favorite part of the experience is so many of our students come to class with life experience,” Bubacz said. “It adds so much to the experience in class. People who are established in their family, they have businesses and degrees; they have a lot of life to talk about. That is my favorite part, the rich experience with students.”
Brooks said the best part of his experience with UMKC is everyone who has come through the school.
“My favorite part is coming into contact with the increased number of UMKC alum,” he said. “You see it more and more and more. It’s the success stories that make you feel good.”