INDIANAPOLIS – Rockhurst University has been chosen as the 2024 recipient of the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Dr. Joseph J. McGowan Visionary Award, the Conference office announced Tuesday.
The Hawks were chosen as this year’s winner by the GLVC Awards Committee and will be formally recognized at the Enterprise Rent-A-Car GLVC Spring Awards Reception in St. Louis, Mo., on Tuesday, May 21.
Named after Dr. Joseph J. McGowan, President at Bellarmine University for 26 years who passed away on March 1, 2016, this award is presented annually to the GLVC institution that displays vision and exemplary programming to promote and advance the student-athlete experience.
Rockhurst was selected for its
"Be The Match" Donor Drive, which was spearheaded by Hawks men’s soccer senior Nick Grewe because of a personal connection to the organization. Spurred to action by a friend who needed a transplant, the Chesterfield, Mo., native got tested and has been raising awareness ever since. Grewe came close to being a match for a potential donor, but donors have to be of the same ethnic background as that of the recipient, which puts certain groups at a disadvantage. This fact made him even more passionate about trying to spread awareness and give more people an equal chance of finding a life-saving donor.
Grewe took that passion and approached Director of Athletics, Kristy Bayer, about hosting an event on campus where the men’s soccer team would help spread the word, man tables, take swabs, and pass out educational materials. Once he received approval, Grewe met with athletic administration, his coaching staff, the Director of Greek Life and Student Life, as well as organizers from Be The Match. He also attended a coaches’ meeting and gave a heartfelt presentation on the impact of the organization and his personal journey testimony. Be The Match and the Rockhurst Marketing team also disseminated information to the campus community, encouraging participation.
On April 5, 2023, from 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM Grewe’s plan came to fruition where 175 swabs were collected and many members of the Rockhurst community were educated on the importance of donating. Those swabs went into a national registry database for future life-saving matching. The donation of healthy blood stem cells can be a cure for patients with sickle cell disease, blood cancers, and other deadly illnesses, which is why an event of this type is so crucial in order for the organization to recruit potential blood stem cell donors and match them to patients in need.
As a Jesuit school, Rockhurst students strive to live out that mission and those values, which include Magis (“more”) and Cura Personalis (“care for the whole person”). In addition, community engagement and being action-oriented are part of the general student-athlete experience, particularly in Division II. D-II athletics programs actively engage with their communities, which helps strengthen the bond among teammates and foster individual and personal growth to develop future leaders. As the Hawks’ motto states, “we are in the city for good.”
Since the event, Be The Match and the National Marrow Donor Program has rebranded as NMDP, but the mission remains the same. According to its official website, bethematch.org, “NMDP believes each of us holds the key to curing blood cancers and disorders. As a global nonprofit leader in cell therapy, NMDP creates essential connections between researchers and supporters to inspire action and accelerate innovation to find life-saving cures.”
Past recipients of the Dr. Joseph J. McGowan Visionary Award include Lewis University’s “Spread Your Wings” program (2017), Missouri S&T’s “Pioneers of Miner Women’s Athletics” (2018), University of Southern Indiana’s “Networking Night at Victoria National (2019), and S&T’s “Professional Life Skills Development Program” (2023). No awards were presented from 2020-22 due to COVID-19.
