Stories of Impact

Grateful Parent Includes Gift For Scholarships in Her Will

Tara Bash, —99 & Kay Marshall

Like any parent, Kay Marshall was thrilled when she learned her daughter Tara was accepted to Rockhurst with a scholarship. Tara enrolled as a psychology major, and everything went great until the spring semester of her senior year when she was diagnosed with a tumor the size of a plum pressing on her brain stem.

Kay found herself living a parent's nightmare. Her daughter had gone from happy-and-engaged college student nearly ready to graduate, to a very young person with a brain tumor. By July, Tara was scheduled for surgery and her dream of finishing college gave way to the realities of preparing for surgery. Nobody knew what to expect next.

Following Tara's 10-hour surgery, the doctor told Kay he hadn't expected her to live through it. But she came through and now everyone's attention turned to Tara's recovery — a daunting process at best. Tara would need to relearn everything — how to swallow, feed herself, dress, walk, and even to talk again.

While Tara pushed through daily therapy sessions, Kay called Shelly Chabon, Ph.D., a professor of communication sciences and disorders at Rockhurst University and told her what had happened.

"What can Rockhurst do to help?" was Chabon's first question. She said she would review Tara's transcript and see how many credits were left to graduate with her class. In the meantime, the Rev. Jules Brady, S.J., visited Tara providing her with much needed encouragement and support.

In 1999, Tara graduated Summa Cum Laude with her class. "It's really a miracle," Kay explains "Tara never gave up in therapy, she worked terribly hard."

Filled with gratitude for all that Rockhurst University did for Tara, Kay is leaving a bequest in her will for student scholarships. "Because of how they treated Tara," Kay said. "They were so wonderful to Tara starting with the scholarship without which she could never have attended Rockhurst. And then when she was recovering from surgery, they took care of everything and made sure that Tara could graduate. We will always be grateful to Rockhurst, to Dr. Chabon, and to Father Brady!"

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