2024 Emerging Hawklet Award

The Rockhurst High School National Alumni Association Executive Committee will honor Cornell P. Ellis ’08 as its 2024 Emerging Hawklet. Ellis will accept the award during the school’s Homecoming Mass on October 8, 2024. He will also be recognized at the Alumni Reunion Celebration on October 11, and at the Fr. Mario Puricelli, SJ, Alumni Spaghetti Dinner on November 7.

 

While a student at Rockhurst, Ellis may have been most known for helping lead the Football Hawklets to an undefeated State Championship season in 2007. He was also seen on the stage playing saxophone in the Concert and Senior Jazz Band, earning a varsity letter as a sophomore and a State Championship Ranking of 1 in the Senior Jazz Band as a junior. Off the field and stage, Ellis was establishing his commitment to community building as a member of the MEET Club (Multi-Ethnic Enrichment Team), a student organization that strives to promote multicultural harmony and awareness at Rockhurst. The club still exists today (now called the Student Diversity Union).

 

This Ellis Family’s impact at Rockhurst extended even further, as Cornell’s father, Arnold, was a founding member of Parents Promoting Diversity (PPD), a parent-based organization focused on increasing the voice and experience of parents in the Rockhurst community.

 

Following his memorable years at The Rock, Ellis went on to play football at the University of Missouri and then earned his degree in History from Avila University while playing for the Eagles. During his college years he developed his passion for working with and for young people. He served as a Teen Club Director for Boys and Girls Club of America and counseled at-risk urban youths aged 8-16 at the Hands Together Heart to Art Camp at Roosevelt University in Chicago.

 

His calling next ushered him to the Ewing Marion Kauffman School here in Kansas City. Beginning in 2014, Ellis taught English Language Arts and was a Guided Reading Teacher at the public charter school that is free to all students. For seven years, Ellis educated urban students in an effort to build the foundation for future college graduates. And understanding the importance of well-rounded young men and women, Ellis served as the founding varsity coach for multiple sports and led teams of educators to consecutive years of achievement growth and increased literacy for middle school students.

 

His dedicated work in education led Ellis to a jarring statistic: less than 2% of educators in America are Black men. Ellis wanted to face that problem head-on, and in 2016 he co-founded BLOC (Brothers Liberating Our Communities) in hopes of encouraging more Black men to become teachers, and as a support group to keep Black men in the

 

education field. Ellis is the organization’s Executive Director, and in 2020 left the classroom to give his full time to leading BLOC.

 

He has managed to devote himself to other local organizations, including serving as a Board Member for Show Me KC Schools, chairing the Mayor’s Commission on Reparations Education Subcommittee, participating in the Kansas City Tomorrow (KCT) leadership program, and being an active member of his church while raising his two children with his partner, Kortney, and their son, Leon (5), and daughter, Ava (2).

 

Even still, Ellis has never forgotten about his beloved high school. He regularly returns to campus to speak to students about careers in education, offer his perspective on Black History Month speaker panels, share with graduating seniors the importance of the Rockhurst brotherhood, and talk with freshman parents about the things they can look forward to over their sons’ next four years. He is also a committee member of the Rockhurst Alumni Association’s RockConnect professional networking initiative.

 

“Class after class of Rockhurst students and parents can tell you that when Cornell Ellis speaks – at a Rock career panel, at a parent welcome, or anywhere – Rockhurst listens,” said Pat McInerney ’82, National Alumni Association President. “They listen because of Cornell’s groundbreaking community leadership, his relentless dedication to advancing the mission of Black men working in education, and his commitment to serving others for the greater glory of God.”

 

The Alumni Association is proud to honor Ellis with the 2024 Emerging Hawklet Award as an example of a true Rockhurst man to current and future Hawklets.

 

“As a reluctant and hesitant freshman, the culture of ‘For the Greater Glory of God’ quickly became a mantra for me and has echoed in my heart since my days at The Rock. Today, as a growing community leader, father, and partner, the phrase means more than ever,” commented Ellis. “The friends, colleagues, and networks that I built at Rockhurst continue to be guiding lights of greatness. My four years at Rockhurst provided me with lifelong friends and councils of men with integrity, vision, and fervor for lighting the world on fire.”

 

“There are thousands of Rockhurst men making their mark on the world, and I can only hope to add to the list. The light of Jesus Christ will continue to shine through our actions and lives – inspiring the next generation of positive change.”

 

The Emerging Hawklet Award was founded in 2023 and is designed to recognize those who have demonstrated strong adherence to the guiding principle, “Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam.”


Past honorees include:

2023 - Maxfield Kaniger '09