Campaign Update

Kean's Gift Supports University Archives

When alumni visit Creighton University, they usually meander around the campus and take in some of their favorite spots from their college days: a beloved residence hall, the Jesuit Gardens, St. John’s Church, the V.J. and Angela Skutt Student Center.

When Melissa Kean, Ph.D., MA’93, comes to campus, she makes a bee line to an obscure hideaway and hunkers down for a good long stay. She also returns the next day and as many times as she can before she returns to her home in Houston.

The object of her affection is nestled in the southeast corner of the lower level of the Reinert-Alumni Memorial Library — the Creighton University Archives. Many people are not even aware of its existence, but it holds such treasures as papers of the founding Creighton family, films, audio- and videotapes, photographs, the Creightonian student newspaper, yearbooks, commencement programs and much more historical memorabilia.

Kean’s interest in the University Archives is active on many levels. Kean, who is president of the National Alumni Board, graduated from Creighton with a master’s degree in history in 1993. She credits her life’s work to her Creighton mentors:

“I became a historian entirely because of the teachers I had in the Creighton history department. They gave me the tools I needed to succeed and after earning my Ph.D. in 2000, I was appointed Centennial Historian at Rice University in 2004,” she said. The heart of her work is archival research in the history of higher education.

Curiously, she did not inhabit Creighton’s archives while she was a student. “I never used the University Archives while I was at Creighton, but my daughter began working in them as an intern when she arrived on campus four years ago and I’ve since spent a great deal of time there.”

Kean’s daughter, Maggie Kean Wissink, BA’09, who followed her mother by attaining a degree in history, plans to become an archivist herself and pursue a master’s degree in library and information sciences.

David Crawford, University archivist, knows the Keans well. “Melissa has a strong interest in libraries and history and her daughter Maggie was our first intern from the Creighton history department,” he said.

Kean’s love of all things historical led her and her husband, Steve, to make a generous gift to Creighton’s Publications Preservation Program. While working in the archives one day, she overheard Crawford talking about the need for archiving Creighton’s electronic information as it appears on web pages. She approached Creighton’s Office of Development to see how she could go about helping fund the electronic archival program.

“It is really important that we do this and she recognized that fact,” Crawford said.

“The electronic archiving of Creighton’s more recent digital information is a way to help preserve the record of the University in the modern era without burdening the physical archives,” Kean said.

“I care deeply about Creighton. It has done more for my family than I can ever repay and I see this as only one step that needs to be taken to ensure that its history is not lost.”

Thanks to the contributions of alumni and friends such as the Keans, Creighton is able to remain true to its roots, while always looking forward.

Indeed, the history of Creighton is filled with true visionaries who were committed to forming a university rooted in faith, committed to service and dedicated to rigorous scholarship. To join in this vision, contact the Office of Development at 800.334.8794.