James Rhatigan, ‘the heart of Wichita State University for more than 35 years,’ has died

Usually people have to die or donate a heck of a lot of money to get a building named after them, but that wasn’t the case with James Rhatigan.

The immensely popular former Wichita State University dean of students, better known as Jim, died Sunday at age 89.

However, in 1997 — well before he even retired — the Campus Activities Center was renamed the Rhatigan Student Center.

In a 2002 Eagle editorial upon Rhatigan’s retirement, L. Kelly wrote: “WSU officials said it was probably the first time a campus building was named after someone purely for that person’s service to the university. Mr. Rhatigan, however, said it was about time WSU finally named a building in honor of the students.”

Rhatigan, who joined the university in 1965, was “the heart of Wichita State University for more than 35 years,” Kelly wrote.

He went on to become WSU’s first vice president of student affairs and then senior vice president. Rhatigan, who had congestive heart failure, regularly went to his campus office after retiring, including as recently as two weeks ago.

Funeral arrangements are pending. Memorials may be made to University Congregational Church, where Rhatigan and his wife, Beverly, were charter members, and the Rhatigan Emergency Fund at WSU. The Rhatigans established the fund in the 1960s to help students in crisis.

For Jim Rhatigan, helping students was everything.

“Such a supportive person and a leader who obviously committed a life of service to higher education for the right reason — students,” wrote Amy DeVault, a WSU senior educator of journalism, in a Facebook post Sunday.

Kelly’s editorial on Rhatigan explained what he called the “small win,” meaning a small-but-generous act that could help a single student and, he said, “might tip the balance between staying in school or dropping out, the difference between success and failure.”

The editorial also said, “His greatest joy, he once said, is to see ‘a student who has kicked the probability tables in the teeth.’ ”

This story was originally published October 27, 2024 at 3:13 PM.