I graduated in 2009, and one of the more memorable stories from my experience at Cleveland Chiropractic was a motion palpation technique class with Dr. Ramcharan. In the movie, Ace Ventura, there’s a situation that occurs and the guy says to the gal, “Your gun is digging into my hip.” I was the test subject laying in side posture while he was explaining techniques on how to do proper setups. He was teaching with me in that position for some period of time, and so I interrupted him and I told him that his gun was digging into my hip. That was followed by the whole classroom and Dr. Ramcharan laughing up to the point where there was no more teaching for the rest of the day and we were excused early.

Congratulations to Cleveland Chiropractic and Dr. Cleveland for 100 years of celebration and teaching.

Thinking back to when I was in school, and that was in 1976, I had migraine headaches. I went to Dr. Gerred, who became vice president of the college later on, and he gave me an occipital lift adjustment and took that migraine headache away.

We knew Cleveland II and Cleveland III before Dr. Cleveland II went to California, and then C3 took over, and we enjoyed them very much. And, we also had Dr. Millie for a teacher, and she was a sweetheart.

My long-standing memory of being a student at Cleveland was probably the first week of school when everyone in my class stood in a circle, and Dr. Cleveland went around and got our names and information. When we were all done, he went back around the group — and I think there were around 100 of us — and he remembered everyone’s name. I was so impressed. That stayed with me. And throughout chiropractic college, he remembered each of us as we walked through the hall, calling us by our names, “Future doctor Kimberly Hunt.” I’m really proud of Cleveland for 100 years of higher education.

I think the biggest thing that affected me through Cleveland was the Motion Palpation Institute. There was a club, and then there was a class, of course, and they kind of tied together the ability to adjust, do some soft tissue, and maintain those changes through some active exercises and some rehab. That club, and going to those seminars, actually kind of exposed me to most of the things that I’m currently doing in practice like dry needling, soft tissue stuff

When I started at Cleveland, it was on 37th and Troost. It consisted of two houses and a building. My dad was a pharmacist. His brother was a medical doctor, and I thought I would go into that profession, but I changed my mind after I was helped by a chiropractor for a problem that nobody else helped me with. You’ll hear stories like that all over the place, but my success with him convinced me that this (chiropractic) should be interesting to look into, which I did.

The instructor I had the most respect for was Dr. E. C. Prowell. He was teaching what they called lower-division anatomy in those days, and he saw me. I had questions in my eyes, and I had questions in class. One day he came and put his arm on my shoulder and said, “You have some questions like ‘do I really want to be here?’ And I said, “Yeah, I do have that question.” He said, “I can see it in your face, I can hear it in your questions, but stick it out. You’ll see it’ll be worth your while.” He gave me a pep talk, which to this day I still cherish, because he took the time to see the questions in my eyes. He knew that I was about ready to give up, which I probably would have had he not taken the time to do that.

When I finished school, Dr. Prowell said, “I’m about ready to give it up, would you entertain the thought of becoming a teacher here, because you’re qualified?” I passed all my boards, got my diploma, you know, C.S. Jr. signed off on it, all of the above. So, I started teaching lower-division anatomy, and the classes changed incrementally. They became more intense. And as the new students came in, we had a different caliber of students that had more education prior to going into chiropractic. There wasn’t a requirement that you have a college degree, or even two-year college degree. In those days, you had to have a high school diploma.

I taught there up until ’79, but not full-time, because I opened up an office not very far away on Troost…55th and Troost. Dr. Cleveland asked me if I would like to continue instructing. I watched the current president of the school, Dr. Carl, he was a student in some of my classes. I went up to Carl and I said “Carl, I’m going to be leaving the faculty here. So, you’re gonna have to take my classes.” He said, “What?” And if you ask him why he is where he is today, it was partially, because of what I did to him by saying, “Hey, I’m leaving. It’s your job. Take over.” And that’s how he evolved because I don’t think when he was a student, he had any intentions of doing what he’s doing today. I think he had other ideas about his future. Well, his future changed when I said, “It’s up to you to continue on.”

The reason I chose Cleveland University-Kansas City is because when I took my tour, they laid out everything very specifically. They didn’t try to fluff it up. I really enjoyed the facilities, the staff that I met, and the campus itself was really well kept. You could tell people enjoyed being there, and it just seemed like a good fit.

From a skills standpoint, and from a practical standpoint, I do think when you leave, you’re put in good position to succeed. Whether you actually go out and do it is all up to you, but CUKC gives you the right tools to do that.

When I was in school, there were only two classrooms, and it was called lower division and upper division. And so, all the students that started, the basic freshmen and some sophomore classes were in that room. Since it rotated, it didn’t matter when you started, you just sat right in, and you would go from one class, to another class, to another. Then, the upper division was more of the sciences and things, adjusting and that kind of thing. So, it’s changed a lot since then.

Chiropractic saved my life when I was 15. I was a severe asthmatic from birth that got worse and worse. By the time I was 15, two specialists in children’s asthma told my parents I wouldn’t be alive in another year because of the drugs and the asthma. One of my mom’s friends referred her to this chiropractor who did specific upper cervical. I started getting adjusted, and it was probably five weeks later I was off the drugs and never looked back. I never had another problem. Needless to say, that’s what I’ve been doing for the last 52 years.

One of my fondest memories is leading into graduation. I grew up in a small town in Missouri, and neither one of my parents went to college. And my mom and dad were with me, and they finally got to meet many of my friends that I’d been going through school with. And the night of our President’s Dinner, which is the night before graduation, we met at the Hyatt. And for the first time in my life, I saw my dad in a suit and tie, and that was a very special moment.

Then we sat through the dinner and Dr. Cleveland stood up and talked about the history of the school, and where the school started. How it started in a house, and then moved to where we were. And a couple of years after I graduated, the school had moved over to Overland Park. But sitting there, learning the history of where the school started, and how Dr. Cleveland had been a part of B.J. Palmer’s school, and had brought that down to Kansas City. And through the years, a lot of us have been able to go through that school and become chiropractors to continue on that principle of chiropractic.

That was one of the biggest moments, because I sat there knowing that within a few hours I would graduate, I’d get my diploma, and I would get to go out and serve people. And being able to do that has been the greatest reward over the last 15 years of my life because that night of learning that history, I became a part of the history of Cleveland. I get to carry that forward, not only to practice chiropractic but also help my patients live a better life through what we learned to do during my time at Cleveland.

I started classes at Cleveland Chiropractic College in 1968 when it was located at 37th and Troost. I did “handy man” work for Dr. Millie and Dr. Carl Jr., and got to know them quite well to my deep pleasure. I had come to know Dr. Carl III in our early adolescent years, and our friendship was rekindled when I began working at the Cleveland home and he would come by to visit his mom, or practice on a great organ they had. In my time at school, we had the pleasure to meet Dr. Carl Cleveland Sr., as well as Dr. Jim Parker and many other icons of the profession.

I remember a time when I was in school that a lightning strike caused the electricity to go out. I was in class with Dr. Carl Jr., who continued his lecture when it was pitch black in the classroom – he didn’t miss a beat!