Slippery Rock University
Other name | The Rock |
---|---|
Former names | Slippery Rock Normal School (1889–1927) Slippery Rock State Teachers College (1927–1960) Slippery Rock State College (1960–1983) |
Type | Public university |
Established | 1889 |
Academic affiliations | PASSHE |
Endowment | US $16.5 million |
President | Karen Riley |
Administrative staff | 867 |
Students | 8,243 |
Undergraduates | 6,779 |
Postgraduates | 1,464 |
Location | , U.S. |
Campus | Rural, 660 Acres |
Colors | |
Sporting affiliations | NCAA Division II – PSAC |
Mascot | Rocky – The Pride of the Rock |
Website | www |
Slippery Rock University, formally Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania (The Rock or SRU), is a public university in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania. SRU is a member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). The university has been coeducational since its founding in 1889. Its campus is on 611 acres (247 ha).
History
Slippery Rock University was founded in 1889 under the name Slippery Rock State Normal School as a teacher training school. James E. Morrow was the first president. The school was purchased by the Commonwealth in 1926 and became a four-year college.
Slippery Rock State College was established in 1960 and issued undergraduate and graduate degrees within the liberal arts and other professions. As of September 2022[update], Slippery Rock University has 8,243 enrolled students as well as 172 majors, 45 minors and 44 graduate programs, including certificates.
Administration
In 2012, Cheryl Joy Norton was appointed as the university's first female president. Norton announced she would retire effective June 30, 2017. William J. Behre became the university's president in 2018. Behre would go on to serve the university for roughly 4 years before announcing his retirement on February 15th 2022. Effective on July 1st, 2023 Karen Riley was appointed president of Slippery Rock University.
Athletics
Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania competes in the NCAA Division II and is a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC).
Slippery Rock University's official mascot is Rocky the Lion.
Varsity sports
Men's teams: Baseball, basketball, cross country, football, soccer, indoor track & field, and outdoor track & field.
Women's teams: Basketball, cross country, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis, indoor track & field, outdoor track & field, and Volleyball.
The announcement of Slippery Rock's football scores is a tradition at University of Michigan Football games, started in 1959 by Michigan Stadium's public address announcer Steve Filipiak. The tradition spread to other stadiums as well - during a 1970 game at the University of Texas, the announcer failed to read Slippery Rock’s score, which resulted in the crowd demanding to know said score. Slippery Rock was so popular with U of M fans that on September 29, 1979, they played in-state rival Shippensburg at Michigan Stadium, in front of 61,143 fans, a record for a Division II football game (Shippensburg won, 45–14). Slippery Rock played a second game at "The Big House" in 1981, attracting 36,719 fans in a 14–13 loss to Wayne State University. Slippery Rock made a third trip to "The Big House" on October 18, 2014, losing to Mercyhurst University, 45–23; a crowd of 15,121 braved a chilly wind to witness the contest.
Club sports
In 1995, the women's water polo team won the intercollegiate national championship conducted by USA Water Polo. This remains the only collegiate water polo championship ever won by a non-California team.
In 1987, the women's judo team, a varsity sport team at the time, won the intercollegiate national championship conducted by the National Collegiate Judo Association.
Slippery Rock ice hockey joined other colleges and universities in the region to form the College Hockey Mid-America (CHMA) in 2006. In 2020, the university suspended the hockey program for the indefinite future.
Student life
Aebersold Student Recreation Center
The Aebersold Student Recreation Center is an 82,000 sq ft (7,600 m2) on-campus student recreation center.
Fraternities and sororities
Interfraternity Council Fraternities:
- Sigma Tau Gamma (1961 – rechartered 1993, as of 2019 currently suspended for 5 years)
- Theta Xi (1966 – rechartered 1987)
- Alpha Sigma Phi (1970)
- Pi Kappa Phi (1985)
- Pi Kappa Alpha (1997, as of 2019 currently suspended for 3 years)
- Kappa Sigma (2006)
- Kappa Delta Rho (1981 – rechartered 2014)
- Theta Chi (2018)
Panhellenic Association Sororities:
- Sigma Sigma Sigma (1961)
- Alpha Xi Delta (1963 – rechartered 1987)
- Delta Zeta (1963)
- Alpha Omicron Pi (1966)
- Alpha Sigma Tau (1966)
- Phi Sigma Sigma (1991)
Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) Organizations:
- Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority
- Zeta Phi Beta sorority
- Delta Sigma Theta sorority
- Phi Beta Sigma fraternity
- Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity
Multicultural Greek Organizations:
Student media
SRU has a student newspaper, Local Access TV Station, a PR Club, radio station, and a student-run literary publication.
- The Rocket, a weekly newspaper with a circulation of 3,000
- 88.1 WSRU-FM, a 100-watt alternative rock station
- WSRU-TV
- SLAB, an annual student-run literary magazine publication.
Notable alumni
- Matt Adams – professional baseball player
- Janet Anderson – professional golfer
- Cheryl Bailey – former general manager of U.S. Women's National Soccer, Commissioner of National Women's Soccer League
- Francis V. Barnes – Secretary of Education for the Pennsylvania Department of Education from 2004 to 2005
- David Batra – Swedish stand-up comedian and TV actor
- Stephen Bolles – lawyer and politician
- Myron Brown – professional basketball player
- Todd Tamanend Clark (1983) – poet and composer
- Victoria Clarke – communications consultant and former United States Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs
- Shardea Arias de la Cru - Paralympic administrator
- Matthew Driscoll ('92) – college basketball coach
- Stanley Dziedzic ('72) – Olympic wrestler
- Brandon Fusco – professional football player
- Wes Hills – professional football player
- Greg Hopkins – professional football player
- Donnie Iris – professional musician
- Charles William Kerr – Pioneer Presbyterian minister in Tulsa, Oklahoma
- Jodi Kest – college basketball coach
- Matt Kinsinger – professional football player
- Gary L. Lancaster – Federal District Judge, Western District of Pennsylvania
- Marcus Martin – professional football player
- Brian Minto – professional boxer
- Greg Paterra – professional football player
- Sarah Patterson – college gymnastics coach
- Lawrence Reed – president of the Foundation for Economic Education, former president of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy
- M. Richard Rose (1955-2021) – former President of Alfred University and the Rochester Institute of Technology
- Robert J. Stevens – chairman, president, and chief executive officer of the Lockheed Martin Corporation
- C. Vivian Stringer – college basketball coach
- John Stuper – professional baseball player and college baseball coach
- Lou Trivino – professional baseball player
- Royce Waltman – college basketball coach
- Richard Schweiker – politician; former United States Senator from Pennsylvania (1969–1981) and former United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (1981–1983)