Rockford University is a

private university Private universities and private colleges are higher education institutions not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. However, they often receive tax breaks, public student loans, and government grants. Depending on the count ...

Rockford, Illinois Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, Winnebago and Ogle County, Illinois, Ogle counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located in far northern Illinois on the banks of the Rock River (Mississippi River tributary), Rock River, Rockfor ...

, United States. It was founded in 1847 as Rockford Female Seminary and changed its name to Rockford College in 1892, and to Rockford University in 2013.

History

Beginning

Rockford Female Seminary was founded in 1847 as the sister college of

Beloit College Beloit College is a private liberal arts college in Beloit, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1846 when Wisconsin was still a territory, it is the state's oldest continuously operated college. It has an enrollment of roughly 1,000 undergradua ...

, which had been founded the year before. The seminary's initial campus was on the east side of the Rock River, south of downtown Rockford. Anna Peck Sill served as principal for the first 35 years. In 1890, the seminary's trustees voted to offer a full college curriculum, which led to the name changing to "Rockford College" in 1892. In 1896, Phebe Temperance Sutliff became the school's president, continuing in that role until 1901. Men were first granted admission to the university at the beginning of the 1955–1956 school year. At about this time, the school requested that the City of Rockford close parts of a street adjoining the campus. In 1984, Rockford College founded Regent's College in London, now

Regent's University London Regent's University London (formerly Regent's College) is a private university located in London, England. It is part of Galileo Global Education, Europe’s largest higher education provider. Regent's University London was established in 1984 ...

Rockford University

On October 2, 2012, the board of trustees voted unanimously to rename the college as a university. The trustees did so because the institution has many different academic departments. On July 1, 2013, the institution officially became "Rockford University". Patricia Lynott has served as the university's president since 2022. The University held a business summit June 29, 2023, that included presidents of the Rockford Hard Rock Casino and OSF St. Anthony Medical Center.

Academics

The university offers approximately 80 majors, minors and concentrations, including the adult accelerated degree completion program for a B.S. in Management Studies. Through its Graduate Studies department, degree include the Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT), and a Master of Education (MEd). The university is organized into three colleges: * Arts and Humanities * Science, Math, and Nursing * Social Sciences, Commerce and Education The university offers an Honors Program in Liberal Arts & Sciences. Also housed within the university are the Center for Nonprofit Excellence and the Center for Learning Strategies.

Athletics

The Rockford University Regents are

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Third ...

members of the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

. Teams compete independently or as members of the

Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference The Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC), formerly the Northern Athletics Conference (NAC), is an intercollegiate athletic conference. It participates in the NCAA's Division III and began its first season in the fall of 2006. The N ...

. The university fields men's teams in

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, cross country,

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

, and

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

, and women's teams in basketball, cross country, soccer,

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

, track and field, and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

Notable alumni

Jane Addams Laura Jane Addams (September 6, 1860May 21, 1935) was an American Settlement movement, settlement activist, Social reform, reformer, social worker, sociologist, public administrator, philosopher, and author. She was a leader in the history of s ...

, activist and social worker *

Ellen Gates Starr Ellen Gates Starr (March 19, 1859 – February 10, 1940) was an American social reformer and activist. With Jane Addams, she founded Chicago's Hull House, an adult education center, in 1889; the settlement house expanded to 13 buildings i ...

, activist and social reformer *

Julia Lathrop Julia Clifford Lathrop (June 29, 1858 – April 15, 1932) was an Americans, American social reformer in the area of education, social policy, and children's welfare. As director of the United States Children's Bureau from 1912 to 1922, she was th ...

, social reformer * Ron Kowalke, American painter, printmaker, sculptor, and art educator * Sandy Cole, state representative in Illinois * Arthur A. Collins, radio engineer, researcher, entrepreneur * Roger Cooper, politician * Hind Rassam Culhane, professor and journalist * Yvonne D'Arle, opera singer * Jeannette Durno, pianist and music educator *

Jeannette Howard Foster Jeannette Howard Foster (November 3, 1895 – July 26, 1981) was an American librarian, professor, poet, and researcher in the field of lesbian literature. She pioneered the study of popular fiction and ephemera in order to excavate both ove ...

, lesbian writer/researcher * Barbara Giolitto, politician *

Vivian Hickey Vivian Ellen (née Veach) Hickey (March 25, 1916 – April 28, 2016) was an American educator and politician. Born in Clayton, Illinois, Hickey received her bachelor's degree from Rockford University, in 1937 and her master's degree from the ...

, educator/politician *

Joyce Holmberg Joyce Mina Lundeen Holmberg (née Lundeen; June 19, 1930 – March 20, 2017) was an American politician and educator. Born in Rockford, Illinois, Holmberg graduated from East High School in Rockford and was married to Eugene Holmberg. She receiv ...

, educator/politician * Betty Ann Keegan, politician * Doris Lee, artist * Helen Douglas Mankin, politician *

Catherine Waugh McCulloch Catharine Gouger Waugh McCulloch (June 4, 1862 – April 20, 1945) was an American lawyer, suffragist, and reformer. She actively lobbied for women's suffrage at the local, state, and national levels as a leader in the Illinois Equal Suffrage As ...

, suffragist * Mildred Bessie Mitchell,

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

* Ellen Spencer Mussey, pioneer in field of women's rights to education * Anna E. Nicholes, social reformer, civil servant, clubwoman *

Deb Patterson Deb Patterson (born August 30, 1957) is currently the director of player personnel and program analytics for the Washington State women's basketball team. Patterson is the former women's basketball program head coach at Kansas State. She was r ...

, women's basketball coach *

Mark Pedowitz Mark Pedowitz is an American entertainment executive. From 2011 to 2022, he was the president, and then chairman and CEO of The CW, after replacing the former president of entertainment Dawn Ostroff. During his time at The CW, Pedowitz oversaw al ...

, television executive *

Belle L. Pettigrew Belle Luella Pettigrew (April 8, 1839 – July 14, 1912) was an American educator and missionary. She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Anti-Saloon League. She served as head of the missionary and training departmen ...

, educator, missionary * Roland Poska, artist * Barbara Santucci, children's author * Robin Schone, author * Harriet G. R. Wright, member of the Colorado House of Representatives * Dawn Gile, member of the Maryland Senate

References

External links

*
Athletics website
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