Slippery Rock University, formally Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania (The Rock or SRU), is a

public university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whether a national university is considered public varies from o ...

in the Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania area of the United States. SRU is a member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). The university has been

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

since its founding in 1889. SRU is fully accredited by the Middle State Commission on Higher Learning. As of fall 2023, SRU's total enrollment was 8,362, including 6,815 undergraduates and 1,547 graduate students. There were also more than 950 employees including 496 full-time faculty and a 20:1 student-to-faculty ratio.

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 Liberal arts education () is a traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''skill, art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the fine arts. ''Liberal arts education'' can refe ...

and other professions. From 1960 to 1971, enrollment rose from 1,314 to 6,020 students, before eclipsing 7,000 in 1988 and 8,000 in 2005. "Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania" became the school's current and formal name on July 1, 1983, when Act 188 went into effect to establish Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education, and converted 12 state-owned colleges into universities.

Campus

The majority of the campus, including the

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

, is in Slippery Rock Township.
A portion of the university property to the west is in Slippery Rock Borough.

Academics

SRU offers more than 150 undergraduate majors and 40 graduate degree programs and certificates across the following five colleges: * College of Business * College of Education * College of Engineering and Science * College of Health Professions * College of Liberal Arts SRU offers 51 programs that hold national accreditations and 92% of faculty members holding a Ph.D. or other terminal degree. SRU was ranked by U.S. News & World Report on its list of "Best Regional Universities - North" and "Top Public Schools – Regional Universities (North)." SRU has earned a spot on the U.S. News' Best Regional Universities 15 straight years.

The Princeton Review The Princeton Review is an education services company providing tutoring, test preparation and admission resources for students. It was founded in 1981, and since that time has worked with over 400 million students. Services are delivered by 4, ...

also recognized SRU on its "Best Mid-Atlantic" list.

Administration

Cheryl Joy Norton, the university's first female president, was in office from 2012 to 2017. William J. Behre served from 2018 to 2022. Karen Riley took office in 2023.

Athletics

120px, SRU's athletics logo Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania competes in 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. ...

Division II and is a member of the

Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. The conference was originally formed in 1951 as the State Teachers C ...

(PSAC). Slippery Rock University's official mascot is Rocky the Lion.

Varsity sports

Men's teams: Baseball, basketball, 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, 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 Michigan Stadium, nicknamed "the Big House," is the American football stadium for the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It is the largest stadium in the United States and the Western Hemisphere, the third-largest stadium in the wo ...

'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.

Discontinued sports

The varsity

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

program competed from the 1958–59 to 2005–06 academic years at the university.

Club sports

In 1995, the women's water polo team won the intercollegiate national championship conducted by USA Water Polo. 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. Slippery Rock men's rugby won the 2024 7s rugby National Championship at the Collegiate Rugby Championship in Washington, D.C. on April 27, 2024.

Student life

Aebersold Student Recreation Center

The Aebersold Student Recreation Center is an on-campus student recreation center.

Student media

SRU has a student newspaper called '' The Rocket'', the radio station 88.1 WSRU-FM, and the literary magazine ''SLAB''.

Demographics

Part of the property forms a

. The school district covering the CDP, as well as the rest of the township and the Slippery Rock borough, is the Slippery Rock Area School District.

Notable alumni

Matt Adams Matthew James Adams (born August 31, 1988) is an American former professional baseball first baseman. Nicknamed "Big City" for his imposing size and ability to regularly hit long home runs, the St. Louis Cardinals selected Adams in the 23rd rou ...

– baseball player * Janet Anderson – golfer * Cheryl Bailey – commissioner of

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

* Francis V. Barnes – Secretary of Education for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania from 2004 to 2005 * Stephen Bolles – lawyer and politician * Myron Brown – basketball player * Todd Tamanend Clark (1983) – poet and composer * Matthew Driscoll ('92) – basketball coach * Stanley Dziedzic ('72) – wrestler * Michael J. Estocin –

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

recipient * Brandon Fusco – football player * Wes Hills – football player * Greg Hopkins – football player *

Donnie Iris Donnie Iris (born Dominic Ierace, February 28, 1943) is an American rock musician known for his work with the Jaggerz and Wild Cherry (band), Wild Cherry during the 1970s and for his solo career beginning in the 1980s with his band, the Cruis ...

– musician * Charles William Kerr – pastor * Jodi Kest – basketball coach * Matt Kinsinger – football player * Gary L. Lancaster – U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Pennsylvania * Greg Paterra – football player * Sarah Patterson – gymnastics coach * Lawrence Reed – president of the

Foundation for Economic Education The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative, Libertarianism in the United States, libertarian economics, economic think tank. Founded in 1946 in New York City, FEE is now headquartere ...

* M. Richard Rose (1955-2021) – former President of

Alfred University Alfred University is a private university in Alfred, New York, United States. It has a total undergraduate population of approximately 1,600 students. The university hosts the statutory New York State College of Ceramics, which includes The In ...

and the

Rochester Institute of Technology The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private university, private research university in Henrietta, New York, a suburb of Rochester, New York, Rochester. It was founded in 1829. It is one of only two institute of technology, institut ...

* Richard Schweiker – politician * Robert J. Stevens – chief executive officer of the Lockheed Martin Corporation * C. Vivian Stringer – basketball coach * John Stuper – baseball player and college baseball coach * Lou Trivino – baseball player * Royce Waltman – basketball coach

References

External links

*
Athletics website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slippery Rock University Of Pennsylvania Universities and colleges established in 1889 Universities and colleges in Butler County, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Public universities and colleges in Pennsylvania 1889 establishments in Pennsylvania