Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania
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 . 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. , Slippery Rock University has 8,876 enrolled students as well as 160 majors, almost 40 minors and over 30 graduate programs. 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. 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 , The Pride of The Rock. 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. 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 four years. Student life. Aebersold Student Recreation Center. The Aebersold Student Recreation Center is an on-campus student recreation center. Fraternities and sororities. Interfraternity Council Fraternities: Panhellenic Association Sororities: Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) Organizations: 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.