Pittsburg State University
Pittsburg State University is a public university in Pittsburg, Kansas, United States. It enrolls approximately 7,400 students and is a member of the Kansas Board of Regents.
History
Pittsburg State University was founded in 1903 as the Auxiliary Manual Training Normal School, originally a branch of the State Normal School of Emporia. In 1913, it became a full-fledged four-year institution as Kansas State Teachers College of Pittsburg, or Pittsburg State for short. Over the next four decades, its mission was broadened beyond teacher training. To reflect this, in 1959 its name was changed again to Kansas State College of Pittsburg. It became Pittsburg State University on April 21, 1977.Presidents
Pittsburg State has had 11 leaders. The top leadership post was originally titled as Principal from 1903 to 1913. In 1913, the title was changed to President.- Russell S. Russ
- George E. Myers
- William A. Brandenburg
- O. P. Dellinger
- Rees H. Hughes
- Leonard H. Axe
- George F. Budd
- James Appleberry
- Donald W. Wilson
- John R. Darling
- Tom W. Bryant
- Steven A. Scott
Campus
In December 2014, the university opened the Bicknell Family Center for the Arts. The Bicknell Center provides Pittsburg State University with its first true performance facility since 1978, when deterioration forced the closure of Carney Hall. In addition to the Linda & Lee Scott Performance Hall, the facility also houses a 250-seat theater, a 2,000-square-foot art gallery, grand lobby, reception hall, and multi-use rehearsal space for large musical groups.
PSU also operates a satellite campus in the Kansas City metro area, the Kansas City Metro Center Campus, offering a variety of bachelor's and master's degrees. Two degrees are offered in Salina, Kansas on the campus of Salina Area Technical College.
Student Life
Greek organizations
Recognized fraternities and sororities at this university include:Interfraternity Council | Panhellenic Council | Multicultural Greek Council |
Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity | Alpha Gamma Delta sorority | Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity |
Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity | Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority | Lambda Pi Upsilon sorority |
Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity | Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority | |
Sigma Chi fraternity | ||
Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity | ||
Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity |
Academics
PSU is organized into the following schools and colleges:- College of Arts and Science
- Kelce College of Business
- College of Education
- College of Technology
Ranking
According to U.S. News & World Report, Pitt State is tied for #101 among Regional Universities Midwest.Admissions
In order to be accepted into PSU, one must score 21 or higher on the ACT, be in the top one third of one's class, complete the pre-college curriculum with at least a 2.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale, or have 24 or more transferable college credit hours with at least a 2.0/4.0 cumulative grade point average.The average grade point average and ACT score for an admitted freshman was 3.30 and 21, respectively, according to The Princeton Review. According to the College Board, 91% of applicants are accepted into Pittsburg State University.
Athletics
The school competes in the NCAA Division II and has been a member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association since 1989. The University currently fields teams in 10 sports, including:Men's sports
Women's sports
- Basketball
- Cross country
- Softball
- Track and field
- Volleyball
- Men’s Club Baseball
Football
The Gorillas
PSU is the only university in the United States to feature a gorilla as a mascot. The concept of the mascot was conceived in 1920, and officially adopted on January 15, 1925. Current mascot, Gus, was designed in 1985 by L. Michael Hailey.Apple Day
Back in 1907, a small delegation from the Pittsburg area lobbied the state legislature to give the newly established university an appropriation that would pay for the construction of the school's first building. But one of the delegate members, Pittsburg mayor Clarence Price, apparently broke the rules by not exiting the floor before the session began. The legislators good-naturedly fined the Pittsburg delegation a barrel of apples before awarding them the appropriation. And when the men returned to Pittsburg, the students were so amused by the story that they decided university administrators and faculty who had missed work and class in order to lobby in Topeka should have to pay the same fine. In those days, students were penalized for truancy. Because members of the faculty left their classrooms in order to attend the legislative session in Topeka, the students reasoned that faculty members should be penalized for their absence.Twelve months later, on March 6, 1908, classes were dismissed for the entire day in honor of the first Apple Day. During an afternoon program in the assembly room of the Central School building, the students once again fined the faculty a barrel of apples. Thus began the unique, annual, tradition at Pittsburg State of the teachers bringing apples for their students.
Notable people
- Fira Basuki, Indonesian novelist
- John Brown, wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills
- Gary Busey, film actor
- Terry Calloway, former Republican member of the Kansas House of Representatives
- Eldon Danenhauer, Offensive tackle for the Denver Broncos
- Ralph Earhart, former NFL halfback, Green Bay Packers
- Dennis Franchione, former head football coach of Texas A&M University
- Eugene Maxwell Frank, Bishop of the United Methodist Church
- Kendall Gammon, former NFL longsnapper, Kansas City Chiefs and current Chiefs radio analyst
- Don Gutteridge, Major League Baseball player and manager
- Jay W. Hood, Major General U.S. Army, Commander 1st U.S. Army East, Ft. Meade, Maryland, former commanding general JTF Guantánamo Bay, Cuba
- David P. Hurford, psychologist and researcher in dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
- John E. Jacobs, Interim president of Emporia State in 1953; Director of Special Education for the Kansas State Department of Education from 1953–1957
- Jennifer Knapp, Grammy-nominated Christian music artist; sold over 1 million albums
- Inez Y. Kaiser, the first African-American woman to run a public relations company with national clients
- Sherm Lollar, Major League Baseball player
- Aaron McConnell, American football player
- Ronald Moore, former NFL running back, 1992 Harlon Hill Trophy winner
- Brian Moorman, NFL punter, Buffalo Bills
- Jim Press, Chrysler,vice chairman and president
- H. Lee Scott, former Wal-Mart president and CEO
- Steven A. Scott, ninth president of Pittsburg State University
- Michael Shonrock, former president of Emporia State University
- Sally Stonecipher, first female United States Army helicopter pilot
- James Tate, writer who won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for poetry
- Duane Thiessen, lieutenant general, United States Marine Corps
- Lucinda Todd, civil rights activist and plaintiff, Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka
- Jackie Vietti, President of Butler Community College for 17 years; served as interim president of Emporia State University in 2015
- Steve Weddle, American novelist
- Pat Woodrum, Executive director of Oklahoma Centennial Botanical Garden; former executive director of the Tulsa City-County Library System
- Darryl Wren, former NFL defensive back
- Douglas Youvan, biophysicist