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Pittsburg State University (Pitt State or PSU) is a
public university A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universit ...
in
Pittsburg, Kansas Pittsburg is a city in Crawford County, Kansas, United States, located in southeast Kansas near the Missouri state border. It is the most populous city in Crawford County and southeast Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the population of the ci ...
. It enrolls approximately 7,400 students (6,000 undergraduates and 1,400 graduate students) and is a member of the
Kansas Board of Regents The Kansas Board of Regents is a body consisting of nine members that governs six state universities in the U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political ...
.


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 (now
Emporia State University Emporia State University (Emporia State or ESU) is a public university in Emporia, Kansas, United States. Established in March 1863 as the Kansas State Normal School, Emporia State is the third-oldest public university in the state of Kansas. E ...
). 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 "principal" from 1903 to 1913. In 1913, the title was changed to president. * Russell S. Russ (1903–1911) * George E. Myers (1911–1913) * William A. Brandenburg (1913–1940) * O. P. Dellinger (1940–1941) * Rees H. Hughes (1941–1957) * Leonard H. Axe (1957–1965) * George F. Budd (1965–1977) * James Appleberry (1977–1983) * Donald W. Wilson (1983–1995) * John R. Darling (1995–1999) * Tom W. Bryant (1999–2009) * Steven A. Scott (2009–2022) * Dan Shipp (2022–present)


Campus

Located in southeast Kansas, the campus is also the home of the $30 million Kansas Technology Center, a state-of-the-art technology program in the largest academic building in Kansas. 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 Salina is a city in, and the county seat of, Saline County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 46,889. In the early 1800s, the Kanza tribal land reached eastward from the middle of the Kansas Territory. In 1 ...
on the campus of Salina Area Technical College.


Student life


Greek organizations

Recognized fraternities and sororities at this university include:


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 The Kelce College of Business is accredited by the
American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, also known as AACSB International, is an American professional organization. It was founded as the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business in 1916 to provide accreditation to ...
(AACSB). In addition, research institutes are located on campus such as the Business & Technology Institute and the Kansas Polymer Research Center, housed in the newly completed Tyler Research Center.


Athletics

The Pittsburg State athletic teams are called the Gorillas. The university is a member of the
NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...
ranks, primarily competing in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) since the 1989–90 academic year. The Gorillas previously competed in the
Central States Intercollegiate Conference The Central States Intercollegiate Conference (CSIC) was an American intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1976 to 1989. It was known to be one of the toughest NAIA c ...
(CSIC) of the
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its st ...
(NAIA) from 1976–77 to 1988–89; in the
Great Plains Athletic Conference The Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Member institutions are located in Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The con ...
(GPAC) from 1972–73 to 1975–76; in the
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), commonly known as the Rocky Mountain Conference (RMC) from approximately 1910 through the late 1960s, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (N ...
(RMAC) from 1968–69 to 1971–72; in the
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Central Intercollegiate Conference (CIC) was an American intercollegiate athletic conference that operated from 1928 to 1968. It was less often referred to as the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (CIAC), particularly towards the begin ...
(CIC) from 1923–24 to 1967–68; and in the
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference The Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The KCAC is the oldest conference in the NAIA and the second oldest in the United Stat ...
(KCAC) from 1902–03 to 1922–23. Pittsburg State competes in 12 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football and track & field (indoor and outdoor); while women's sports include basketball, cross country, softball, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball. Club sports include men's baseball.


Football

The Pitt State football program began in 1908 under head coach
Albert McLeland Albert McLeland was an American football and basketball coach. He was the first head football coach at the Auxiliary Manual Training Normal School—now known as Pittsburg State University—in Pittsburg, Kansas an ...
. Since that time, the program has produced the most wins in
NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...
history. It has been national champions on four occasions; 1957,1961,1991 and 2011. Pittsburg State defeated Wayne State University, MI, 35–21 to claim its most recent national championship in 2011. During the 2004 season the Gorillas finished 14–1, losing 31–36 to
Valdosta State University Valdosta State University (VSU or Valdosta State) is a public university in Valdosta, Georgia. It is one of the four comprehensive universities in the University System of Georgia. , VSU had over 12,000 undergraduate and graduate students. VSU ...
in the
NCAA Division II National Football Championship The NCAA Division II Football Championship is an American college football tournament played annually to determine a champion at the NCAA Division II level. It was first held in 1973, as a single-elimination tournament with eight teams. The tourna ...
. Pittsburg State has won, outright or shared, a total of 27 conference championships during the 96-year history of its intercollegiate program, including 13 conference titles in the last 19 seasons under Coach
Chuck Broyles Charles Leroy Broyles (born February 5, 1947) is a former American football coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Pittsburg State University from 1990 to 2009, compiling a record of 198–47–2 in 20 se ...
PSU reached the Division II National Championship game in 2004, 1995, and 1992. Its games with fellow MIAA Division II powerhouse Northwest Missouri State University are played at Arrowhead Stadium in
Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...
, in the
Fall Classic at Arrowhead Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southe ...
. 26,695 attended the 2002 game—the most of any Division II game.


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 (in some versions of the story, it was the namesake of Russ Hall, R. S. Russ, who performed the gaffe). 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 (officially titled Commemoration 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 Fira Basuki (born June 7, 1972) is an Indonesian novelist. Arguably her most famous work is her trilogy debut consisting of ''Jendela-Jendela'' (''The Windows''), ''Pintu'' (''The Door'') and ''Atap'' (''The Roof''). The trilogy concerning the jou ...
, Indonesian novelist * John Brown, wide receiver for the
Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...
*
Gary Busey Gary Busey (; born 1944) is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Buddy Holly in ''The Buddy Holly Story'' (1978), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor and won the National Society of Film Critics ...
, film actor (attended, did not graduate) *
Terry Calloway Terry Calloway (born August 6, 1954) is former a Republican member of the Kansas House of Representatives, representing the 3rd district ( Pittsburg) from 2011 to 2013. Calloway was first elected to office in 2010, where he defeated the incumben ...
, former Republican member of the
Kansas House of Representatives The Kansas House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Kansas. Composed of 125 state representatives from districts with roughly equal populations of at least 19,000, its members are responsible for craftin ...
*
Willie Fritz Willie Fritz (born April 2, 1960) is an American football coach and former player. He is the head football coach at Tulane. Fritz served as the head football coach at University of Central Missouri from 1997 to 2009, Sam Houston State University ...
, current head football coach at
Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...
*
Eldon Danenhauer Eldon Danenhauer (October 4, 1935 – June 23, 2021) was an American football offensive tackle. He played college football at the Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas, and professionally in the American Football League (NFL) with th ...
,
Offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...
for the
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*
Ralph Earhart Ralph Earhart (March 29, 1923 – May 1, 1997) was a halfback in the National Football League (NFL). Earhart was born on March 29, 1923, in Milburn, Oklahoma. He attended Lefors High School where he played football, basketball and track-and-fi ...
, former NFL halfback,
Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...
*
Dennis Franchione Dennis Wayne Franchione (born March 28, 1951), also known as Coach Fran, is a retired American football coach. He is the former head football coach at Texas State University, a position he held from 1990 to 1991, when the school w ...
, former head football coach of
Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...
(and former coach of Pittsburg State) * Eugene Maxwell Frank,
Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
of the
United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelical ...
*
Kendall Gammon Kendall Robert Gammon (born October 23, 1968) is a former American football long snapper and center who played for three teams in the National Football League (NFL). In 2004, Gammon was the first pure long snapper to be selected for the Pro Bowl ...
, former NFL longsnapper,
Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...
and current Chiefs radio analyst (currently employed by Pittsburg State) * Don Gutteridge, Major League Baseball player and manager (
Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...
) * Jay W. Hood, Major General
U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
, 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 Kansas State Department Board of Education (KSDE) is Kansas's Board of Education, headquartered in Topeka.Welcome to KSDE
" Kan ...
from 1953–1957 *
Jennifer Knapp Jennifer Lynn Knapp (born April 12, 1974) is an American-Australian folk rock, and contemporary Christian musician. She is best known for her first single "Undo Me" from her debut album, ''Kansas'' (1998), and the song "A Little More" from her ...
, Grammy-nominated Christian music artist; sold over 1 million albums *
Inez Y. Kaiser Inez Yeargan Kaiser (April 22, 1918 – July 31, 2016) was an American educator, public relations expert, and entrepreneur. She was the first African-American woman to run a public relations company with national clients. Early life and education ...
, the first African-American woman to run a public relations company with national clients * Jake LaTurner, member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Kansas's 2nd district *
Sherm Lollar Sherm is a shortened version of the given name Sherman and may refer to: People *Sherm Chavoor (1919-1992), American swimming coach *Sherm Cohen (born 1965), American storyboard artist *Sherm Feller (1918–1994), American musician and sports an ...
, Major League Baseball player * Aaron McConnell, American football player * Ronald Moore, former NFL running back (
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), 1992
Harlon Hill Trophy The Harlon Hill Trophy is an award in American college football given to the individual selected as the most valuable player in NCAA Division II. The award is named for former University of North Alabama and National Football League player Harlo ...
winner *
Brian Moorman Brian Donald Moorman (born February 5, 1976) is an American former football punter in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Pittsburg State University, and was signed by the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free age ...
, NFL punter,
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*
Sam Pittman Sam Pittman (born November 28, 1961) is an American football coach who is the head football coach at the University of Arkansas. Prior to being hired at Arkansas, he was the associate head coach and offensive line coach at the University of Georg ...
, head football coach of the
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* Jim Press,
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, vice chairman and president * H. Lee Scott, former
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president and CEO * Steven A. Scott, ninth president of Pittsburg State University * Michael Shonrock, former
president of Emporia State University The President of Emporia State University is the chief academic administration, administrator of the university. Each is appointed by and is responsible to the other members of that body, who delegate to him or her the day-to-day running of the un ...
* Sally Stonecipher, first female
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
helicopter pilot * James Tate, writer who won the 1992
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
for poetry * Duane Thiessen, lieutenant general,
United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
*
Lucinda Todd Lucinda Todd (1903 – 1996) was an African-American teacher and education activist. Biography Todd was born in 1903 in Litchfield, Kansas, a small coal mining town near Pittsburg, Kansas. She was one of 13 children born to Charles Wilson and ...
, civil rights activist and plaintiff, '' Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka'' *
Jackie Vietti Jacqueline A. Vietti (born July 24, 1948) is an American retired educator, most notably serving as Butler Community College's president in El Dorado, Kansas for nearly two decades. Besides serving as president of Butler, Vietti served as Dean of I ...
, President of
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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 *
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, former NFL defensive back * Douglas Youvan, biophysicist *
David Kan David Chih-Hsing Kan (2 July 1959 – May 19, 2022) was a Taiwanese-born CEO and founder of Mustek, one of the largest assemblers and distributors of personal computers and complementary ICT products in South Africa. Mustek is the operational busi ...
, South African businessman


References


External links

*
Pitt State athletics website
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1903 Public universities and colleges in Kansas Universities and colleges in Pittsburg, Kansas 1903 establishments in Kansas