Rocky Mountain College (Rocky or RMC) is a

private college Private universities and private colleges are institutions of higher education, not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. They may (and often do) receive from governments tax breaks, public student loans, and grants. D ...

Billings, Montana Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Metrop ...

. It offers 50

liberal arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the ...

and professional majors in 24 undergraduate disciplines. In fall 2013, the college had 1069 enrolled students. It is affiliated with 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 ...

, the

Presbyterian Church (USA) The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PC(USA), is a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the US, and known for its liberal stance on doctrine and its ordaining of women and ...

, and the

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, and with approximately 4 ...

History

Rocky Mountain College traces its history to the 1878 founding of the Montana Collegiate Institute in

Deer Lodge, Montana Deer Lodge is a city in and the county seat of Powell County, Montana, Powell County, Montana, United States. The population was 2,938 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Description The city is perhaps best known as the home of t ...

. Renamed the

College of Montana The College of Montana was a private liberal arts college that existed in Deer Lodge, Montana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Founded in 1878 as the "Montana Collegiate Institute", the school was the first institution of higher learning ...

, that institution closed in 1916, and in 1923 its assets were incorporated into Intermountain Union College (IUC), located in Helena. A former president of the College of Montana, Lewis Eaton, founded the Billings Polytechnic Institute (BPI) in 1908 as the first postsecondary institution in Billings. RMC remains on Poly Drive, which leads to campus from downtown Billings. Intermountain Union relocated to the Billings Polytechnic campus after its Helena buildings were destroyed by a series of earthquakes in October and November, 1935. IUC merged with BPI in 1947, when students named their own school to create today's Rocky Mountain College. Since the merger of Intermountain Union College and Billings Polytechnic Institute in 1947, Rocky Mountain College has had the following presidents as leaders: * William D. Copeland, 1947–1951 * Herbert W Hines, 1951–1958 * Philip M. Widenhouse, 1958–1966 * Lawrence F. Small, 1966–1975 * Bruce T. Alton, 1975–1986 * James J. Rittenkamp Jr., 1986–1987 * Arthur H. DeRosier Jr., 1987–2002 * Thomas R. Oates, 2002–2005 * Michael R. Mace, 2005–2012 * Robert Wilmouth, 2012–present

Academics

Rocky Mountain College is accredited through the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities and the Office of Public Instruction for the State of Montana for the preparation of elementary and secondary teachers. The Accreditation Review Commission on Education accredits the physician assistant program for the Physician Assistant ARC-PA, while the Aeronautical Science major and Aviation Management major at Rocky Mountain College are both accredited by the Aviation Accreditation Board International (AABI).

Athletics

The Rocky Mountain athletic teams are the Battlin' Bears. The college is a member 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 stu ...

(NAIA), primarily competing in the

Frontier Conference The Frontier Conference is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The conference was founded in 1934. Member institutions are located in the northwestern United States, in the ...

for most of its sports since the 1936–37 academic year; while its skiing teams compete in the

United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association The United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association (USCSA) is the sports federation for collegiate skiing and snowboarding in the United States. With over 180 member colleges, the USCSA fields some 5,000 men and women, alpine, Nordic, fr ...

(USCSA). Rocky Mountain competes in 17 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer and track & field (indoor and outdoor); while women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball; and co-ed sports include cheerleading, ski racing and stunt.

Basketball

In 2014, the Battlin' Bears men's basketball team won the Frontier Conference championship and three teammates were named to the NAIA All-America team. In 2009, the Battlin' Bears men's basketball team won the NAIA Division I National Championship, the school's first NAIA title.

Skiing

The Battlin' Bears women's ski team, which competes in the

(USCSA), won a national championship in 2014. The men's ski team won RMC's first national sports championship in 2005, continuing to take national championships again in 2007, 2011, 2016, 2017, 2018, and most recently, 2020.

Notable alumni and faculty

Valeen Tippetts Avery Valeen Tippetts Avery (December 22, 1936 – April 7, 2006) was an American biographer and historian of Western American and Latter Day Saint history. With biographer Linda King Newell, she co-authored '' Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith'', a biog ...

, biographer and historian * Bob Bees, American football player *

Bill Bowers Bill Bowers (born April 16, 1959) is an American mime artist and actor based in New York City. As an actor, mime and educator, Bill has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia. He is a Movement for Actors Instructor at ...

mime Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) is an Internet standard that extends the format of email messages to support text in character sets other than ASCII, as well as attachments of audio, video, images, and application programs. Message ...

and actor *

Lane Chandler Lane Chandler (born Robert Clinton Oakes, June 4, 1899 – September 14, 1972) was an American actor specializing mainly in Westerns. Biography Early life Chandler was raised on a ranch near Culbertson, Montana, the son of a horse ra ...

, actor *

Jason Earles Jason Daniel Earles (born April 26, 1977) is an American actor. Known for his role as Jackson Stewart in the Disney Channel sitcom ''Hannah Montana'' and his role as Rudy Gillespie in the Disney XD series '' Kickin' It''. Early life Earles was ...

, actor *

Al Feldstein Albert Bernard Feldstein ( ; October 24, 1925 – April 29, 2014) was an American writer, editor, and artist, best known for his work at EC Comics and, from 1956 to 1985, as the editor of the satire, satirical magazine ''Mad (magazine), Mad''. Aft ...

, painter (honorary Doctorate of Arts in 1999) *

Arlo Guthrie Arlo Davy Guthrie (born July 10, 1947) is an American folk singer-songwriter. He is known for singing songs of protest against social injustice, and storytelling while performing songs, following the tradition of his father, Woody Guthrie. Gut ...

, folksinger (did not graduate) *

Larry R. Heather Larry R. Heather (born 1953) is a perennial candidate from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. In addition to running as an independent at all three levels of government, he has run as a Christian Heritage Party of Canada candidate in federal elections and ...

, frequent

Christian Heritage Party of Canada The Christian Heritage Party of Canada (french: Parti de l'héritage chrétien du Canada), also referred to as CHP Canada, is a minor social conservative and Christian right federal political party in Canada; it was founded in 1987, the brainc ...

candidate * Chris Horn, former

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

wide receiver * J. Timothy Hunt, journalist and author *

Jill McLain The Miss Montana USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Montana in the Miss USA pageant. From 1994 to 2007, it was directed by Carol Hirata and the Carlton Group, based in Bellvue, Colorado. In 2013, it ...

Miss Montana USA The Miss Montana USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Montana in the Miss USA pageant. From 1994 to 2007, it was directed by Carol Hirata and the Carlton Group, based in Bellvue, Colorado. In 2013, it ...

2005 *

Kasey Peters Kasey Peters (born May 20, 1987) is an American football quarterback. He played college football at Saddleback, Santa Ana, Grand Valley State and Rocky Mountain. He was a member of the Tri-Cities Fever, New Mexico Stars, West Texas Wildcatters ...

, American football player * Todd Reed, author, consultant and professional speaker *

Sidney Runyan Thomas Sidney Runyan Thomas (born August 14, 1953) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a U.S. circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit since 1996. He served as the Ninth Circuit's chief judge from 2014 to 2021. H ...

, United States federal appellate judge, taught at RMC from 1982 to 1995 * Michal Wisniowski, artist

References

External links

Official website

Official athletics website
{{Coord, 45.796386, -108.554788, display=title Universities and colleges affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) Universities and colleges affiliated with the United Church of Christ Liberal arts colleges in Montana Educational institutions established in 1878 Universities and colleges accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities Buildings and structures in Billings, Montana Frontier Conference 1878 establishments in Montana Territory Tourist attractions in Billings, Montana Private universities and colleges in Montana