Rocky Mountain College (Rocky or RMC) is a

private college Private universities and private colleges are higher education institutions not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. However, they often receive tax breaks, public student loans, and government grants. Depending on the count ...

Billings, Montana Billings is the most populous Lists of populated places in the United States, city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, i ...

, United States. It offers 50

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 professional majors in 24 undergraduate disciplines. As of 2013, the college had 1,069 enrolled students. RMC is affiliated with the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...

, the

Presbyterian Church (USA) The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PCUSA, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination in the Religion in the United States, United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States too. Its th ...

, and the

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a socially liberal mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Restorationist, Continental Reformed, and Lutheran t ...

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 th ...

. 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 learnin ...

, that institution closed in 1916, and in 1923 its assets and those of Montana Wesleyan College were incorporated into Intermountain Union College (IUC) in

Helena Helena may refer to: People *Helena (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Katri Helena (born 1945), Finnish singer * Saint Helena (disambiguation), this includes places Places Greece * Helena ...

. A former president of the College of Montana, Lewis Eaton, founded the Billings Polytechnic Institute (BPI) in 1908 as Billings's first post-secondary institution. RMC remains on Poly Drive, which leads to campus from downtown Billings. Intermountain Union relocated to the Billings Polytechnic campus after a series of earthquakes destroyed its Helena buildings in 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, Rocky Mountain College has had the following presidents: * 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

RMC's 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 higher education, colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic schola ...

(NAIA), primarily competing in the

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

for most of its sports since the 1936–37 academic year; 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). RMC competes in 17 intercollegiate varsity sports. Men's sports include football, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, and track & field (indoor and outdoor); women's 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 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 biogr ...

, 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 N ...

mime A mime artist, or simply mime (from Greek language, Greek , , "imitator, actor"), is a person who uses ''mime'' (also called ''pantomime'' outside of Britain), the acting out of a story through body motions without the use of speech, as a the ...

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 ran ...

, actor *

Jason Earles Jason Daniel Earles (born April 26, 1977) is an American actor. He is 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 ...

, actor *

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

, 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 (), also known as CHP Canada, is a Canadian federal political party that is part of the Christian right. Founded in 1987, it was the brainchild of two couples in British Columbia, namely Bill and Heathe ...

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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The 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 2012, 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 2012, it ...

2005 *

Kasey Peters Kasey Peters (born May 20, 1987) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the Arena Football League (AFL) for the Las Vegas Outlaws (arena football), Las Vegas Outlaws, New Orleans VooDoo, and Port ...

, 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 senior 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 ...

, 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 Universities and colleges 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 Aviation schools in the United States