Pittsburg State University

Pittsburg State University, also called Pitt State or PSU, is a public university with approximately 7,100 students (5,900 undergraduates and 1,200 graduate students) located in Pittsburg, Kansas, United States. A large percentage of the student population consists of residents within the Pittsburg region; the gender proportion is relatively equal. Almost 89% of the students are Americans. Pitt State also has an 19:1 student-to-faculty ratio. It is a member of the Kansas Board of Regents. Currently, it has an endowment of around $40,000,000. The student newspaper of Pittsburg State University is the Collegio.

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). In 1913, it became a full-fledged four-year institution as Kansas State Teachers College of Pittsburg. In 1959, its name was changed again to Kansas State College of Pittsburg. It became Pittsburg State University on April 21, 1977.

Campus
Located in the southeast Kansas, the 223 acre 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.

PSU also operates a satellite campus in the Kansas City Metro Area, the Kansas City Metro Center Campus, offering a variety of master's degrees in education.

Academic
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 (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.

Ranking
According to U.S. News & World Report, Pitt State is ranked #87 among Best Midwestern Universities - Master's category. The US News also ranked PSU students 4th among Midwest Universities - Master's category in the least amount of debt carried after graduation, based on the 2004 class. Furthermore, in 2010 PSU's Master's in Business Administration program was ranked by the Princeton Review as one of the top 15 in the nation in the categories of Marketing and Accounting. The results were determined by a nationwide survey that questioned thousands of students about their academic experiences.

Admissions
In order to be accepted into PSU, one must score 21 or higher on the ACT, be in the top 1/3 of one's class, complete the pre-college curriculum with at least a 2.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale (out-of-state residents must have at least a 2.5 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 Princeton Review. According to College Board, 91% of applicants are accepted into Pittsburg State University.

The Center for the Assessment and Remediation of Reading Difficulties
The Center for the Assessment and Remediation of Reading Difficulties (CARRD) is a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting individuals who have reading difficulties/dyslexia become competent readers through research, assessment, and intervention strategies.

Pitt C.A.R.E.S.
Students at Pitt C.A.R.E.S. (Campus Advisement, Registration, and Enrollment Services) get to know other students by participating in small group activities, meet with their advisor, and enroll in their classes for the upcoming semester. Pitt C.A.R.E.S. is offered in the summer and is required for all freshmen.

Athletics
The school competes in Division II of the NCAA It has been a member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) since 1989. The University currently fields teams in 11 sports, including:

Men's Sports
 * Baseball
 * Basketball
 * Cross Country
 * Football
 * Golf
 * Track & Field

Women's Sports
 * Basketball
 * Cross Country
 * Softball
 * Track & Field
 * Volleyball

Football
The Pitt State football program began in 1908 under head coach Albert McLeland. Since that time, the program has produced the most wins in NCAA Division II 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 in the NCAA Division II National Football Championship. 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 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, in the Fall Classic at Arrowhead. 26,695 attended the 2002 game—the most of any Division II game.

Cheer
The Pittsburg State University Spirit Squad, coached by Linda Graham, won the 2001 UCA National College Championships in Orlando, Florida.

Traditions
Pitt State's mascot is the Gus the Gorilla and the school colors are crimson and gold. In 1903 the school adopted the color crimson, and gold was added in 1920.

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.

Fight song
Pittsburg State team, fight for your college! Come and join the fray! Pass that ball around for a touchdown And we'll win this game today! Fight! Fight! Fight! for the glory and fame Because our spirit is so great! And when this game is over We'll shout the whole world over: Pittsburg State!

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.

University presidents

 * 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)
 * Steve A. Scott (2009–Present)

Notable alumni

 * Fay Bradley, physician and 2003 USA Track & Field Masters Hall of Fame inductee
 * Gary Busey, film actor (Attended, did not graduate)
 * 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 (and former coach of Pittsburg State)
 * Eugene Maxwell Frank, a Bishop of the United Methodist Church
 * Kendall Gammon, former NFL longsnapper, Kansas City Chiefs (currently employed by Pittsburg State)
 * Don Gutteridge, Major League Baseball player and Manager
 * Jay W. Hood, Major General US Army, Commander 1st US Army East, Ft. Meade MD, Former Commanding General JTF Guantanamo Bay Cuba
 * Sherm Lollar, Major League Baseball player
 * Jennifer Knapp, Grammy-nominated Christian music artist, sold over 1 million albums
 * 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
 * James Tate, writer who won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for poetry.
 * Duane D. Thiessen, Major General USMC

Sourced and external links

 * Pittsburg State University
 * Pittsburg State University Athletics
 * Morning Sun Article about PSU History