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To bring the year of celebrating IUP’s 150th anniversary to a close, 18 members of the university community—current and former faculty members and administrators, historians, journalists, and alumni (many filling more than one of these descriptions)—were asked to share their favorite moments in IUP history.
Lunchtime pickup basketball has connected IUP people for almost 60 years. Bill Hamilton ’92 and Alex Heckert serve as de facto co-commissioners of a pickup league whose players—faculty and staff members, varsity coaches, undergraduate and graduate students, alumni, community members, even foreign nationals—meet at noon three times a week in IUP’s Zink Hall.
Lynn Harding ’97 knew John Busovicki ’65 first as his high school geometry teacher and later as an IUP math professor. Read the poem Harding wrote that details the path of their friendship.
In July 2025, the IUP-based Keystone Wind Ensemble performed at the annual convention of the Texas Bandmasters Association in San Antonio. Find a report and photos from ensemble member Kevin Eisensmith, IUP professor emeritus of trumpet.
See the latest graduates to earn the Alumni Association’s top honor.
Pittsburgher Terry Serafini ’61 has a long record of leadership at IUP. It goes back all the way into the last century—back to his undergraduate years, when he was president of the Student Government Association and vice president of his fraternity.
In the summer of 2023, IUP launched its student success infrastructure, a collaborative, university-wide approach that changed the culture around how IUP supports its students. Three years after its rollout, the results look promising.
During the spring 2026 CFA Society Pittsburgh Collegiate Stock Picker Challenge, which ended on April 15, 140 students signed up as participants from Saint Vincent College, Duquesne University, Penn State Behrend, IUP, La Roche University, Penn State University, Penn State World Campus, PennWest–Edinboro, PennWest–Clarion, and PennWest–California.
Students from IUP, along with partners from regional universities, took part in a Pittsburgh FAM tour to explore major hospitality and event venues and connect with industry professionals. Coordinated with Visit Pittsburgh, the experience provided hands-on learning and career insight within the region’s vibrant hospitality sector.
IUP Theatre’s performance ensemble company, Theater-by-the-Grove, is proud to announce the opening of their developmental premiere of a new play, “By The Time We Got To Woodstock,” written by notable playwright John Spellos.
A nostalgic look back at college life in the 1960s at Indiana State College (now IUP), reflecting on dorm life in historic John Sutton Hall, campus traditions, music, fashion, friendships, and the social changes shaping a generation. This personal memoir contrasts the analog world of Baby Boomers with today’s digital campus experience, offering vivid stories of student life, cultural icons, and a rapidly changing America.
Find out why IUP Day at PNC Park has become one of the most anticipated alumni events.
See the latest graduates to earn the Alumni Association’s top honor.
After 36 years of Liberal Studies, general education got an overhaul.
Find out how allowing Division I student-athletes to be paid impacts DII schools like IUP.
Some 60 years have passed, but IUP alumnus Michael Lambert remembers every word of a lecture English professor Maurice Rider gave one warm spring day. Read Lambert’s reminiscence.
David Walzak and the former Becky Blocker met in the Oak Grove in September 1968, and 57 years later, they are still together. Learn about their “life’s adventure” that got its start at IUP.
If they are valued so much as keepsakes and historical records, why did IUP yearbooks go away?
Find out why Roger Haney left hospital administration to get into the chocolate business.
A collaboration between IUP and the Center for Rural Pennsylvania on a study, “Understanding Physician Retention in Rural Pennsylvania,” will survey more than 6,500 physicians in rural practices and, to help with data analysis, 2,000 additional physicians, all in Pennsylvania.
After more than three years in Russian confinement, Marc Fogel is back in the US.
As the first Crimson Scholar to graduate, Victoria Alao leads the way for others who have benefited from the program’s support.
The Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance at Indiana University of Pennsylvania presents the twenty-fifth annual IUP Jazz Festival. This Festival will honor two brothers who are alumni of the department: Ralph (’69, ’75) and John Morris (’71, ’73). Admission to the Festival is free and is open to the general public. Seating is general admission.
Recipients of the 2024 Distinguished Alumni Awards were honored in April at a gala sponsored by the IUP Alumni Association.
In a jaw-dropping about-face that saw a once-downtrodden program rise to national prominence, coach Steve Kline led the Crimson Hawks to a school-record 41 victories and a berth in the NCAA Division II College World Series, where his team finished third after beating both the defending national champion and the top seed.
IUP’s ongoing work to meet the changing needs of students and to ensure a sustainable future has involved intense planning over the last two years.
In 1996, the Cook Honors College was established at IUP with a bold objective: to carve out a space on campus in which several hundred students at a time could immerse themselves in a rigorous, communal learning experience. More than a quarter-century later, CHC’s mission is thriving.
Kerry Green was inducted into the Pittsburgh Marathon Hall of Fame in May, an acknowledgment of his lifetime achievements as a distance runner. But long before that, Green had gained acclaim far beyond western Pennsylvania, not so much for his running, but for what he did while running. He juggled.
In an office and laboratories on the upper floors of Kopchick Hall, Skip Kingston ’73, M’75 occupies a unique place in the life of IUP. Kingston is a visiting scientist, or scientist in residence, continuing his work on various projects relating to analytical chemistry.
In April, IUP’s Graphic Design and Illustration program held a three-day event celebrating the alumni-student connections that have made the program successful. Called Slenkfest, the celebration honors the late Robert Slenker, an IUP professor emeritus of art whose name often comes up in discussions about why the program and its graduates have thrived.
IUP aims not just to survive enrollment drop but to grow stronger.
An artist for more than 40 years, Pat McBride ’81 found that her most meaningful depiction was not made to be hung and admired, but to protect human lives.
Michael Lambert ’68, M’69 shares his memories of the sights, sounds, and smells of IUP and Indiana in the 1960s.
IUP’s long-awaited science building, Kopchick Hall, opened for classes at the start of the spring semester in January.
Donta Green won’t rest. How could he when there is so much to do?
When Phi Mu Alpha music fraternity needed an advisor in 1979, marching band director Charles Casavant stepped up. But first, he had to pledge the fraternity.
Rich Caruso's generous million-dollar gift led to the inception of IUP's College of Osteopathic Medicine, a crucial initiative addressing the scarcity of physicians in rural Pennsylvania, with the aim of enhancing healthcare accessibility for underserved areas and fostering economic growth.
Explore the history of Weyandt Hall, a state-of-the-art science facility that transformed IUP's campus in 1966, providing ample space for research and instruction in various scientific fields. Discover how this building, considered a "bright, shining star" in its time, paved the way for advancements in teaching, research, and technology at the university, and learn about the exciting prospects of the upcoming Kopchick Hall, set to open in 2024, as a new era for science at IUP unfolds.
A professor in IUP’s Fashion Studies program, Janet Blood gave a presentation last spring on changes in style from the late 1800s at Indiana State Normal School to the 1940s at Indiana State Teachers College. Following are some of her observations from yearbooks.
Students headed for the hotel industry can practice in class, behind a real-life front desk.
Rosemary Gido, professor emerita of criminology, is still an active researcher, often focusing on how poverty affects the incarceration rate.
Math can be intimidating. It’s sophisticated, and it comes in algorithms and logarithms. But longtime Virginia educator Gwendolyn Tolbert Best ’93, M’95 shook off math’s pretensions and made it a regular kid’s friend. For her students, Best’s math comes in roast beef subs, chili, cappuccino, and tiramisu.
Recipients of the 2023 Distinguished Alumni Awards were honored in April at a gala sponsored by the IUP Alumni Association.
Title IX transformed women’s sports at IUP—from low-budget programs that sold baked goods to survive to the championship-caliber teams and athletes of today. Read about the evolution of sports in the half-century since this groundbreaking law was passed.
Black alumni spanning several decades at IUP are working with the university to help current Black students succeed. See what the Black Experience Alumni Committee, known as BEAC, has planned.
Joe Rocco ’11 played for a record-breaking IUP basketball team. Now he excels on an even more celebrated squad—the one Anthony Fauci led in the battle against COVID-19.
Former head coach Frank Cignetti may be best known for his football success. But many knew him for something more. Hear from a former player, student coach, and Penn reporter how Cignetti’s impact extends far beyond the football field.
Students from Ukraine, Afghanistan, and other countries in crisis face many obstacles to completing their education in the US. See how some have coped and have found help through IUP and the greater community.
Four students help illustrate the impact of IUP’s record-breaking Imagine Unlimited campaign. Hear from scholarship recipients in chemistry and football, a grad assistant promoting fairness in policing, and a food pantry worker who has connected hundreds of students with meals.
Tired of changing his son’s diaper on the men’s room floor, 2009 graduate Donte Palmer made an Instagram post that led to a national campaign pushing for changing tables in all public restrooms. His organization has since expanded to offer other help to parents, but especially to fathers.
Considered Indiana Normal School’s guiding spirit, Jane Leonard inspired thousands of students and, perhaps, a U.S. president.
Professor emeritus Charles Cashdollar’s “The IUP Story” will be published later this summer. In his more than 10 years of research and writing, Cashdollar found two predominant themes throughout IUP’s history: “consistent commitment to excellence” and “persistence in overcoming obstacles.”
The Mikesell siblings—Paige, Luke, and Claire—made quite a splash at the swimming national championships in March, spearheaded by Paige’s title win in the 200 freestyle. They walked away as All-Americans (with a family haul of 13 honors) and as key players in IUP swimming’s most successful showing of the millennium.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania will honor the 2020 and 2021 Distinguished Alumni Award recipients for their career achievements and service in a virtual ceremony on April 17.
Dorothy Ramale ’43, who will turn 100 in April, was well-known as a math teacher and an IUP Alumni Association president. Until recently, many didn’t know she cracked enemy codes for the US military during World War II. In honor of Women’s History Month, here is her story.
For the first time since World War II, intercollegiate athletics have come to a halt—this time because of a global pandemic and not a global conflict. The absence of competition, after countless hours of preparation, has left many student-athletes feeling lost. In response, administrators and coaches are trying new approaches to help athletes adjust and be successful off the field.
Opening in 2023, this new science complex is designed to bring improved collaboration, communication, and visibility to student and faculty work.
From protests demanding integration of the community pool to memorial marches on Philadelphia Street to the start of a speakers’ bureau and an elementary tutoring program—the fight for civil rights in Indiana took many forms. It also had faculty champions. IUP retiree Edith Cord shares her memories from the ’60s and ’70s of faculty efforts “to give everyone a better chance at the American dream.”
Adapting creatively is at the heart of theater, so it’s only natural that students in the Department of Theatre, Dance, and Performance would find a way to put on a show and stay safe doing it. While the production is called Much Ado about Nothing, the way these theater students brought it together is truly something.
Culinary Arts alumna Kristin Butterworth is blazing a trail for female chefs in fine dining.
