Campus News

ROCKFORD, Ill. — Rockford University is celebrating 170 years since the signing of its charter with a nod to its shared legacy with Beloit College, established just one year prior to the university’s 1847 founding.

Beloit College President Scott Bierman, Ph.D., will keynote Rockford University’s Charter Day Convocation, set for Monday, Feb. 27, 2017, at 4 p.m. in Maddox Theatre, Clark Arts Center, on the university’s campus at 5050 E. State St. in Rockford.

The schools’ shared origins date back to 1844, when community leaders made the decision to organize men’s and women’s learning institutions of the “highest order” in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. Beloit College received its state charter on Feb. 2, 1846, and Rockford University followed as its sister institution a year later. Rockford Female Seminary was chartered on Feb. 25, 1847.

Dr. Bierman, who became the 11^th president of Beloit College in 2009, has more than three decades of experience in higher education and previously served as a professor, department chair and dean at Carleton College in Northfield, Minn. In addition to Dr. Bierman’s address, the Charter Day Convocation includes an academic procession of faculty in traditional robes depicting their rank, with stoles representing their respective alma maters and degrees.

Tickets are required for this free event, part of the university’s public Forum Series. For more information, contact the Rockford University Box Office at 815-226-4100 or boxoffice@rockford.edu.

Rockford University is a four-year, co-educational institution offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in traditional liberal arts and professional fields. The university offers about 80 majors, minors and concentrations of study, and serves approximately 1,280 full- and part-time students.