Point Park University
Former names
Point Park Junior College (1960–1966)
Point Park College (1966–2004)
MottoLatin: Pro Arte, Pro Communitate, Pro Professione
TypePrivate university
Established1960; 66 years ago (1960)
Endowment$50.1 million (2022)
PresidentChris W. Brussalis
Students3,288
Undergraduates2,575
Postgraduates870
Location
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
,
U.S.
Campus
  • Urban
NewspaperThe Point Park Globe
ColorsGreen & Gold
   
NicknamePioneers
MascotBlack Diamond II the Bison
Websitepointpark.edu
Map

Point Park University is a private university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Formerly known as Point Park College, the school name was revised in 2004 to reflect the number of graduate programs being offered. In 2021, it had a total undergraduate enrollment of 2,575 students.[1]

History

Beginnings

The university began in 1933 as a one-room business school called Business Training College with an initial enrollment of 50 students, under the direction of Dorothy Finkelhor, a New York native, and her husband, L. Herbert Finkelhor. Finkelhor provided her students with business and secretarial skills. At the same time, she served in multiple roles as teacher, the dean of women, social chairman, janitor, telephone operator, admissions and finance director, and registrar.[2]

Becoming a college

Academic Hall contains offices and classrooms.

By 1960, the business school had grown to nearly 880 students and moved to the university's current academic center, Academic Hall, on Wood Street in central Downtown Pittsburgh. The Finkelhors' small secretarial school became "Point Park Junior College,"[3] named for the city's historic Point State Park. The junior college added two-year programs in engineering technology, education, and journalism. It also acquired a performing arts space at The Pittsburgh Playhouse in the Oakland neighborhood.[4] In 1966, the college became "Point Park College."[3]

Thirty-four years after forming the college, Dorothy Finkelhor retired in 1967.[5] Finkelhor's son-in-law Arthur M. Blum succeeded her as president.[6] Blum purchased the Sherwyn Hotel, a 20-story building across from Academic Hall, which became Lawrence Hall.[7] The hall currently houses most of the school's social and entertainment facilities, as well as classrooms, offices, and residential spaces. Blum also established a campus in Lugano, Switzerland. A gift from Lester Hamburg brought the school a conference center in Portersville, Pennsylvania.

In the early 1970s, John V. Hopkins succeeded Blum,[5] and in time enrollment grew beyond 1,000 students. In 1981, the school introduced its first postgraduate program, a master's degree in journalism and mass communication.[3]

J. Matthew Simon became the college's next president in 1986,[5] overseeing the acquisition of a new library, program growth, and the school's largest endowment. Simon retired in 2007, having taught at Point Park as a professor in the Department of Natural Sciences and Engineering Technology after his tenure as president.[8]

Growth and change

Katherine Henderson was appointed president of the college in 1997.[5] Henderson's tenure became the most successful for Point Park. During the late 1990s, enrollment rose to over 3,000 students, and the endowment grew by over 200 percent. Point Park finished major renovations of its existing buildings soon after the turn of the century.

In 2003, the college was officially renamed Point Park University[3], and the administration began an aggressive $1 million branding campaign to attract more enrollment. Two years later, Henderson resigned from the presidency of Point Park while on a sabbatical.[9]

The board of trustees officially named Paul Hennigan as Henderson's permanent successor at the beginning of the 2006 fall term. Hennigan has continued developing a new strategic plan. As part of the plan, the university purchased several downtown properties for development.[10] Point Park is also involved in the city's efforts for downtown revitalization, owning properties along the coveted Fifth and Forbes corridor.[11]

A $16 million 44,000-square-foot (4,100 m2) state-of-the-art dance complex opened in 2007. The complex includes five rehearsal and performance studios, and recently received Gold LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Located in the heart of Downtown Pittsburgh, the complex is home to the George Rowland White Performance Studio, a 188-seat convertible performance space.

Point Park purchased the building occupied by the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh on the Boulevard of the Allies in the spring of 2008.[12] In September 2010, the newly renovated former YMCA building reopened as the interim student center with exercise and fitness facilities and equipment, a gymnasium, and meeting space.

In 2015, the university began property development to create what it called a "New Academic Village," a multi-block area downtown that includes dining, recreation, housing, athletics, student services, and other general-use buildings.[13] With the introduction of this initiative, Point Park evolved into one of the largest investors in Downtown Pittsburgh real estate development.[14] The following year, Point Park University added a new center for journalism at the former location of Nathan's Famous hot dogs.[15]

Campus

Lawrence Hall, the former Sherwyn Hotel, contains residence halls, offices, lounges, the Point Café, and classrooms

Point Park is situated about half a mile from Point State Park, the university's namesake, in the city's Golden Triangle. The school is in the midst of the business district, near both PPG Place (one of the most recognizable buildings in the city's skyline) and the relatively new LEED Platinum Certified headquarters of PNC Financial Services. The physical campus is mostly vertical, with buildings scattered among non-school structures. Since the campus is not contiguous, the school used the phrase "Pittsburgh is our campus" in its literature.[16]

Department of Public Safety

The Campus is covered by the "Point Park University Department of Public Safety", a campus police agency which provides patrol and crime prevention services to the university.[17] Point Park University was cited in 2017 as having the highest campus crime rate per student in Pittsburgh.[18] The department, and in particular the Police Division, have been recognized for innovation in campus law enforcement, for example having become the first campus police agency in Pennsylvania to issue body-worn cameras to officers, and the creation of an anonymous tip app.[19][20]

The executive of the Point Park University Department of Public Safety is the Assistant Vice President of Public Safety and Chief of Police, currently Jeff Besong, and is appointed by Point Park University.[21] The department consists of two divisions:[22] The Police Division provides patrol and crime scene interaction, while the Public Safety Division provides dispatch and security monitoring services.[22][23] The Police Division was established in 2011 with five officers, and was initially limited to bike and foot patrol,[24][25] and became accredited by the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association in March 2013.[26][27]

Student life

Student government

The Student Government Association (SGA), formerly known as the United Student Government (USG) is the representative student government of Point Park University. SGA comprises two entities, the Executive Cabinet and the Legislative Body.[28]

WPPJ-AM student-run radio

WPPJ (670 AM) is Point Park University's student-run radio station. This unlicensed carrier-current station was established in 1967 and is known as "The Voice of Point Park". It is a co-curricular activity for students with an interest in radio, news, sports, contemporary/popular music, media sales and promotions. WPPJ also serves as a training facility for students of any major who aspire to careers in professional broadcasting. The station is an open-format college radio station, playing primarily indie rock and hip-hop, with a fair number of sports and talk radio shows. The music department charts independent artists with CMJ.

U View Television

U View Television is the student-run television station, which posts exclusively to YouTube.[29]

Athletics

The Point Park athletic teams are called the Pioneers. The university is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), where they compete in Division II. The Pioneers are members of the Mountain East Conference (MEC) since the 2024–25 academic year. The Pioneers were previously a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the River States Conference (RSC) from 2012–13 to 2023–24; as well as a member of the defunct American Mideast Conference from 1999–2000 to 2011–12 (when the conference dissolved).

Point Park competes in 16 intercollegiate varsity sports. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, and track & field; women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, track & field, and volleyball; and co-ed sports include competitive cheer, competitive dance, and eSports. Baseball is the dominant sport of the university, bringing home the most championships.

Pioneers wordmark

The Point Park Pioneers logo prominently displays the school name and the nickname for the sports teams – Pioneers. A central figure is the bison, which has long served as the school's mascot. The bison was first used as a school mascot in the 1967–68 school year, the first year of intercollegiate competition versus four-year institutions.

The bison became a mascot for the school in 1967 when the Alpha Phi Omega fraternity teamed with the Varsity Club to acquire a live bison. The bison was named Black Diamond II in reference to the Black Diamond bison on the reverse side of the U.S. nickel at the time. It was kept at South Park and was a featured attraction at parades on the Boulevard of the Allies and at sporting events. Black Diamond II was widely popular at Point Park and was a source of pride for the entire school. Although Black Diamond II eventually died, it remains a fixture at the school.[30]

Notable alumni

References

  1. ^ "Point Park University". www.usnews.com.
  2. ^ Marzell, Terry Lee (December 3, 2015). "Dorothy C. Finkelhor: The High School Dropout who Founded a University".
  3. ^ a b c d Linn, Virginia (October 30, 2023). "Point Park University Launches Growth Plan with Bold Visions for Downtown". Pittsburgh Magazine. Retrieved May 5, 2026.
  4. ^ Belko, Mark (March 22, 2019). "Bowing out -- Point Park to demolish old Pittsburgh Playhouse site in Oakland". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d Point Park University Factbook 2007-08 (PDF). Pittsburgh, PA: Point Park University. 2007. p. 1. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
  6. ^ "Point Park College in Pittsburgh, Beset by Money Woes, Fails to Meet Monthly Payroll". New York Times. June 4, 1973. Retrieved May 10, 2026.
  7. ^ Martin, Peyton (January 15, 2025). "Former PPU President Arthur M. Blum dies at 90 years old". Point Park Globe. Retrieved May 5, 2026.
  8. ^ "Obituary: J. Matthew Simon / Former Point Park president". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. May 20, 2015. Retrieved May 5, 2026.
  9. ^ "In Memoriam: Katherine Usher Henderson, 1937-2022". Women In Academia Report. August 18, 2022. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  10. ^ Hronec, Jordyn (April 21, 2021). "President Paul Hennigan reflects on his tenure ahead of retirement". Point Park Globe. Retrieved May 5, 2026.
  11. ^ Belko, Mark (August 19, 2007). "Point Park University's enrollment growth spurs expansion". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  12. ^ Belko, Mark (April 10, 2008). "Growth spurt: Point Park University buying YMCA". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  13. ^ Isenberg, Robert (July 27, 2012). "What Our Neighborhoods Do Best". Pittsburgh Magazine. Retrieved May 5, 2026.
  14. ^ "Academic Village Initiative". Point Park University. Archived from the original on November 28, 2015. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
  15. ^ "Point Park University announces new Center for Media Innovation – Point Park University". www.pointpark.edu.
  16. ^ "Pittsburgh is our campus". Point Park University Web site. 2006.
  17. ^ "University Fact Sheet | Point Park University | Pittsburgh, PA". www.pointpark.edu. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  18. ^ "Which Pittsburgh campus is safest? Which has the highest crime rate?". The Incline. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  19. ^ Schneider, Sarah (August 12, 2016). "Point Park Becomes PA's First University Police Force To Don Body Cameras". www.wesa.fm. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  20. ^ "Point Park University Launches New Safety App For Students". August 24, 2017. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  21. ^ "Chief's Welcome | Point Park University | Pittsburgh, PA". www.pointpark.edu. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  22. ^ a b "University Police | Point Park University | Pittsburgh, PA". www.pointpark.edu. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  23. ^ "Campus Security | Point Park University | Pittsburgh, PA". www.pointpark.edu. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  24. ^ "Point Park University swears in police force". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  25. ^ "Point Park University Introduces New Campus Police Force". WPXI. June 27, 2011. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  26. ^ "Accredited Agencies". www.pachiefs.org. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  27. ^ "Accreditation | Point Park University | Pittsburgh, PA". www.pointpark.edu. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  28. ^ "Student Government Association". Point Park University. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  29. ^ "U View Television". Point Park University. Retrieved May 5, 2026.
  30. ^ "Point Park University Pioneers Logo". Point Park University. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
  31. ^ Denson, Bryan (July 24, 1987). "Fulfilling the dream: 'Down and Out' star up and coming". York Daily Record. p. 1E.
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