The City of Rockford
Rockford University’s hometown is Rockford, Illinois, a metropolitan area of approximately 375,000 people situated along the Rock River, midway between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi.
The city offers a rich cultural life with resident dance and theater companies, several choral organizations, the Rockford Symphony Orchestra, and numerous museums, including: Rockford Art Museum; Burpee Museum of Natural History, home to “Jane,” a celebrated and rare juvenile T. Rex dinosaur; Discovery Center, ranked one of the nation’s top museums for children; Klehm Arboretum & Botanic Gardens, featuring one of the finest collections of conifers outside Europe; and Anderson Japanese Gardens, recognized as one of the very finest Japanese Gardens in North America. Art exhibits, festivals and live performances are scheduled year-round, and the Rock River provides a wealth of recreational venues in all seasons.
Rockford also has professional sports, including semi-professional teams in ice hockey (American Hockey League), baseball (Northwoods League), NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing (Rockford Speedway) and so many fairways that Golf Digest has called Rockford the nation’s best mid-size city for golf. The local parks system – a model for many other cities – includes a water park, paved bike and jogging trails and more than a dozen public and private golf courses. For University students, Rockford offers jobs, internships and service opportunities, plus scores of restaurants, theaters, clubs, coffeehouses, museums, gardens, and galleries.
Rockford is a 1-2 hour drive from Chicago, Madison, and Milwaukee, with easy access to interstate highways and tollways. Locally, the Chicago Rockford International Airport provides regular flights to a variety of destinations, primarily other small cities. Chicago O’Hare International Airport is just an hour away by car, and bus service between Rockford and O’Hare is readily available. Chicago Midway airport is about 2 hours away and also enjoys bus service from Rockford.
The History of Rockford University
Rockford University was an educational pioneer from its very beginning. In the early-1800s, America largely doubted the value of educating women beyond basic reading, writing, and arithmetic. By mid-century, Rockford, Illinois, was just a village. But its 2,500 residents believed strongly in the need to educate the area’s young women – so strongly, in fact, that they pledged $3,500 toward the first building and insisted that the school’s curriculum be as demanding as that of a men’s college.
The Illinois legislature chartered Rockford Female Seminary in 1847, and Anna Peck Sill became its first principal, taking the post “on her own responsibility” – that is, without wages or promise of students. The first classes were held in the city’s downtown courthouse. Enrollment grew quickly, and soon the seminary moved to its own campus between the Rock River and Seminary Street.
In 1882, Rockford Female Seminary granted its first bachelor’s degrees. Today, the University is perhaps best known for one of those first degree recipients: Jane Addams, Class of 1881. As a Rockford student, Addams was elected president of her class and was chosen to deliver the 1881 valedictory address. In 1882, she returned to campus and was awarded the first bachelor’s degree. Fifty years later, in 1931, the reformer, humanitarian, suffragist, and peace activist received the Nobel Peace Prize.
Over the years, Rockford continued to display its pioneering spirit. In 1892, the Seminary became Rockford College and by 1919, the institution was on the forefront in offering adult education. In 1952, the college opened its Learning Resources Center to help young people and adults improve their academic skills. During World War II, men were admitted to classes, and in 1958 Rockford College became fully coeducational. In the mid-1960s, the college moved to its current location about three miles east of downtown.
Today, from our beautiful, park-like 150-acre campus, Rockford University offers a liberal arts education centered on civic engagement and aimed at preparing future graduates to change the world.