University of Pikeville

Former name	Pikeville Collegiate Institute (1889–1909) Pikeville College (1909–2011)
Motto	"The Leading University of Central Appalachia"
Type	Private university
Established	1889; 136 years ago (1889)
Accreditation	SACS
Religious affiliation	Presbyterian
Academic affiliations	Space-grant
Endowment	$14.2 million[1]
Chancellor	Paul E. Patton
President	Burton Webb[2]
Students	2,366[3]
Undergraduates	1,658[3]
Postgraduates	708[3]
Location	Pikeville , Kentucky , United States
Campus	Remote Town[4], 500 acres (2.0 km2)
Newspaper	The Bear Facts
Colors	Orange and black
Nickname	Bears & Lady Bears
Sporting affiliations	NAIA –Appalachian
Mascot	Pikey the Bear
Website	upike.edu

TheUniversity of Pikeville (UPIKE) is aprivate university affiliated with thePresbyterian Church (USA) and located inPikeville, Kentucky. It was founded in 1889 by the Presbyterian Church and is located on a 25-acre (10 ha) campus on a hillside overlooking downtown Pikeville.

The university is home to theKentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine, one of three medical schools in the state of Kentucky. The university confers associate, bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees through its six academic divisions and one medical college; enrollment was 2,366 students in fall 2016.

The university was founded in 1889 by thePresbyterian Church as thePikeville Collegiate Institute. It operated on the primary, secondary and post-secondary levels, although its "college" offerings were not accredited and did not lead to a degree.^[5] Under the leadership ofJames Franklin Record, who was president of the school from 1899 to 1932, the high school was accredited, opened a teacher training institute, and expanded to include a junior college.^[6]

In 1909 the school was split into thePikeville College Academy, which was a private school at the primary and secondary level, andPikeville College, which was accredited as ajunior college, offering the first two-years with an anticipation of students then transferring to another Presbyterian college for a degree. In 1955 the school became a degree granting four-year college in its own right, and in 1957 the academy closed.^[5]

In 1997, the Pikeville College School of Osteopathic Medicine, now theUniversity of Pikeville Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine, was established. This makes the college one of the smallest colleges in the United States to have a medical school.^[5]

The purpose of theosteopathic medical school, while graduates are fully prepared to specialize in any medical field, is to train primary care physicians to fill the shortage of medical care in the rural section ofAppalachia in which it is located. Student recruitment is focused almost exclusively on students with a rural Appalachian background. It is one of 29 osteopathic colleges in the country, and one of five in Appalachia.^[a]

On July 1, 2011, the school officially changed its name from "Pikeville College" to the "University of Pikeville".^[7] Late in the same year, voices were raised in theKentucky General Assembly in favor of converting the university into a state-supported school.^[8] By the end of the following March, proponents abandoned their plans after deeming them politically impossible.^[9]

The University of Pikeville is located on a 25 acres (0.10 km²) hillside campus, overlooking Downtown Pikeville in Kentucky'sEastern Mountain Coal Fields region.^[1]

• Armington Learning Center – A building which houses allundergraduate math and science classes, undergraduate labs, various faculty offices, Chrisman Auditorium, the Chrisman Appalachian Research Institute.
• Administration Building – The Administration Building houses the College of Education.
• Allara Library – Dedicated in 1991, the Allara Library contains 3 floors of study rooms, books, a small cache of microfilm and microfiche, and the basement houses the University of Pikeville tutoring lab. The Allara Library was remodeled from the old Pikeville Hospital.
• Coal Building – This building houses the University of Pikeville Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine.
• Health Professions Building – This building houses theUniversity of Pikeville Kentucky College of Optometry.^[10] Also, the building houses aChick-fil-A andEinstein Bros. Bagels.
• Record Memorial Hall – This building serves as a connection between Hambley Boulevard and University of Pikeville and also contains Booth Auditorium, the Sturgill Board Room, the Elizabeth Akers Nursing Program, the Marguerite Weber Art Gallery, and the Ridenour Dance Studio. It was named in honor of a long-serving college president.
• Training-Academy Building – This is the oldest building on campus, and is listed on theNational Register of Historic Places. It houses the Coleman College of Business.

• Derrianna Hall – Has always been a female dorm and houses upperclassmen females only.
• Condit Hall – Houses all freshman female students. The campus safety office is also located in Condit.
• Wickham Hall – Although originally a dorm for female campus residents it now houses all freshman males. The ground floor of the building holds the student lounge.
• Page Hall – Page Hall, like Wickham Hall, was originally aresidence hall for female campus residents but now is a co-ed Hall and houses clubs and organizations that are registered with affinity housing.
• Kinzer Residential Center – Kinzer Hall houses both male and female upperclassmen campus residents.
• Spilman Hall – Located next to Page Hall, Spillman is a Co-Ed dorm that also hold handicap dorms on the first level.
• UPIKE South – Formerly a hotel, UPIKE South is the first off-campus housing and is only offered tograduate students.
• Gillispie Hall – Located next to Kinzer Hall, Gillispie Hall houses honor freshman student.
• College Square Residence Hall – is a co-ed hall located by the campus gym.

The University of Pikeville awardassociate degrees,bachelor's degrees,master's degrees, anddoctoral degrees.^[11] The university'sDoctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree is awarded in collaboration with the University of Pikeville Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine and theDoctor of Optometry program began in 2016.

The Marvin Student Center housed the campus bookstore, lounge, gameroom,post office,Upward Bound Program, and ROTC/National Guard Offices until it was demolished during the fall semester of 2010. A new building for the medical school called the Coal Building was built in its place. The new $34 million educational facility was dedicated on September 15, 2012.^[12]

UPIKE's men's and women's basketball teams play at the 5,700-seatAppalachian Wireless Arena adjacent to the campus in downtown Pikeville.^[13] The Expo Center opened in 2005 and replaced the UPike Gym as the home of the men's and women's basketball teams, although the women's volleyball team still uses the gym. The facility has also hosted the Mid-South Conference basketball tournament.^[14]

The Pikeville (UPike) athletic teams are called the Bears. The university is a member of theNational Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in theAppalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) since the 2023–24 academic year.^[15] The Bears previously competed in theKentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC; now currently known as the River States Conference (RSC) since the 2016–17 school year) from 1958–59 to 1999–2000 and in theMid-South Conference between 2000–2001 and 2022–23.^[16]

UPike competes in 25 intercollegiate varsity sports: men's sports include baseball, basketball, bowling, cross country, football, golf, soccer, swimming, tennis, track & field and wrestling; while women's sports include basketball, bowling, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track & field and volleyball; and co-ed sports include archery, cheerleading, dance and eSports.^[17]

Pikeville athletics have won numerous conference championships and three national championships: two in women's bowling in 2004 and 2008 and aNAIA DI men's basketball championship in 2011.^[18][19]

• Kelly Coleman – All-American basketball player, all-time leading scorer in Kentucky High School history. Drafted #11 overall by theNew York Knicks in the1960 NBA draft.
• Walt Harris – former basketball player, currentmixed martial artist for theUFC^[20]
• Rodney Hawkins –ABA basketball player for theBuffalo eXtreme
• Donnie Jones – Graduated in 1988; former assistant and head basketball coach atMarshall University (1990–1996; 2007–2010, respectively), head basketball coach atUniversity of Central Florida (2010–2016), and assistant basketball coach at theUniversity of Florida (1996–2007),Wichita State 2017 and theUniversity of Dayton 2018. He is currently the head basketball coach at theStetson University.^[21]
• Judi Patton – FormerFirst Lady ofKentucky. Wife of current university chancellor and former governor Paul E. Patton.^[22]
• John Paul Riddle – Graduated in 1920; Pioneeraviator and co-founder of theEmbry-Riddle Aeronautical University.^[23]
• Will T. Scott – Former Justice ofKentucky's 7th Supreme Court District.^[24]
• E.J. Underwood – FormerNFL,CFL,AFL andCIFL player.
• Grady Wallace – Attended in 1953–54 and 1954–55; went to theUniversity of South Carolina afterward to play basketball and was named aconsensus Second Team All-American andled the NCAA in scoring his senior season.^[25]

• Official website
• Official athletics website

37°28′45″N82°31′16″W / 37.47910°N 82.52119°W /37.47910; -82.52119

• University of Pikeville
• Universities and colleges established in 1889
• Buildings and structures in Pike County, Kentucky
• Universities and colleges affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA)
• Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
• Education in Pike County, Kentucky
• 1889 establishments in Kentucky
• Private universities and colleges in Kentucky
• Optometry schools in the United States
• Pikeville, Kentucky

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