Cindy LaCom (b. 1961) grew up in the East Bay area of California. After earning their Ph.D. in English from the University of Oregon, LaCom was hired at Slippery Rock University (SRU) as a professor for the English Department in 1992. Eventually they became the director of the Gender Studies Program, serving in that capacity until their retirement in 2023.

Under LaCom’s leadership, the Gender Studies Program evolved into a program centered on gender and feminist issues through the lenses of intersectionality. Their commitment to issues of disability justice shaped their work in academia for 30 years. Having served on numerous committees and being an ex-officio member on three President’s Commissions (the Commission on Women; the Commission on Disability Issues; and the Commission on Gender Identity, Expression, and Sexual Orientation (GIESO)), LaCom endeavored to address issues of inclusivity on SRU’s campus their entire career.

Dr. Carl Laughner (1917-2009), came to Slippery Rock on the G.I. Bill after serving in World War II. He was hired as an assistant professor of English and Speech in 1955, later becoming the Director of Alumni Affairs.

Laughner recollects when all classes were held in Old Main. He talks about coaching the debate team, teaching during the Korean War, and hitchhiking to classes from Pittsburgh as a student. Carl and his wife Norma, who also taught at Slippery Rock, established the Carl and Norma Laughner Scholarship.

Norma Laughner (1926-2022) grew up on Elm Street in Slippery Rock. Her father took her to the college football games and her mother worked here in the laundry. In 1944 Laughner started her freshman year, majoring in English and speech. That year there were only two men in her class, but soon the World War II veterans arrived.

Laughner taught for the English Department for ten years, later becoming the secretary for the Alumni Association. She met her husband Carl while singing in the choir at vespers in the Chapel, a building she and the Alumni Association tried to save from demolition.

Alan Levy, a native of New York, was a faculty member of the History Department at Slippery Rock University (SRU) from 1985 to 2023. In 1986, Levy took ownership of restructuring SRU’s University Honors Program. The program witnessed incredible growth under his leadership, going from only a few students to around 85 by 1989.

A celebrated researcher and author, Levy has published works such as Rube Waddell: The Zany, Brilliant Life of a Strikeout Artist, Walter Alston: The Rise of a Manager from the Minors to the Baseball Hall of Fame, Floyd Patterson: A Boxer and a Gentleman, and more.

Paul Lueken served as Slippery Rock University’s Director of Athletics from 1994-2021. While at SRU, he restructured SRU’s NCAA compliance procedures and made major improvements in academic support services for student-athletes. When Lueken took over in the fall of 1994, Slippery Rock’s student-athletes combined GPA averaged 2.614. Over the course of his SRU career, that average rose nearly a full point, to a 3.532 cumulative GPA in the spring of 2020.

While Lueken was Athletic Director, The Rock won 39 PSAC championships and had 11 students win national titles. Slippery Rock University also won the Dixon Trophy during his tenure. He coordinated the upgrade of SRU’s athletic facilities, and was directly involved with renovations to Morrow Field House, the construction of Jack Critchfield Park, and with the evolution of the SRU mascot Rocky, the Pride of the Rock.

Lueken was inducted into the SRU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2022 and named Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau Ambassador of the year. In retirement, he serves as a member of the Slippery Rock Borough Council and spends time with his grandchildren.