Slippery Rock University formally unveiled the Haverlack College of Business, the University’s first named college that was established by a transformative $5 million gift from Rhonda and Elliott ’80 Haverlack. SRU celebrated this landmark moment with a naming ceremony April 23 outside the Eisenberg Classroom Building.
The $5 million investment represents the single largest gift to SRU in its 136-year history and is one of the most significant philanthropic investments in Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education. The gift will empower and support student scholarships, faculty research, facility enhancement and expanded student opportunities in SRU’s college and programs that are accredited by the prestigious AASCB, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International.
“This moment signals a new chapter for this University and for everyone connected to it,” said Prasad Vemala, dean of the Haverlack College of Business. “Elliott and Rhonda Haverlack’s investment is not only financial, it is a declaration of confidence in our students, our faculty and our future.”
The ceremony included the unveiling of new facility signage and a showcase of student and faculty achievements, as well as remarks from Elliott Haverlack, SRU President Karen Riley, and Cindy Shapira, chair of Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education Board of Governors.
“When the Haverlacks told us that they would be making this philanthropic investment in the future of Slippery Rock University, Elliott also told me that I now had a responsibility — the responsibility to ensure that the Haverlack College of Business prepares our students not only for a career, but also for a life of purpose,” Riley said. “I agreed then and in front of this audience agree to uphold this responsibility, for our students and for the namesake of this college.”
Elliott Haverlack, who graduated from SRU with a degree in environmental science, is a retired executive in the consumer-packaged goods industry and a three-time bestselling author.
“This College of Business is more than brick and mortar; it is more than classrooms — it is a commitment to opportunity,” Elliott Haverlack said. “Today, we dedicate more than a building. We dedicate a doorway. A doorway to opportunity. A doorway to discovery. A doorway through which generations of students will walk — uncertain when they enter, but capable when they leave.”
After growing up near Slippery Rock and graduating from his hometown University, Elliott Haverlack became a logistics manager for Ralston Purina before working as a vice president of logistics in the H.J. Heinz Company. He later became president and chief operating officer of Meadville-based Ainsworth Pet Nutrition. After retiring in 2012, Elliott and Rhonda were cofounders and principals of Targeted Pet Treats headquartered in Warren, a business that they later sold.
Not only did Elliott Haverlack make a financial commitment to SRU’s business programs, but he also reaffirmed his conviction to lifelong learning by becoming a student again at SRU. He enrolled in the University’s Master of Business Administration program last fall, saying he never worked at anything in his life harder than earning a graduate degree at age 67.
“Elliott’s story reflects what so many of our alumni carry with them –– gratitude for the education they received, appreciation for those who supported them and a desire to create that same opportunity for the next generation,” Shapira said. “That spirit of giving back is essential to the strength of our universities. PASSHE universities are the state universities of Pennsylvania, and our mission is to provide a high-quality education at the lowest possible cost to more than 80,000 students. Philanthropy plays a key role in helping us deliver on that mission.”
More information about the Haverlack College of Business is available on the college’s webpage.
