Colonials' Football Stadium Named After Legendary Coach

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 17, 2004

CONTACT: Mark D. Weinstein
Director of Public Relations
412-262-8650
412-389-9079 (mobile)
weinstein@rmu.edu
www.rmu.edu

(note: stadium images attached)

Colonials' Football Stadium Named After Legendary Coach

MOON TOWNSHIP, PA - Robert Morris University will play its first football game on campus in 2005. Appropriately, the Colonials' first home game will be played in "Joe Walton Stadium." Robert Morris University President Edward A. Nicholson announced today the naming of the stadium after Walton, the Colonials only head football coach and a former NFL player and head coach.

Walton has guided the Colonials throughout the sports' 11-year tenure at RMU. During this span, the Colonials have won five Northeast Conference championships (1996, 97, 98, 99, 2000) and finished ranked number one in the nation in 1999 and 2000. Walton's overall record with RMU is 67-32-1.

"I am honored by Dr. Nicholson's decision to name the football stadium "Joe Walton Stadium," said Walton, upon hearing of the naming of the stadium. "I have enjoyed many wonderful experiences in football; none, however have been more meaningful than my years spent at Robert Morris University. RMU will always be a special place to me."

Joe Walton Stadium will feature an artificial turf surface and initial seating for 7,000-with a potential expansion to 10,000. Fans will enter the stadium from the highest point of the structure. Visiting teams and officials will have locker rooms inside the stadium.

"We knew when we started football, this day would come," said Susan Hofacre, director of athletics. "This is an important step in the development of our athletic program, but also in the life of the University. This new stadium will generate tremendous excitement on campus for our students and will be a rallying point for alumni."

Joe Walton Stadium will be connected to the 20,000 square-foot athletic administration building and next to the Charles L. Sewall Center. The administration building will provide office space for the football staff, athletic administration and coaches from sports not currently using the Sewall Center. It will also include an all-sports strength and conditioning room, academic study and tutoring rooms for athletes, and football locker and equipment rooms.

"In our years of playing football, we have enjoyed a great deal of success," added Walton. "The football stadium and new athletic facility will help our recruiting, and I believe it will further enable us to remain competitive in our conference."

Robert Morris University, founded in 1921, is a private, four-year institution with an enrollment of approximately 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students. The University offers more than 30 undergraduate degree programs and 14 master's and doctoral degree programs and has the second lowest tuition among private universities in Pennsylvania. An estimated 22,000 alumni live and work in Western Pennsylvania.


Mark D. Weinstein
Director of Public Relations and Enrollment Marketing Robert Morris University
6001 University Boulevard
Moon Township, PA 15108
weinstein@rmu.edu
(412) 262-8650
(412) 389-9079 (cellular)
(412) 262-8571 (fax)