Enrollment numbers

[mj]

I maintain that the decision of our new President to require all students to be vaccinated before reporting back this fall was hasty, unnecessary, and unwise.  It has subjected our students to unnecessary and avoidable risk.

So you think masks are "dorky" and you think that requiring people to be vaccinated is unwise. Why are you pro virus?

Over 600K people have died from COVID. Thousands of others suffer from long term side effects from the virus. Every death is a tragedy. But it would be a greater tragedy to allow the unchecked spread of a disease that would cause many additional deaths.

[78crusader]

Not pro virus.

Been vaccinated.

The stats simply show that for young people there is more risk from the vaccine than from the illness itself.  As noted by FWalum, the government's own VAERS reporting system - which is completely voluntary and therefore underreported -shows nearly 5900 deaths from the vaccine, not to mention many instances of myocarditis, particularly among young men.  Those age 19 or younger represent 0.1% of all COVID deaths. At one point last fall - I lost track at some point - 40,000 college students came down with the virus - with 2 hospitalizations.  Two.

I will, however, plead guilty to the charge of thinking that young, healthy college-age students, like those posted by VU on Instagram, who continue to wear masks while outside are dorks.

Paul 

[valpo95]

...As noted by FWalum, the government's own VAERS reporting system - which is completely voluntary and therefore underreported -shows nearly 5900 deaths from the vaccine, not to mention many instances of myocarditis...

Paul 

This is absurd and false, and it is imperative not to spread misinformation. The VAERS does NOT show 5900 deaths from the vaccine. It does show that some people who have been vaccinated have died, yet NOT that the vaccine was the cause of their deaths!

To break it down further, just looking at the numbers from the year 2021, there are 4699 individuals who died who are listed in the VAERS database. The average age of those 4699 individuals is 73.5 years old - some died from COVID-19, and some had a number of other comorbidities.

For the first case (reported 1/1/2021), there is limited information other than that the individual was 78 years old. However, look at the next two cases:

Age 82: "After vaccination, patient tested positive for COVID-19.  Patient was very ill and had numerous chronic health issues prior to vaccination.  Facility had a number of patients who had already tested positive for COVID-19.  Vaccination continued in an effort to prevent this patient from contracting the virus or to mitigate his risk.  This was unsuccessful and patient died...COVID-19 positive test approximately one week after vaccination.  There is no evidence to support that the vaccine caused his death in any way."

Age 90: "At the time of vaccination, there was an outbreak of residents who had already tested positive for COVID 19 at the nursing home where patient was a resident.  About a week later, patient tested positive for COVID 19.  She had a number of chronic, underlying health conditions.  The vaccine did not have enough time to prevent COVID 19.  There is no evidence that the vaccination caused patient's death.  It simply didn't have time to save her life....Patient was a resident of a long term care facility and had numerous chronic conditions prior to vaccination."

We can debate the merits of vaccines for young people, yet we should do so with facts and not false conspiracy theories.

[FWalum]

This is absurd and false, and it is imperative not to spread misinformation. The VAERS does NOT show 5900 deaths from the vaccine. It does show that some people who have been vaccinated have died, yet NOT that the vaccine was the cause of their deaths!

To break it down further, just looking at the numbers from the year 2021, there are 4699 individuals who died who are listed in the VAERS database. The average age of those 4699 individuals is 73.5 years old - some died from COVID-19, and some had a number of other comorbidities.

For the first case (reported 1/1/2021), there is limited information other than that the individual was 78 years old. However, look at the next two cases:

Age 82: "After vaccination, patient tested positive for COVID-19.  Patient was very ill and had numerous chronic health issues prior to vaccination.  Facility had a number of patients who had already tested positive for COVID-19.  Vaccination continued in an effort to prevent this patient from contracting the virus or to mitigate his risk.  This was unsuccessful and patient died...COVID-19 positive test approximately one week after vaccination.  There is no evidence to support that the vaccine caused his death in any way."

Age 90: "At the time of vaccination, there was an outbreak of residents who had already tested positive for COVID 19 at the nursing home where patient was a resident.  About a week later, patient tested positive for COVID 19.  She had a number of chronic, underlying health conditions.  The vaccine did not have enough time to prevent COVID 19.  There is no evidence that the vaccination caused patient's death.  It simply didn't have time to save her life....Patient was a resident of a long term care facility and had numerous chronic conditions prior to vaccination."

We can debate the merits of vaccines for young people, yet we should do so with facts and not false conspiracy theories.

I am only going to state facts. I work with health databases on an almost daily basis as I do software for Health Departments and Vital Records in Indiana.  VAERS is a CDC database to which anyone can report adverse vaccine reactions. However, the vast majority of these reports are done by someone in the healthcare fields. Doctors are mandated to do so if there could be ANY potential causation between the vaccine and the adverse reaction. As of June 4th there most definitely were 5888 deaths reported this year in VAERS related to the COVID-19 vaccinations. We do not know the relationship of the deaths to the vaccine at this point for many reasons, one of which is that the CDC literally is swamped. But even if 25% of the deaths show a casual relationship to the vaccine this will be, by the end of 2021, a 2000% increase from the reported deaths 2020.  I love how most articles that are trying to downplay the deaths reported to VAERS in 2021 are saying the average age of people reported to have died from the COVID-19 vaccinations is 73.5 years old. This is absolutely true and it is also true that this is the first vaccine in many generations (perhaps ever) that is being given universally to the elderly and even those that might be potentially terminally ill. I can agree that the deaths have been primarily in older people, I think that was expected. I get that many of them had contributing factors and it would be harder to determine if the vaccine was a contributing factor in their death, but they aren't just throwaways. Let's take it a step further and remove the very elderly from the equation. There have been 1131 deaths reported in the 65-75 year age range. If only 8% show a casual relationship to the vaccine that will mean that this age range will have at least 180 actual deaths in 2021 compared to 166 total deaths reported in 2020.  So now let's go to the younger side of the data. With 5 months reporting in 2021 we have 97 reported deaths in the 15-35 age range, that would mean for the year we should have close to 196 reports just for that age range, 30 more than all of the reports for 2020.

I will say that my statement "The Government's own VAERS data from June 11th shows that at least 5888 People have died in the US from an adverse reaction associated with the vaccine." made in my earlier post was inaccurate.  I should have said "The Government's own VAERS data from June 11th reports that at least 5888 People may have died in the US from an adverse reaction associated with the vaccine."

What we are statistically comparing are the VAERS reports from the previous years starting in 1990 to 2020 versus the five months of reporting in 2021. You can not dispute the fact that, unless you believe the medical professions have conspired to render the VAERS data useless, potentially scare the public and bolster the Anti-Vaxers, something very unusual is going on with these vaccines. More potentially related deaths have been reported in 2021 then in ALL the previous years combined. At the current rate VAERS will probably report 10,000 potentially related Covid-19 vaccine deaths in 2021. So please explain to me how anything I have written about this subject, other than what I have already confessed, is misinformation, absurd, false or a conspiracy theory.

I and my immediate family that can be vaccinated have received the vaccine. As perhaps you read elsewhere on this forum I was in the hospital twice in December with COVID-19 related issues. My wife is a biochemistry professor and my daughter is a doctor at the Children's National Hospital. Every hypothesis related to SARS-CoV-2 and these vaccines should be debated openly. The censorship has got to stop. I believe that literally tens of thousands of lives have been lost because of greed, ego and the geo-political atmosphere.

Perhaps this 14 minute video would be interesting to you where Dr. Robert Malone, who is the discoverer of in-vitro and in-vivo RNA transfection and the inventor of mRNA vaccines, explains VAERS, what is happening at the FDA and clinical trial reporting.

[valpo95]

I will say that my statement "The Government's own VAERS data from June 11th shows that at least 5888 People have died in the US from an adverse reaction associated with the vaccine." made in my earlier post was inaccurate.  I should have said "The Government's own VAERS data from June 11th reports that at least 5888 People may have died in the US from an adverse reaction associated with the vaccine."

What we are statistically comparing are the VAERS reports from the previous years starting in 1990 to 2020 versus the five months of reporting in 2021. You can not dispute the fact that, unless you believe the medical professions have conspired to render the VAERS data useless, potentially scare the public and bolster the Anti-Vaxers, something very unusual is going on with these vaccines. More potentially related deaths have been reported in 2021 then in ALL the previous years combined. At the current rate VAERS will probably report 10,000 potentially related Covid-19 vaccine deaths in 2021. So please explain to me how anything I have written about this subject, other than what I have already confessed, is misinformation, absurd, false or a conspiracy theory.

FWAlum, I appreciate your passion. You've confessed the first inaccuracy of the prior post, specifically the statement that those deaths were directly caused by the vaccine and not something else. The misinformation is to continue allege, without proof, that there will be a large number of deaths "potentially related" to the COVID-19 vaccine and to insinuate that the vaccine was the cause of the deaths.

Looking through the database, there are many cases of deaths of individuals who were vaccinated. If you start looking at the cases, there are many like the three first cases I specifically called out, where people died after being vaccinated yet the vaccine did not have time to protect them from COVID. In another case, a 61 year old man was in hospice for terminal lung cancer, and died after being vaccinated, the cancer is likely more a cause of death than the vaccine. I could go on and on with similar cases, yet hopefully the point is clear that just because there is an entry in the database it does not mean there is a direct correlation.

What is unusual is that we have a global pandemic, and to date 174 million people vaccinated in the last six months in the USA. The good news of the vaccine database is that these accounts are being recorded for further study and analysis.

[valpopal]

We can debate the merits of vaccines for young people, yet we should do so with facts and not false conspiracy theories.

One of the most dramatic revelations and damaging situations of the past few years has been the suppression of speech by the mass media (major newspapers, networks, social media platforms) in cooperation with scientists and politicians covering up or claiming opposing positions as "false conspiracy theories," especially in relation to China's involvement and the origins of the virus in Wuhan. Time after time, what the media censored and called conspiracy theories in this topic and in numerous other issues have proven to be true, so much so that the automatic response by many has been shifted to a default view that "if the major media says it or suppresses it, the media are lying."


[tweet]1404781074581016578[/tweet] 

[vu72]

Let's see...5888 deaths divided by the vaccinated total of 174,000,000 =  .00003384.  That's a lot of zeros!

[vu72]

Back to the original topic--FOCUS 1 is underway.  Do we have any indication how the class number is shaping up?

[crusadermoe]

Anyone?.....  Anyone?.....     Bueller?....  Bueller?....

[vu72]

President Padilla starts his town halls tomorrow so we should know more shortly--at least an indication as to direction.

[valpo tundra]

There are about 630 students ready to go for the Fall.  President Padilla is not happy with those numbers but he is very high on the VP for Enrollment.  He started at a strange time, less than two months ago, and won't move here till mid September so we won't know his true value until next school year.  Brian O'Rourke will have his work cut out for him but let's hope for the best.

[crusader05]

I believe that 630 number is for undergraduates only with transfers it's around 750 total but I believe the magic number overall is them wanting to see around 800/850 to have a stable and reliable enrollment. In the alum townhall I listened too he mentioned that classes of 1000 probably won't be what they shoot for in the future to avoid peaks and valleys of recruiting.  I got the vibe that he is firmly in the it's better to be slightly smaller but extremely stable than slightly larger but living and dying by enrollment to this degree.

[DuneHwx]

While I'm sure these numbers aren't what they were hoping for, I think they are actually pretty decent given the environment and staff challenges they were working with.

[bbtds]

While I'm sure these numbers aren't what they were hoping for, I think they are actually pretty decent given the environment and staff challenges they were working with.

I think you are having a little "premature pronunciation" with that poster name there.   

[crusadermoe]

Wondering if Dunehxs works for the university.  If you set the bar low enough you are more likely to clear it.   

[DuneHwx]

Haha, nope I don't work for the university. I just know the landscape is tough for all private schools. And I have no insider info with the  user name, just thought it would seem either appropriate or hilarious when they pick something else.

[bbtds]

Haha, nope I don't work for the university. I just know the landscape is tough for all private schools. And I have no insider info with the  user name, just thought it would seem either appropriate or hilarious when they pick something else.

I'm hearing that it will be Dunehawks but there is certainly nothing confirmed.

[NotBryceDrew]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Today we officially welcome new students with our annual Opening Convocation! Our incoming class includes 180 graduate students who represent 11 states and 5 countries and more than 750 freshmen and transfer students from more than 30 states and 18 countries. pic.twitter.com/lm7eg3Jt9D</p>&mdash; Valparaiso University (@ValpoU) August 24, 2021 <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Seems ok all things considered. Need solid improvement next year.

[vu72]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Today we officially welcome new students with our annual Opening Convocation! Our incoming class includes 180 graduate students who represent 11 states and 5 countries and more than 750 freshmen and transfer students from more than 30 states and 18 countries. pic.twitter.com/lm7eg3Jt9D</p>&mdash; Valparaiso University (@ValpoU) August 24, 2021

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Seems ok all things considered. Need solid improvement next year.

Agreed. It will only get better with new leadership. Trivia for the day: how many states are represented by just the football team and by athletes overall?  Answer: 27 and 31.  Seems the athletic coaches are bette recruiters than the recruiters! 

[Just Sayin]

From the Wall Street Journal:

At the close of the 2020-21 academic year, women made up 59.5% of college students, an all-time high, and men 40.5%, according to enrollment data from the National Student Clearinghouse, a nonprofit research group. U.S. colleges and universities had 1.5 million fewer students compared with five years ago, and men accounted for 71% of the decline.

Why?

[vu72]

From the Wall Street Journal:

At the close of the 2020-21 academic year, women made up 59.5% of college students, an all-time high, and men 40.5%, according to enrollment data from the National Student Clearinghouse, a nonprofit research group. U.S. colleges and universities had 1.5 million fewer students compared with five years ago, and men accounted for 71% of the decline.

Why?

From the Atlantic (in part):

The most severe implications, I suspect, will be cultural and political. The U.S. electorate is already polarized by college and gender: Women and college graduates strongly favor Democrats, while men and people without college degrees lean Republican. Those divisions seem likely to worsen if the parties' attitudes toward each other calcify into gender stereotypes. "My biggest worry is that by the time policy makers realize that gender inequality in college is a problem, we'll have hit a point where college will seem deeply effeminate to some men in a way that will be hard to undo," Reeves said. "That's why we need both parties to offer a positive vision of college and a positive vision of masculinity. If male identity is seen, by some, as being at odds with education, that's a problem for the whole country."

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/09/young-men-college-decline-gender-gap-higher-education/620066/

[tjjvalpo]

As our aging workforce retires, there more and more opportunities for jobs without a traditional post high school education. All the trades are short on workers, as well as other jobs. Although many of these jobs need training, they typically aren't classified as college education. I think there is also a lot of bias still in these jobs towards men. The other factor that alot of jobs are just looking for minimal secondary education and young adults kind find jobs. Machinist is one of them, most will only attend school for a year or less and can find a job making $45 to $50k per year. Engineers with 4 year degree are only making $55 to 60k, along with a 6 figure debt.

[wh]

With all the controversy about the COVID vaccine, I'm wondering how much the university's COVID vaccine mandate affected enrollment. I think it would be naive to think it had no impact, or even that it had only negligible impact.

I'm not looking to regurgitate the vaccine debate. I know all the arguments. I'm also not questioning the university's decision to mandate vaccinations for everyone. It's a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation with critics on both sides, meaning it's impossible to come out unscathed. I'm merely suggesting that this year's enrollment numbers may not be indicative of any normal consideration - demographic shifts, Lutheran participation, student debt, value, school image, etc.

[vu72]

With all the controversy about the COVID vaccine, I'm wondering how much the university's COVID vaccine mandate affected enrollment. I think it would be naive to think it had no impact, or even that it had only negligible impact.

I'm not looking to regurgitate the vaccine debate. I know all the arguments. I'm also not questioning the university's decision to mandate vaccinations for everyone. It's a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation with critics on both sides, meaning it's impossible to come out unscathed. I'm merely suggesting that this year's enrollment numbers may not be representative of any normal consideration - demographic shifts, Lutheran participation, student debt, value, school image, etc.

Well said. No doubt virtually all universities and colleges have been hit in some way by the pandemic. To his credit, and no doubt, why he was hired to begin with, he is decisive and a no BS kind of guy.  He made the call, right or wrong.  As perhaps his first decision was to fire the director of enrollment, I would expect similar actions if people aren't living up to expectations.  It's an "all hands on deck" moment for Valpo and that includes those in coaching or teaching positions.

[FWalum]

A little tidbit from Fort Wayne. A billboard advertising Valpo has gone up on I69 mile marker 311 recently. I will get a picture in the near future. That is the second billboard I have now seen on I69, one around Angola and now Fort Wayne.