Forever Valpo Fundraising Campaign

[valpo95]

He was such an orator.  Someone on the board a few posts back found the impressive quote below. It would be great to see the context.

"IT IS THIS great fundamental FACT in which the Christian university...." 

What is the FACT that is the antecedent to the pronoun "it"?  Or would we prefer not to ask?

The quote was from the third paragraph of Dr. Kretzmann's address. Immediately preceding it was the following:

"The Almighty is not yet on the side of the strongest battalions. He may not balance the scales of history every day, but when He does, the weight of the Universe is on the side of truth and mercy and justice and faith and hope and love. It is much too late in the time of man for God to forget these now."

[crusadermoe]

Yep.  Thought so.

Also consider the University motto:  "In THY light we see light."   Who is THY?

Anyone interested in that topic could read "The Dying of the Light: The Disengagement of Colleges and Universities from Their Christian Churches" (1998) by James Tunstead Burtchaell. Harvard led the parade that keeps getting longer.   

Another source of interest might be the book of Joshua: "Choose this day whom you will serve."  Some candidates for VU President were drummed out of town.

[David81]

I sense some nostalgia for a return to O.P.'s vision of a more Christian & Lutheran Valpo. And it's very possible to read some of O.P.'s words and imagine a return to a more "small c" conservative version of the university.

However, it may be worth pointing out that O.P. regarded himself as being fairly cosmopolitan, having grown up in the melting pot of New York City and done his fair share of traveling. Relative to his times, O.P.'s version of Christianity in practice favored inclusion, including a position of racial acceptance grounded in faith. He also was a strong advocate for the liberal arts and humanities. The creation of Christ College was the capstone of his presidential tenure.

These qualities appear quite clearly in Richard Baepler's history of VU (Flame of Faith, Lamp of Learning) and his biography of Kretzmann (Keeper of the Dream).

[historyman]

I sense some nostalgia for a return to O.P.'s vision of a more Christian & Lutheran Valpo. And it's very possible to read some of O.P.'s words and imagine a return to a more "small c" conservative version of the university.

However, it may be worth pointing out that O.P. regarded himself as being fairly cosmopolitan, having grown up in the melting pot of New York City and done his fair share of traveling. Relative to his times, O.P.'s version of Christianity in practice favored inclusion, including a position of racial acceptance grounded in faith. He also was a strong advocate for the liberal arts and humanities. The creation of Christ College was the capstone of his presidential tenure.

These qualities appear quite clearly in Richard Baepler's history of VU (Flame of Faith, Lamp of Learning) and his biography of Kretzmann (Keeper of the Dream).

Time for me to invoke some personal history. Dr. Baepler's son was my best man at my wedding and my father was "involved in helping" Dick Baepler write his VU history book.

https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/baepler-paul-1961

[David81]

I sense some nostalgia for a return to O.P.'s vision of a more Christian & Lutheran Valpo. And it's very possible to read some of O.P.'s words and imagine a return to a more "small c" conservative version of the university.

However, it may be worth pointing out that O.P. regarded himself as being fairly cosmopolitan, having grown up in the melting pot of New York City and done his fair share of traveling. Relative to his times, O.P.'s version of Christianity in practice favored inclusion, including a position of racial acceptance grounded in faith. He also was a strong advocate for the liberal arts and humanities. The creation of Christ College was the capstone of his presidential tenure.

These qualities appear quite clearly in Richard Baepler's history of VU (Flame of Faith, Lamp of Learning) and his biography of Kretzmann (Keeper of the Dream).

Time for me to invoke some personal history. Dr. Baepler's son was my best man at my wedding and my father was "involved in helping" Dick Baepler write his VU history book.

https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/baepler-paul-1961

That's wonderful!

I've read or at least dipped into dozens of histories of colleges and universities, and I regard Baepler's history of VU to be among the top of the category. It is a well-crafted narrative, rich in detail, and willing to proffer some opinion and interpretation. It shows an obvious affection for VU, without dodging the more difficult and challenging episodes in its history. And, unlike so many books of this type, he actually gets into stream of everyday life for students and faculty at the university, rather than making it a dull, bird's eye view tale of presidents, deans, and trustees.

I got to know him a bit when I interviewed him several times for The Torch. When his book came out, I emailed the sentiments above to him and received a warm and friendly response. When I spent part of a research sabbatical at VU back in 2016, I reached out to him and invited him to lunch, and we had an enjoyable conversation. It was there that I learned he was completing a book about O.P. Kretzmann, and I would later receive a copy of it.

I regret that I had missed his passing, which came early during the pandemic. I regard him as an exceptional individual.

[historyman]

I sense some nostalgia for a return to O.P.'s vision of a more Christian & Lutheran Valpo. And it's very possible to read some of O.P.'s words and imagine a return to a more "small c" conservative version of the university.

However, it may be worth pointing out that O.P. regarded himself as being fairly cosmopolitan, having grown up in the melting pot of New York City and done his fair share of traveling. Relative to his times, O.P.'s version of Christianity in practice favored inclusion, including a position of racial acceptance grounded in faith. He also was a strong advocate for the liberal arts and humanities. The creation of Christ College was the capstone of his presidential tenure.

These qualities appear quite clearly in Richard Baepler's history of VU (Flame of Faith, Lamp of Learning) and his biography of Kretzmann (Keeper of the Dream).

Time for me to invoke some personal history. Dr. Baepler's son was my best man at my wedding and my father was "involved in helping" Dick Baepler write his VU history book.

https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/baepler-paul-1961

That's wonderful!

I've read or at least dipped into dozens of histories of colleges and universities, and I regard Baepler's history of VU to be among the top of the category. It is a well-crafted narrative, rich in detail, and willing to proffer some opinion and interpretation. It shows an obvious affection for VU, without dodging the more difficult and challenging episodes in its history. And, unlike so many books of this type, he actually gets into stream of everyday life for students and faculty at the university, rather than making it a dull, bird's eye view tale of presidents, deans, and trustees.

I got to know him a bit when I interviewed him several times for The Torch. When his book came out, I emailed the sentiments above to him and received a warm and friendly response. When I spent part of a research sabbatical at VU back in 2016, I reached out to him and invited him to lunch, and we had an enjoyable conversation. It was there that I learned he was completing a book about O.P. Kretzmann, and I would later receive a copy of it.

I regret that I had missed his passing, which came early during the pandemic. I regard him as an exceptional individual.

There was a memorial service later at the Chapel but his funeral service was only attended by Paul, Danielle (Paul's sister), Danielle's husband and the pastor. Covid was/is tough during these times.

[historyman]

Kretzman's vision doesn't have to mean the sort of stereotypical packaging of Christianity in America.

In the late 2010s there a swell of new hires from Ivies, Ivy-pluses and other R1 schools who were pretty serious Christians but from all across the political and cultural spectrums... some more liberal leaning and some more conservative-leaning white Christian faculty, and some more liberal and some more conservative leaning faculty from Black/Asian/other minoritized group backgrounds in the liberal arts. Most of them are gone now, including most the ethnic-minority-but-theologically-conservative-evangelicals and Catholics... so I think the remaining university is mostly more White and secular at the moment just because of all the COVID employment upheaval.  But still, it showed that to be a "Christian" or "Lutheran" university doesn't necessarily mean WASP university. Valpo has had moments where there was more internal diversity among committed Christians trying to think carefully and live generously in this crazy world, and it could happen again. From my reading of him, I think Kretzman would have delighted in that. He wanted students to wrestle with the whole 'faith and reason' thing not in a vacuum but in the real and culturally complicated world.

Admittedly, Padilla is more a laywer/businessman than any sort of philosopher of education... he seems to put some priority on faith/justice sort of talk (he's into the homeless Jesus statue) and in focusing on becoming a Hispanic serving institution, but it is still yet to be seen what that all will look like. I'll be curious to see how the religious/demographic identity stuff plays out. I suppose it would be interesting proposition to become a Latino/a (Protestant?) university in northwest Indiana. To me that seems kind of a hard sell, and I admit I would have thought it would have been easier to just encourage/support the historic Black Christian communities in the Region in coming and staying at Valpo. But it probably doesn't make sense anymore with most the Black faculty laid off or recently left, nobody much left to mentor such students. So maybe the pivot to Hispanic serving is actually more viable, since there is still a Spanish program and some Spanish-speaking faculty? I'm sure the uni must be doing lots of demographic research on the Latino/a communities in Chicago to aim for enrollment draws there or they wouldn't be prioritizing the Hispanic-serving designation and funding so much. St. T's Catholic campus ministry does well in supporting the various midwestern or immigrant Hispanic and Asian Catholic studetns at Valpo. Or maybe hopefully the German/Scandinavian Lutherans will start having more babies again and we'll see them showing up in about 18 years, which would also help Valpo a lot.

Everybody have more babies!!! So much of all this identity stuff is really not anything a college leadership can control, but just depends on birth rates.

I knew it all came down to having more sex, of course, with someone of the oppo sex that you can legally procreate with. 

[78crusader]

VU is full of smart people, smarter than me, but when it comes to enrollment strategy and overall vision for the University, I question their wisdom.

For years now they have tried to be all things to all people - to water down our Christian heritage in the hopes of casting a wider net for prospective students (and their parents).

It hasn't worked.

I don't know how anyone can argue that point.

Has anyone noticed the more VU embraces a progressive/woke culture, the more difficulty it has in getting students to come here?

Some of you probably received the Alumni Survey recently.  It spoke volumes to me since there was maybe one question about faith in the whole thing.  Maybe two, I haven't studied it thoroughly. That's it.  From a place that boasts the largest collegiate chapel in the United States, as if that really means anything.

It is a lose/lose approach.  The progressive ideology turns off many of the kids who come from conservative backgrounds.  And VU's reputation (fading, unfortunately) as a faith-based school, which to many means an overall conservative philosophy, doesn't play well in many cases for the more progressive student.

If you try to please everyone, you wind up pleasing no one.  How hard is that to understand? Don't the enrollment numbers and other difficulties of the past 5 years say anything to the folks who run this place?

Fortunately - for now - we are no worse off, and in some cases better off, than many of our peer institutions.  But that won't be the case for long if we continue down the path we've been on.  Consider the last 5 years: Law school closing. Enrollment issues.  Layoffs. Sued by the Indiana Attorney General for operating the Confucius Institute (at a time when many schools had, wisely, eliminated that program). A fire that wrecked the Art-Psychology building. 

For the last several years I have avoided reading any news article that contained "Valparaiso University" in its headline for the simple reason that I was sure the article would be bad for VU. We can't afford any more negative PR. I can't google VU since I'm afraid all I'll see will be negative headlines/news stories. Imagine what a prospective student sees when they google VU.

Scoff if you want, but I don't consider these to be coincidences or a bunch of random events.  I think the University has lost God's protection and provision by straying off course. Let me finish up by quoting Jim McCormick, VP of Colorado Christian College, which has seen (as has many other Christian schools) an dramatic increase in enrollment over the last several years:

"I really believe that a lot of parents out there who decide that they want to pay for Christian college have realized that a lot of Christian colleges have left their moorings...They're not going to pay private school Christian education tuition to a school that's wandering in their mission and is not as Christ-centered as they used to be....as we strengthened our core of who we were...our enrollment started to go up... you can be more niche-oriented and actually grow."

Paul

[David81]

...Fortunately - for now - we are no worse off, and in some cases better off, than many of our peer institutions.  But that won't be the case for long if we continue down the path we've been on.  Consider the last 5 years: Law school closing. Enrollment issues.  Layoffs. Sued by the Indiana Attorney General for operating the Confucius Institute (at a time when many schools had, wisely, eliminated that program). A fire that wrecked the Art-Psychology building. 

For the last several years I have avoided reading any news article that contained "Valparaiso University" in its headline for the simple reason that I was sure the article would be bad for VU. We can't afford any more negative PR. I can't google VU since I'm afraid all I'll see will be negative headlines/news stories. Imagine what a prospective student sees when they google VU.

Scoff if you want, but I don't consider these to be coincidences or a bunch of random events.  I think the University has lost God's protection and provision by straying off course. Let me finish up by quoting Jim McCormick, VP of Colorado Christian College, which has seen (as has many other Christian schools) an dramatic increase in enrollment over the last several years:

"I really believe that a lot of parents out there who decide that they want to pay for Christian college have realized that a lot of Christian colleges have left their moorings...They're not going to pay private school Christian education tuition to a school that's wandering in their mission and is not as Christ-centered as they used to be....as we strengthened our core of who we were...our enrollment started to go up... you can be more niche-oriented and actually grow."

Paul

Well....do you really want to use the President of Colorado Christian University, a school with a required lifestyle "covenant" and mandated chapel attendance, and an institution not even close to VU in terms of legacy, reputation, and financial resources, to make your case for how to increase enrollment? CCU is a niche school that will appeal to evangelical Christians. VU is a more cosmopolitan institution and, at least, since the Kretzmann years, has always sought to be more worldly in terms of its appeal. It's presumably in a much better financial position than CCU. Among other things, CCU's 2019 endowment was listed at a paltry $4.85 million. (Yes, the decimal point comes right after the 4.)

I just Googled "Valparaiso University" and didn't come up with the parade of horribles you mention. Part of it may be due to location; I'm in Boston, and I'm guessing the algorithms take location into account. But more to the point, VU's recent negative events mimic those of so many other mid-range, regional universities that they're hardly "news." Layoffs, program closures, department closings, you name it, have been pretty much SOP for hundreds of schools across the country.

And believe me, anyone who goes to VU's website and spends a few minutes clicking around is not going to confuse it with Grinnell or Oberlin or Macalester or any other smaller, midwestern schools known for leaning left. VU's street rep is clearly that of a more traditional, conservative leaning school with a pronounced faith tradition. Anyone who reads up on potential schools to attend will figure that out pretty quickly.

Folks, in terms of the applicant pool, it's mainly numbers and finances, with perhaps a dollop of social/political leanings. Gen Z is more liberal than some of its predecessors, but that isn't all controlling in terms of enrollment. But a smaller pool of traditional-age college applicants and fierce competition in terms of financial aid are strongly shaping the game.

[78crusader]

David81 -

As usual, you make excellent points.

One thing to consider - with all the drawbacks of a small school with a tiny endowment and a reputation that, as you point out, doesn't measure up in any way to VU, CCU still had a freshman enrollment of 500 in 2021 - a increase from previous years, despite the tough environment that all private universities find themselves in. That isn't VU freshman class size, but closer than the endowment numbers, legacy and reputation differences would suggest. They must be doing something right.

Paul

[vu72]

that the retention rate for minority students in Engineering is abysmal, etc.

Does this mean that they are discriminated against or ostracized or does it mean that Valpo provides a challenging academic environment that everyone isn't cut out for?

[usc4valpo]

My daughter is currently college searching and wants to major in Chemical/biomedical Engineering. Her GPA is above 4.0, and has lots of activities and leadership and fellowship. Her biggest need is a great STEM program without breaking the bank. So far Rice is her number one choice, but the competition and acceptance rate is against her. She is also looking at Iowa State (in-state tuition), Texas A&M, Northwestern and USC.

IMO, Valpo should invest more in STEM education to stay competitive.

[vu84v2]

There is much to unpack in these recent posts.

First, I am from the midwest and did a standard search and a news search on Valparaiso University using Google. No negatives on standard search. Potential negatives on Google News search: a former law school student and US Rep. charged with insider trading and a former undergrad convicted of felonies...along with the aforementioned Confucious Institute and mascot name change issues.

78Crusader: You seem to argue that there are two ideological choices associated with Valparaiso University and its strategies – either be completely secular with no religious emphasis or completely embrace a religious identity to create a Christian-focused homogenous environment. Further, you argue that the latter is the only way to increase enrollment and use a single case (CCU) to justify your position. This is a false argument in that it dismisses the range of available options. Many Christian affiliated universities offer an environment where students can choose to participate in a rich religiously-oriented environment – but that it is each student's choice and they can also choose little or no engagement with religiously-oriented activities. They are also welcome to pursue activities associated with their own religious beliefs–Christian or non-Christian.  In other words, the university's mission supersedes the dogma. The model that best represents this is the one followed by Catholic Jesuit universities and I believe that this is the model that Valparaiso attempts to follow (and should follow). I teach at one of these Jesuit universities and our incoming Freshman class is up about 15% from 2020 and 2021 (I think Loyola has similar numbers - not to say that these few datapoints provide justification for my position, just that you can almost always find a few datapoints that are consistent with an argument). A second pragmatic issue associated with this topic is that Valparaiso University is likely to significantly lose donors if it attempts to implement a homogenous ideological environment. This is not associated just with future donations, but it is also associated with donations pledged that are part of the endowment. If you think about the ideological spectrum of donors, there would probably be minimal increases from those who desire Valparaiso follow a more homogenous ideological environment - but donors towards the other end of the spectrum may discontinue any donations (including those that comprise the endowment)

[vu84v2]

My daughter is currently college searching and wants to major in Chemical/biomedical Engineering. Her GPA is above 4.0, and has lots of activities and leadership and fellowship. Her biggest need is a great STEM program without breaking the bank. So far Rice is her number one choice, but the competition and acceptance rate is against her. She is also looking at Iowa State (in-state tuition), Texas A&M, Northwestern and USC.

IMO, Valpo should invest more in STEM education to stay competitive.

While Valpo will never offer the same level of facilities and research as the universities you list, I would say that Valpo's investment in STEM (especially engineering) has been greater than a majority of its peers (universities with engineering programs who do not have PhD programs). Further, its greatest strengths lie in its faculty and their ability to work effectively with undergraduate students. I know that college choices are based on many factors and only your daughter can choose what is right for her, but I encourage you to reach out to the new Dean of the College of Engineering (Doug Tougaw). He is a great leader and advocate for the College of Engineering, but will also provide an honest assessment of how the College may or may not meet your daughter's objectives (note, he may also delegate this - but I am sure you would get similar candid feedback).

[crusader05]

Yeah the most recent academic buildings are all dedicated to the sciences with the brand new Science building with all new updated lab space, the addition of a cadaver lab and forensic science classes and all of the additions to engineering including a space that I believe was just built this year.

Engineering has a ton of resources and unique experiences, including the Solar furnace and the addition of lab space and materials for bio engineering and other majors.

[vu72]

My daughter is currently college searching and wants to major in Chemical/biomedical Engineering. Her GPA is above 4.0, and has lots of activities and leadership and fellowship. Her biggest need is a great STEM program without breaking the bank. So far Rice is her number one choice, but the competition and acceptance rate is against her. She is also looking at Iowa State (in-state tuition), Texas A&M, Northwestern and USC.

IMO, Valpo should invest more in STEM education to stay competitive.

Hmmm. When was the last time you were on campus?  The brand new Bio/Chem building?  The Fites addition to Gellerson, the brand new bio-engineering addition to Gellerson, The only undergraduate Solar furnace in the nation, a pre-med program with an over 80% acceptance  rate to med school, a cadaver lab (I'm told this is very rare at Undergrad schools)  I think Valpo is doing just fine in this area.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnzXPbsihsY

[usc4valpo]

ok, we will have to check on this. She really likes Rice, but that will be a stretch.

[David81]

As much as I really don't like to give too much credence to the US News rankings, the fact is that VU's engineering school has done well in those rankings. While I'm sure there's more that could be done to support STEM programs, VU is pretty solid in that regard.

In fact, VU is pretty solid across the board when it comes to undergraduate education. I regret that US News (here we go again) reclassified VU several years ago, taking it out of the more appropriate regional university category in which it more than held its own. Its current rankings category obscures the high quality of undergraduate instruction at the school.

The only major unit of the school that struggled in the US News rankings was the Law School, in some cases due to circumstances beyond its control. Nevertheless, in the years preceding the 2008 recession, it was out punching its weight in terms of placing graduates in sought-after legal positions.

It does come down to costs for many. Let's say you're a high school senior from a middle class background with very respectable grades, test scores, and other credentials. Not a superstar, but very solid. You also happen to be a Protestant who regularly attends church, perhaps even a Lutheran one. Let's further suppose that, all things being equal, you'd prefer a more modestly sized campus setting with a faith tradition. But along comes Flagship State U with name recognition and a decent scholarship package. From a cost standpoint alone, VU already is playing catch-up ball, as it can't give a ton of $$$ to a strong but not super duper applicant without extraordinary financial need.

[usc4valpo]

Valpo is doing well in STEM and it's a strength. Make it even stronger with more commitment. At least that's how the Strength Finders philosophy works.

My daughter is actually looking for a bigger school and church affiliation is not a factor in her decision. I doubt Valpo is the right fit, which is ok. Valpo cannot meet everyone's needs.

[David81]

David81 -

As usual, you make excellent points.

One thing to consider - with all the drawbacks of a small school with a tiny endowment and a reputation that, as you point out, doesn't measure up in any way to VU, CCU still had a freshman enrollment of 500 in 2021 - a increase from previous years, despite the tough environment that all private universities find themselves in. That isn't VU freshman class size, but closer than the endowment numbers, legacy and reputation differences would suggest. They must be doing something right.

Paul

Paul, yes, it does seem like Colorado Christian University is doing well on the student recruitment side.

In some ways it's easier for a more narrowly defined niche school to go after its obvious constituency. VU is different. It seeks to excel at both liberal arts and vocational/professional training. If it gives up one or the other, it becomes severely diminished -- and also stands to lose a megaton of alumni support.

VU also seeks to hold true to its Lutheran heritage while being a welcoming place to those of other faith traditions and varied demographic groups. I'm all for that, too. The VU of my day (77-81) was not all that diverse -- and I'm not talking by modern "DEI" or woke standards, I mean it was downright homogeneous.

I see nothing wrong with a school that tries to balance these elements, however precariously. In fact, I see it as a strength in terms of what a university should offer its students. But in an age where the extremes sometimes win the argument, that balance isn't fully appreciated right now. I hope that VU can get the blend right, while filling its classes with students who will be happy there.

[valpo95]

There are many good and thoughtful comments with respect to VU's choices and strategy. I agree that it is not necessary to have an either/or approach. (Similarly, I also argued that VU did a terrible job messaging with the departure of the previous mascot - the interim president and the student body president in particular made it seem like anyone who had any affinity for the old mascot was a racist dinosaur. There should have been an embrace and recognition of all of good memories and traditions from the old mascot even with an acknowledgment of the new. Yet I digress.)

One thing that has changed is that the leadership (and Presidents) in particular have moved in other directions.

President Harre was an ordained LCMS pastor, and all previous presidents were also ordained LCMS pastors. President Harre also had deep ties to the LCMS and the Concordia University System. In addition, President Harre hired Bill Karpenko to be Director of Church Relations at VU. Karpenko had been head of the Director of Christian Education (DCE) program at Concordia Nebraska and deeply engaged with the entire LCMS DCE program. So, if a young person at an LCMS congregation talked to their pastor or DCE about Valpo, those individuals would probably have positive (or at least neutral) things to say about VU.

President Heckler was the first non-ordained President of VU, and his background was ELCA. He also seemed to make the university more secular. President Padilla is Catholic, though thankfully seems to be serious about his faith. What is clear is the fraction of Lutheran undergrads (and LCMS students in particular) has fallen off a cliff after President Harre.

[crusader05]

As with the law school. The detachment of the LCMS from Valpo was happening, or at least beginning, during Harre's time as well.

I knew several Lutheran Students who had indicated that their LCMS members did not consider Valpo a true Lutheran University like the Concordia's. There was also a huge pushback after 9/11 when a multi faith service was held in the chapel. There were already a large amount of Catholic Students attending Valpo at that time as well.

[David81]

I think that Valpo's invocation of values -- which definitely can include, but doesn't necessary equate with, faith -- has a broader appeal that can include people of different social, political, and religious beliefs. This isn't a purely "liberal arts" thing either, as exemplified by a wonderful journal the College of Business has successfully published for many years now, the Journal of Values-Based Leadership:
https://scholar.valpo.edu/jvbl/

Hopefully the right messaging can attract the kinds of students who gravitate towards thinking about the bigger picture, regardless of their individual paths and belief systems.

[valpotx]

I've said it before, but my generation and younger are much less religious than prior generations.  I read recently that 28% of folks 40 and younger now consider themselves as unaffiliated/not religious.  This trend will only continue among the youth, so putting your stock in being a highly religious institution, will not provide long-term stability.

[historyman]

The true colors of the Indiana AG, Todd Rokita, are showing up with a very ugly head.


https://www.wfyi.org/news/articles/rokita-under-investigation-by-state-disciplinary-commission-according-to-attorney-petition

Rokita under investigation by state Disciplinary Commission, according to attorney petition




https://www.wfyi.org/news/articles/rokita-under-investigation-by-state-disciplinary-commission-according-to-attorney-petition