Valparaiso University
Encyclopedia
Valparaiso University, known colloquially as Valpo, is a regionally accredited
private university
located in the city of Valparaiso
in the U.S. state
of Indiana
. Founded in 1859, it consists of five undergraduate colleges, a graduate school
, a nursing school
and a law school
. Valparaiso University is owned and operated by the Lutheran University Association, a non-profit corporation, and is the largest independent Lutheran university in the United States
. It is also home to the second largest collegiate chapel in the world, the Chapel of the Resurrection.
and the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore
. The 320 acres (129.5 ha) campus as well as its main entrance are located off U.S. Highway 30 on the south side of the city and is the site of over sixty buildings and a number of academic resources.
The Old Campus of Valparaiso University is both adjacent to and a part of the historic downtown district of the city. Old Campus is the site of the School of Law
, which is made up of Wesemann Hall and Heritage Hall
. Heritage was the oldest remaining building on the campus, and was put on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1976. In 2009, the school started a restoration project, only to tear the building down and then rebuild it. The school's fraternities, the Martin Luther King Cultural Center, and the Kade-Duesenberg German House and Cultural Center
are all also located in old campus. Old Campus is also the site of Valpo's Doppler
weather radar
. Located north of Old Campus is the College of Nursing, whose students use SIMMAN, a robotic patient simulator used to train students in real life treatment to better serve their education.
, a 98 feet (30 m) high building which is the home of Valparaiso University's many worship services and convocations. Built on the highest elevation of land on the university's campus, it has been a Northwest Indiana
landmark since 1959.
The Neils Science Center was erected in 1974 and includes an astronomical observatory, greenhouse, and a now decommissioned sub-critical nuclear reactor which helped the facility receive an Atomic Energy Commission citation as a model undergraduate physics laboratory.
The Christopher Center
Library (built 2004) houses over 500,000 books and numerous video and audio resources. It is a popular place for students to gather and study.
The Valparaiso University Center for the Arts (VUCA) offers multiple performance facilities, which are most notably used by students to produce full scale theatrical performances every year. The performances and exhibits in the Center for the Arts are always open to the public, and the Center houses the nationally renowned Brauer Museum of Art
.
Kallay-Christopher Hall is home to the Department of Geography and Meteorology. Kallay-Christopher has an observation deck and large weather lab facilities. Adjoining Kallay-Christopher Hall is Schnabel Hall, which is home to communications students and WVUR-FM
, the university's student-run radio station.
The College of Engineering has both a 16 inches (406 mm) computerized reflecting telescope
to aid in NASA
research and VisBox-X2, a virtual reality
system used to immerse students in a visualized three dimensional
image. The College of Engineering building, Gellersen Hall, is currently undergoing expansion, which is expected to be completed during the summer of 2011.
Building projects at Valparaiso University are funded entirely by donation. The university also receives no support for operation from the state or federal government.
The most notable construction project on campus is the construction of the 202000 sq ft (18,766.4 m²), $74 million new student Union, named in honor of University President Alan F. Harre, who retired in June 2008. It opened in January 2009. The new union is more than 3 times the size of the previous union, and has consolidated all dining services on campus. It has room for all student organizations on campus, as well as a new bookstore, lounge areas, student mailboxes for every student on campus, entertainment areas, a large ballroom (capable of seating 500 for a dinner or 1000 for an auditorium setting), a moon bounce, a career center, and an outdoor terrace overlooking the Chapel.
The design architect was Sasaki Associates, Inc. and the architect of record was Design Organization.
Plans have also been made to expand upon the south end of the Gellersen Hall, where the College of Engineering is located. Construction began in March 2010, and is expected to be completed by August 2011. The $13 million project will cover approximately 13500 square feet (1,254.2 m²) and include additional laboratory and learning spaces for Valparaiso's undergraduate engineering students.
The Christ College was chartered by President O.P. Kretzmann in 1967 as the Honors College of Valparaiso University. Centered in Mueller Hall, it is the successor to the Directed Studies Program, which was established to better serve the influx of gifted students to the institution. Roughly 80 students, or ten percent of the class, are admitted each year. Along with concurrent enrollment in a fundamental college, the discourse provides immersion in the fields of history, literature, art, music, philosophy, religion and social science. A student steering committee composed of upperclassmen guides the development of the program and a multitude of annual events. The Student Scholarship Symposium features diverse, student selected research projects delivered in a critical and interactive environment. Students have the option to complete their study with either a major or minor in humanities
to complement that received in their main field of study.
Valparaiso also has a School of Law
which had an enrollment of 575 students in the Fall of 2010.
named Valparaiso University as #3 in the Universities-Master's category for the Midwest in its annual rankings of "America's Best Colleges." It also ranked Valparaiso among the "Best College Values" based on a ratio of price to quality, and placed the College of Engineering in the nation's top 25 undergraduate-only engineering schools. Over ninety-five percent of graduates secure employment or further education (twenty-three percent) within six months. More than ninety percent of students receive financial aid totaling over fifty-two million dollars annually. Charity Navigator
also gave the institution four out of four stars based on its organizational efficiency and capacity.
Valparaiso University has not done much to become more environmentally sustainable, and was graded a "D+" on the College Sustainability Report Card in 2009.
or the highest degree in their field. Valparaiso is a teaching school where each professor lectures and every class is led by a professor, and there are very few teaching assistants at Valpo. As a result, in nearly every class professors are on a first name basis with their students. The student-to-faculty ratio is 12 to 1, and there is an average of 20 students per class.
, an interdisciplinary course rooted in liberal arts and focused on the understanding the purpose and fulfillment of human life. About a tenth of incoming freshman alternatively participate in the freshman program of Christ College, Valparaiso University's honor college. Students are also subject to an honor system
originally implemented by the students themselves in 1943 which remains in effect today. The school also puts a heavy focus on diversity. Each January, the school holds a weekend of Martin Luther King, Jr.
events as its major annual event and invite provocative and sometimes controversial key-note speakers.
(Anglia Ruskin University
); Osaka, Japan
; Reutlingen, Germany
; Puebla, Mexico
; Namibia
; Paris, France; and Hangzhou, China
(Zhejiang University
).
Two of the programs (Cambridge and Reutlingen) are exclusively Valparaiso University programs; the other programs (Cergy
, La Rochelle
, Rottenburg am Neckar
, Tübingen
, Puebla, two programs in Paris, Hangzhou, Japan, Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, College Year in Athens
, Namibia, and Granada, Spain) are offered in conjunction with host institution programs. Students studying abroad generally stay for one semester, but study in Tübingen requires the full year.
. The remaining two-thirds come from almost every other state
of the United States
and over 40 foreign countries. Over two-thirds graduate in the top quarter of their high school
class and nearly ninety percent return to Valparaiso after their freshman year. Annually, more than 26 million dollars are awarded by the university to over eighty percent of the student body, which is administered based on factors such as community involvement, interests, recommendations, and personality as well as grade point average, class ranking, and standardized test scores.
Sixty-four percent of Valparaiso University students live on the school's city campus, as University regulations require almost all students who do not have senior status to live in dorms. Thirty-five percent of students are Lutheran, but over twenty percent are Catholic
and seventy-five percent participate in faith-related activities. Valpo supports over 100 student administered organizations, clubs, and activities. Fifty percent of students participate in intramural athletics, and over 1,000 students give over 45,000 hours of community service
to the region annually.
community is coordinated by the fraternities' Interfraternity Council and sororities in the Panhellenic Council. Valparaiso also hosts chapters of all major honors fraternities. Many of the fraternities were local until the 1950s when they were accepted as chapters into national and international fraternities. However, the sororities were local and had no national affiliation until 1998. Theta Chi
was dismissed from campus in 2010.
and gold
and the school's mascot is the Crusader. Most athletic events are held in the Athletics-Recreation Center
(ARC), which is the primary sporting facility on campus. Valparaiso's eighteen teams and nearly 600 student athletes participate in NCAA
Division I (I-FCS for football
) in the Horizon League
, except for football, in which they compete in the Pioneer Football League
(the Horizon League does not sponsor football) and play at Brown Field
. The school is known for its well rounded athletes as 98% successfully graduate, which ties Valparaiso with the University of Notre Dame
for the third highest graduation rate in the country.http://www.nwitimes.com/articles/2006/05/18/news/top_news/98267903b20d5b56862571720006f55b.txt Valpo is also known for its men's basketball head coach Homer Drew
and his son Bryce Drew
, who led the team to its Sweet Sixteen appearance in the 1998 NCAA basketball tournament by making "The Shot
", a three-point shot as time expired to beat favored Ole Miss by one point. Bryce Drew was named head coach in the spring of 2011.
Valparaiso is also the home of the National Lutheran Basketball Tournament.
What is now Valparaiso University was founded by the Methodist Church in 1859 as Valparaiso Male and Female College, one of the first co-educational four-year institutions in the United States
. Citizens of Valparaiso were so supportive of the placement of the College that they raised $11,000 in early 1859 to encourage the Methodist Church to locate there.
Students paid tuition of $8 per term (three terms per year), plus nearby room and board around $2 per week. Instruction at the college actually began with young children, and most of the students were in the elementary grade levels. Courses at the collegiate level included math, literature, history, the sciences, and philosophy. Courses stressing the Christian faith included "moral philosophy" and "moral science."
The school was forced to close in 1871, due to the fallout of the Civil War
. Not only did most of the men (both students and administrative members) enroll in an army, but Indiana had passed a bill in 1867 that provided for state support for public education, and the Methodists' very broad Indiana-wide efforts toward higher education meant that none of the schools were self-sustaining. This combination proved too much to overcome for the Male and Female College.
. However, the aftermath of another conflict, World War I
, took its toll, and the school was forced into bankruptcy.
assembled a bid to purchase the university. At that time, the Pillar of Fire was publishing the pro-KKK monthly periodical The Good Citizen
. They pledged to offer the university's appraised value of $175,000, expand it to the size of Purdue University
, and devote the institution to the instilling of Americanism
. However, in 1925 the Lutheran University Association outbid the Klan for the school's ownership. The association was a group of clergy
and church laity
that saw promise in the school and wished to create an academic institution not controlled by any church denomination. Valparaiso is still operated by the Lutheran University Association, and remains an independent Lutheran
institution which enjoys close relations with the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod
and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
.
institution, Valparaiso University has a detailed history of student activism
.
Kinsey Hall fire
While many colleges either amended or canceled the remainder of the 1969-1970 school year following the Kent State shootings
due to unrest, the Valparaiso administration ignored student calls for a series of seminars and forums about violence at other campuses. A large group of students then organized a protest march from the campus Victory Bell to the Porter County
courthouse. Continued protests led to discussions between the administration and student leaders. When these talks failed, a group of still-unidentified students set fire to the empty Kinsey Hall administrative building in the early morning. The aftermath of the fire left Kinsey Hall destroyed.
Venture of Faith
The existence of Valparaiso University's current College of Engineering is the result of student activisim. The university's engineering program had been reduced to a two-year associate's degree in response to reduced enrollment during economic depression which dominated the 1930s. When students began inquiring in 1948 regarding the possibility of restoring a four-year degree program, the current university president, O.P. Kretzmann, cited a lack of space and lack of resources to build a new facility. Students responded with an offer to build the new facility if he would guarantee faculty positions, to which the President agreed. The students constructed the facility themselves using their engineering education and an intense fundraising campaign, and by 1951 the new College of Engineering was again granting four-year bachelor degrees. The building still exists today, home to the Art department. This story received national attention and was turned into a feature-length film entitled Venture of Faith.
Burning of the shanty
During the 1988-1989 school year, a mock shanty town
was erected on campus to show solidarity with victims of apartheid in South Africa
. Mike Weber and Phil Churilla, two columnists for VU's student newspaper The Torch, wrote a column critical of the protest due to student use of portable CD players, wool blankets and packaged food in the shanties. A few days later the shanty town burned down and a culprit was never found.
Valparaiso University Police Department
For campus security, Valparaiso University employs a police department with academy trained and certified officers that sometimes assist other local law enforcement as a result of reciprocal agreements.
Valpo has long been a dry campus
, but enforcement was raised dramatically in recent years, and in the spring of 2006, the VUPD began considering placing officers on the campus escort vans in an attempt to curb underage drinking. Days later a city police officer entered the Sigma Pi fraternity house with his gun drawn, believing he had witnessed drug use through a window. Though university officers only responded to the scene later, these incidents strained student-police relations further, prompting mass resignations of student drivers from the escort service and a protest of over 500 students. The protests centered on the VUPD's increased focus on alcohol consumption and new placement of police officers with student escort services.
Regional accreditation
Regional accreditation is a term used in the United States to refer to educational accreditation conducted by any of several accreditation bodies established to serve six defined geographic areas of the country for accreditation of schools, colleges, and universities...
private university
Private university
Private universities are universities not operated by governments, although many receive public subsidies, especially in the form of tax breaks and public student loans and grants. Depending on their location, private universities may be subject to government regulation. Private universities are...
located in the city of Valparaiso
Valparaiso, Indiana
Valparaiso is a city in and the county seat of Porter County, Indiana, United States. The population was 31,730 at the 2010 census, making it the 2nd largest city in Porter County.-History:...
in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
. Founded in 1859, it consists of five undergraduate colleges, a graduate school
Graduate school
A graduate school is a school that awards advanced academic degrees with the general requirement that students must have earned a previous undergraduate degree...
, a nursing school
Nursing school
A nursing school is a type of educational institution, or part thereof, providing education and training to become a fully qualified nurse. The nature of nursing education and nursing qualifications varies considerably across the world.-United Kingdom:...
and a law school
Law school
A law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- Law degrees :- Canada :...
. Valparaiso University is owned and operated by the Lutheran University Association, a non-profit corporation, and is the largest independent Lutheran university in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is also home to the second largest collegiate chapel in the world, the Chapel of the Resurrection.
Campus
Location
Valparaiso is located 54 miles southeast of downtown Chicago and is the southeasternmost suburb of the Chicago metropolitan area. It is also 15 miles (24.1 km) south of Lake MichiganLake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
and the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is a U.S. National Lakeshore located in northwest Indiana and managed by the National Park Service. It was authorized by Congress in 1966. The national lakeshore runs for nearly along the southern shore of Lake Michigan, from Gary, Indiana, on the west to Michigan...
. The 320 acres (129.5 ha) campus as well as its main entrance are located off U.S. Highway 30 on the south side of the city and is the site of over sixty buildings and a number of academic resources.
Old Campus
Valparaiso University School of Law
The Valparaiso University School of Law is located on the campus of Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana, a community located less than an hour from Chicago...
, which is made up of Wesemann Hall and Heritage Hall
Heritage Hall (Valparaiso University)
Heritage Hall is the oldest building on the campus of Valparaiso University in the U.S. state of Indiana. Erected in 1875, the building had prominent dormers and French Mansard roof. Originally named Flint Hall after the contractor that built it, but was renamed after Richard Aaron Heritage, head...
. Heritage was the oldest remaining building on the campus, and was put on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1976. In 2009, the school started a restoration project, only to tear the building down and then rebuild it. The school's fraternities, the Martin Luther King Cultural Center, and the Kade-Duesenberg German House and Cultural Center
Kade-Duesenberg German House and Cultural Center
The Kade-Duesenberg German House and Cultural Center is a residential and academic building on the campus of Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana.-Description:...
are all also located in old campus. Old Campus is also the site of Valpo's Doppler
Doppler effect
The Doppler effect , named after Austrian physicist Christian Doppler who proposed it in 1842 in Prague, is the change in frequency of a wave for an observer moving relative to the source of the wave. It is commonly heard when a vehicle sounding a siren or horn approaches, passes, and recedes from...
weather radar
Weather radar
Weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, estimate its type . Modern weather radars are mostly pulse-Doppler radars, capable of detecting the motion of rain droplets in addition to the...
. Located north of Old Campus is the College of Nursing, whose students use SIMMAN, a robotic patient simulator used to train students in real life treatment to better serve their education.
New Campus
Beginning in the 1950s, the school expanded eastward to occupy what is now known as New Campus. Today it is the primary section of the university, home to thousands of students in nine dormitories and most of the academic buildings. At the center of campus is the Chapel of the ResurrectionChapel of the Resurrection
The Chapel of the Resurrection is the centerpiece structure on the campus of Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana. It has been described as the largest collegiate chapel in the United States and the second largest collegiate chapel in the world...
, a 98 feet (30 m) high building which is the home of Valparaiso University's many worship services and convocations. Built on the highest elevation of land on the university's campus, it has been a Northwest Indiana
Northwest Indiana
Northwest Indiana, also known as the South Shore and The Calumet Region or simply The Region, comprises Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Newton and Jasper counties in Indiana. This region neighbors Lake Michigan and is part of the Chicago metropolitan area...
landmark since 1959.
The Neils Science Center was erected in 1974 and includes an astronomical observatory, greenhouse, and a now decommissioned sub-critical nuclear reactor which helped the facility receive an Atomic Energy Commission citation as a model undergraduate physics laboratory.
The Christopher Center
Christopher Center
The Christopher Center for Library and Information Resources is the newly constructed library on the campus of Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana. As the intellectual center of campus, the Christopher Center was designed to bring all campus information services to a single location while...
Library (built 2004) houses over 500,000 books and numerous video and audio resources. It is a popular place for students to gather and study.
The Valparaiso University Center for the Arts (VUCA) offers multiple performance facilities, which are most notably used by students to produce full scale theatrical performances every year. The performances and exhibits in the Center for the Arts are always open to the public, and the Center houses the nationally renowned Brauer Museum of Art
Brauer Museum of Art
The Brauer Museum of Art is home to a nationally recognized collection of 19th- and 20th-century American art, world religious art, and Midwestern regional art. It is located in the Valparaiso University Center for the Arts on the campus of Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana, USA...
.
Kallay-Christopher Hall is home to the Department of Geography and Meteorology. Kallay-Christopher has an observation deck and large weather lab facilities. Adjoining Kallay-Christopher Hall is Schnabel Hall, which is home to communications students and WVUR-FM
WVUR-FM
WVUR-FM, The Source 95 is the student-run College radio station of Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana. It broadcasts at 95.1 MHz FM.-Programming and promotion:The Source 95 is an entirely student operated variety station...
, the university's student-run radio station.
The College of Engineering has both a 16 inches (406 mm) computerized reflecting telescope
Reflecting telescope
A reflecting telescope is an optical telescope which uses a single or combination of curved mirrors that reflect light and form an image. The reflecting telescope was invented in the 17th century as an alternative to the refracting telescope which, at that time, was a design that suffered from...
to aid in NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
research and VisBox-X2, a virtual reality
Virtual reality
Virtual reality , also known as virtuality, is a term that applies to computer-simulated environments that can simulate physical presence in places in the real world, as well as in imaginary worlds...
system used to immerse students in a visualized three dimensional
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
image. The College of Engineering building, Gellersen Hall, is currently undergoing expansion, which is expected to be completed during the summer of 2011.
Improvement
The most notable construction project on campus is the construction of the 202000 sq ft (18,766.4 m²), $74 million new student Union, named in honor of University President Alan F. Harre, who retired in June 2008. It opened in January 2009. The new union is more than 3 times the size of the previous union, and has consolidated all dining services on campus. It has room for all student organizations on campus, as well as a new bookstore, lounge areas, student mailboxes for every student on campus, entertainment areas, a large ballroom (capable of seating 500 for a dinner or 1000 for an auditorium setting), a moon bounce, a career center, and an outdoor terrace overlooking the Chapel.
The design architect was Sasaki Associates, Inc. and the architect of record was Design Organization.
Plans have also been made to expand upon the south end of the Gellersen Hall, where the College of Engineering is located. Construction began in March 2010, and is expected to be completed by August 2011. The $13 million project will cover approximately 13500 square feet (1,254.2 m²) and include additional laboratory and learning spaces for Valparaiso's undergraduate engineering students.
Academics
Undergraduate
Valparaiso University is organized into five undergraduate colleges: Arts and Sciences, Business Administration, Engineering, Nursing, and Christ College.The Christ College was chartered by President O.P. Kretzmann in 1967 as the Honors College of Valparaiso University. Centered in Mueller Hall, it is the successor to the Directed Studies Program, which was established to better serve the influx of gifted students to the institution. Roughly 80 students, or ten percent of the class, are admitted each year. Along with concurrent enrollment in a fundamental college, the discourse provides immersion in the fields of history, literature, art, music, philosophy, religion and social science. A student steering committee composed of upperclassmen guides the development of the program and a multitude of annual events. The Student Scholarship Symposium features diverse, student selected research projects delivered in a critical and interactive environment. Students have the option to complete their study with either a major or minor in humanities
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
to complement that received in their main field of study.
Graduate School
Valparaiso University offers a variety of masters programs in Business, Chinese Studies, Education, English Studies & Communication, Information Technology, International Commerce, Policy, Liberal Studies, Nursing, Psychology/Counseling, International Economics and Finance, and Sports Administration.Valparaiso also has a School of Law
Valparaiso University School of Law
The Valparaiso University School of Law is located on the campus of Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana, a community located less than an hour from Chicago...
which had an enrollment of 575 students in the Fall of 2010.
Reputation
U.S. News & World ReportU.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is an American news magazine published from Washington, D.C. Along with Time and Newsweek it was for many years a leading news weekly, focusing more than its counterparts on political, economic, health and education stories...
named Valparaiso University as #3 in the Universities-Master's category for the Midwest in its annual rankings of "America's Best Colleges." It also ranked Valparaiso among the "Best College Values" based on a ratio of price to quality, and placed the College of Engineering in the nation's top 25 undergraduate-only engineering schools. Over ninety-five percent of graduates secure employment or further education (twenty-three percent) within six months. More than ninety percent of students receive financial aid totaling over fifty-two million dollars annually. Charity Navigator
Charity Navigator
Charity Navigator is an independent, non-profit organization that evaluates American charities. Its stated goal is "to advance a more efficient and responsive philanthropic marketplace by evaluating the financial health of America's largest charities."-About:...
also gave the institution four out of four stars based on its organizational efficiency and capacity.
Valparaiso University has not done much to become more environmentally sustainable, and was graded a "D+" on the College Sustainability Report Card in 2009.
Faculty
Valparaiso University faculty work with governments, communities, colleagues, and students. Ninety percent of the faculty members hold a doctorateDoctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
or the highest degree in their field. Valparaiso is a teaching school where each professor lectures and every class is led by a professor, and there are very few teaching assistants at Valpo. As a result, in nearly every class professors are on a first name basis with their students. The student-to-faculty ratio is 12 to 1, and there is an average of 20 students per class.
Culture
Valparaiso is a growing school that works to uphold the benefits of an intimate education. Most first-year undergraduate students take a year of CoreCore Curriculum
The Core Curriculum was originally developed as the main curriculum used by Columbia University's Columbia College. It began in 1919 with "Contemporary Civilization," about the origins of western civilization. It became the framework for many similar educational models throughout the United States...
, an interdisciplinary course rooted in liberal arts and focused on the understanding the purpose and fulfillment of human life. About a tenth of incoming freshman alternatively participate in the freshman program of Christ College, Valparaiso University's honor college. Students are also subject to an honor system
Honor code
An honour code or honour system is a set of rules or principles governing a community based on a set of rules or ideals that define what constitutes honorable behavior within that community. The use of an honor code depends on the idea that people can be trusted to act honorably...
originally implemented by the students themselves in 1943 which remains in effect today. The school also puts a heavy focus on diversity. Each January, the school holds a weekend of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
events as its major annual event and invite provocative and sometimes controversial key-note speakers.
Study Abroad
Valparaiso offers study-abroad programs in fourteen nations including sites in Cambridge, EnglandCambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
(Anglia Ruskin University
Anglia Ruskin University
Anglia Ruskin University is one of the largest universities in Eastern England, United Kingdom, with a total student population of around 30,000.-History:...
); Osaka, Japan
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
; Reutlingen, Germany
Reutlingen
Reutlingen is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the capital of the eponymous district of Reutlingen. As of April 2008, it has a population of 109,828....
; Puebla, Mexico
Puebla, Puebla
The city and municipality of Puebla is the capital of the state of Puebla, and one of the five most important colonial cities in Mexico. Being a planned city, it is located to the east of Mexico City and west of Mexico's main port, Veracruz, on the main route between the two.The city was founded...
; Namibia
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
; Paris, France; and Hangzhou, China
Hangzhou
Hangzhou , formerly transliterated as Hangchow, is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. Governed as a sub-provincial city, and as of 2010, its entire administrative division or prefecture had a registered population of 8.7 million people...
(Zhejiang University
Zhejiang University
Zhejiang University , sometimes referred to as Zheda, is a national university in China. Founded in 1897, Zhejiang University is one of China's oldest institutions of higher education...
).
Two of the programs (Cambridge and Reutlingen) are exclusively Valparaiso University programs; the other programs (Cergy
Cergy
Cergy is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris, in the "new town" of Cergy-Pontoise, created in the 1960s, of which it is the central and most populated commune....
, La Rochelle
La Rochelle
La Rochelle is a city in western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department.The city is connected to the Île de Ré by a bridge completed on 19 May 1988...
, Rottenburg am Neckar
Rottenburg am Neckar
Rottenburg am Neckar is a medium-sized town in the administrative district of Tübingen in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It rests about 50 km southwest of the provincial capital Stuttgart and about 12 km southwest of the district town Tübingen...
, Tübingen
Tübingen
Tübingen is a traditional university town in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, on a ridge between the Neckar and Ammer rivers.-Geography:...
, Puebla, two programs in Paris, Hangzhou, Japan, Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, College Year in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Namibia, and Granada, Spain) are offered in conjunction with host institution programs. Students studying abroad generally stay for one semester, but study in Tübingen requires the full year.
Distance Learning
The University offers online degree opportunities that include a Master of Arts in Chinese Studies and a Post-MSN Doctorate in Nursing Practice. The accelerated degree programs are Web-based and allow versatile learning.Students
Valparaiso University students are from geographically diverse backgrounds. Of the 4,000 students, only one-third are from the school's home state of IndianaIndiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
. The remaining two-thirds come from almost every other state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and over 40 foreign countries. Over two-thirds graduate in the top quarter of their high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
class and nearly ninety percent return to Valparaiso after their freshman year. Annually, more than 26 million dollars are awarded by the university to over eighty percent of the student body, which is administered based on factors such as community involvement, interests, recommendations, and personality as well as grade point average, class ranking, and standardized test scores.
Sixty-four percent of Valparaiso University students live on the school's city campus, as University regulations require almost all students who do not have senior status to live in dorms. Thirty-five percent of students are Lutheran, but over twenty percent are Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
and seventy-five percent participate in faith-related activities. Valpo supports over 100 student administered organizations, clubs, and activities. Fifty percent of students participate in intramural athletics, and over 1,000 students give over 45,000 hours of community service
Community service
Community service is donated service or activity that is performed by someone or a group of people for the benefit of the public or its institutions....
to the region annually.
Greek life
More than thirty percent of Valpo students are members of one of the school's nine national fraternities or seven national sororities. The entire Greek LifeGreek life
Greek life can refer to:* Culture of Greece* Fraternities and sororities...
community is coordinated by the fraternities' Interfraternity Council and sororities in the Panhellenic Council. Valparaiso also hosts chapters of all major honors fraternities. Many of the fraternities were local until the 1950s when they were accepted as chapters into national and international fraternities. However, the sororities were local and had no national affiliation until 1998. Theta Chi
Theta Chi
Theta Chi Fraternity is an international college fraternity. It was founded on April 10, 1856 as the Theta Chi Society, at Norwich University, Norwich, Vermont, U.S., and was the 21st of the 71 North-American Interfraternity Conference men's fraternities.-Founding and early years at Norwich:Theta...
was dismissed from campus in 2010.
| Fraternities | Sororities | Honor Societies | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Athletics
Valpo's colors are brownBrown
Brown is a color term, denoting a range of composite colors produced by a mixture of orange, red, rose, or yellow with black or gray. The term is from Old English brún, in origin for any dusky or dark shade of color....
and gold
Gold (color)
Gold, also called golden, is one of a variety of orange-yellow color blends used to give the impression of the color of the element gold....
and the school's mascot is the Crusader. Most athletic events are held in the Athletics-Recreation Center
Athletics-Recreation Center
The Athletics–Recreation Center is a 5,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Valparaiso, Indiana, United States, located at 1009 Union Street. It serves as the home court for Valparaiso University men's and women's basketball teams as well as the volleyball team...
(ARC), which is the primary sporting facility on campus. Valparaiso's eighteen teams and nearly 600 student athletes participate in NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
Division I (I-FCS for football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
) in the Horizon League
Horizon League
The Horizon League is a ten school, NCAA Division I college athletic conference whose members are located in five of the Midwestern United States....
, except for football, in which they compete in the Pioneer Football League
Pioneer Football League
The Pioneer Football League is a college athletic conference which operates in the East, Midwest, and California of the United States. It has member schools that range from New York, North Carolina, and Florida in the east to California in the west. The conference participates in the NCAA's...
(the Horizon League does not sponsor football) and play at Brown Field
Brown Field (Valparaiso University)
Brown Field is a 5,000-seat multi-purpose stadium in Valparaiso, Indiana. It is home to the Valparaiso University football team. The facility opened in 1919....
. The school is known for its well rounded athletes as 98% successfully graduate, which ties Valparaiso with the University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
for the third highest graduation rate in the country.http://www.nwitimes.com/articles/2006/05/18/news/top_news/98267903b20d5b56862571720006f55b.txt Valpo is also known for its men's basketball head coach Homer Drew
Homer Drew
Homer Drew is a former American college basketball coach, most recently for Valparaiso University Crusaders men's basketball team. His younger son, Bryce Drew, succeeded him as the head coach in May 2011...
and his son Bryce Drew
Bryce Drew
Bryce Homer Drew is the head coach, and a former member, of the Valparaiso University Crusader men's basketball team...
, who led the team to its Sweet Sixteen appearance in the 1998 NCAA basketball tournament by making "The Shot
The Shot (Valparaiso University)
For supporters of Valparaiso University's Crusaders, "The Shot" refers to a play that occurred in the first round of the 1998 NCAA Tournament. The play came in Valpo's game against the University of Mississippi Rebels at The Myriad in Oklahoma City on March 13, 1998, and won the #13 seed Crusaders...
", a three-point shot as time expired to beat favored Ole Miss by one point. Bryce Drew was named head coach in the spring of 2011.
Valparaiso is also the home of the National Lutheran Basketball Tournament.
Current faculty members
- Gilbert Meilaender, theology; member of The President's Council on BioethicsThe President's Council on BioethicsThe President's Council on Bioethics was a group of individuals appointed by United States President George W. Bush to advise his administration on bioethics. Established on November 28, 2001, by Executive Order 13237, the Council was directed to "advise the President on bioethical issues that may...
- Peter Venturelli, Sociology; author of multiple textbooks regarding drug use in society
- Walter Wangerin, Jr.Walter Wangerin, Jr.Walter Wangerin, Jr. is an award-winning American author and educator best known for his religious novels and children's books.-Biography:...
English and theology; National Book AwardNational Book AwardThe National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...
winning author of The Book of the Dun CowThe Book of the Dun Cow (novel)The Book of the Dun Cow is a 1978 novel by Walter Wangerin, Jr.. It is loosely based upon the beast fable of Chanticleer and the Fox adapted from the story of "The Nun's Priest's Tale" from Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales....
Notable alumni
More than 50,000 alumni currently serve in their respective fields across the world.- Timothy A. Bonin, Meteorologist
- R.J.Q. AdamsR.J.Q. AdamsRalph James Quincy Adams, usually known as R.J.Q. Adams , is an American historian, writer, historiographer, and professor. Earning a Ph.D. in history from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1972, Adams has focused his professional career in the history of Britain...
, M.A. 1969, historian - Chris BaumanChris BaumanChris Bauman is a Canadian football wide receiver who is currently playing for the Edmonton Eskimos. He most recently played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League.-Amateur career:...
, CEO of FanFound and well known activist for independent music - Frederick M. BernthalFrederick M. BernthalFrederick M. Bernthal was United States Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs from 1988 to 1990.-Biography:...
, Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific AffairsAssistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific AffairsThe Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs is the head of the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs in the United States Department of State...
from 1988 to 1990 - Beulah BondiBeulah BondiBeulah Bondi was an American actress.Bondi began her acting career as a young child in theater, and after establishing herself as a stage actress, she reprised her role in Street Scene for the 1931 film version...
, actress - Mikhail BorodinMikhail BorodinMikhail Markovich Borodin was the alias of Mikhail Gruzenberg, a Comintern agent and Soviet arms dealer....
, SovietSoviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and CominternCominternThe Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
representative to ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture... - JoBe CernyJoBe CernyJoBe Cerny, sometimes credited as Jo Be Cerny, is a voice-over personality and character actor, best known as the voice of Pillsbury Doughboy and as Procter & Gamble's silent spokesman, The Cheer Man....
, owner, Cerny/American Creative, well-known character actor, voice of the Pillsbury DoughboyPillsbury DoughboyPoppin' Fresh, more widely known as the Pillsbury Doughboy, is an advertising icon and mascot of The Pillsbury Company, appearing in many of their commercials. Many commercials from 1965 until 2004 conclude with a human finger poking the Doughboy's stomach... - Paul ChambersPaul ChambersPaul Laurence Dunbar Chambers, Jr. was a jazz bassist. A fixture of rhythm sections during the 1950s and 1960s, his importance in the development of jazz bass can be measured not only by the length and breadth of his work in this short period but also his impeccable time, intonation, and virtuosic...
, CNN anchor/film critic - Jay ChristopherJay ChristopherJay W. Christopher is the chairman and founder of Thatcher Technology Group Inc. and is a 1967 graduate of Valparaiso University.In the past, he has held various positions for The Pampered Chef Ltd., Hammond Organ Co., Kebbler Co., Lien Chemical Co., and the Marian Joy Rehabilitation...
, cofounder of The Pampered ChefThe Pampered ChefThe Pampered Chef, Ltd. a global company that offers a line of kitchen tools, food products, and cookbooks aimed for preparing food in the home with a worldwide direct sales force over 60,000 in addition to 750 corporate staff... - Thurman C. CrookThurman C. CrookThurman Charles Crook was a United States Representative from Indiana.He was born on a farm near Peru, Indiana and attended the Cass County schools, Logansport High School, Indiana State University, Purdue University, Indiana University, and graduated from Valparaiso University in 1930...
, a United States Representative from Indiana - Bryce DrewBryce DrewBryce Homer Drew is the head coach, and a former member, of the Valparaiso University Crusader men's basketball team...
, former NBANational Basketball AssociationThe National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
player - Paul EggersPaul EggersPaul Walter Eggers is an Indiana native who was the Republican nominee for governor of Texas in both 1968 and 1970, when the state still had two-year gubernatorial terms. Eggers' races for governor were his only attempts at elected office...
, Texas RepublicanRepublican Party (United States)The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
gubernatorial nominee, 1968 and 1970; Distinguished Alumnus, 1978 - Michael EssanyMichael EssanyMichael Essany is an American comedian and talk show host.Essany hosted The Michael Essany Show on local, national and international television for seven years and his self-titled reality/talk series on E! Entertainment television, executive produced by Leeza Gibbons...
, television host - Don Fites, chairman and CEO (ret.), Caterpillar Inc.Caterpillar Inc.Caterpillar Inc. , also known as "CAT", designs, manufactures, markets and sells machinery and engines and sells financial products and insurance to customers via a worldwide dealer network. Caterpillar is the world's largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas...
- Ginger Zee, meteorologist and news personality
- Erik Hromadka, chairman and CEO, GWTR, http://www.gwtr.com/about_executive.php
- Samuel B. HustonSamuel B. HustonSamuel Bruce Huston was an American politician and lawyer in Oregon. Originally a Democrat and later a Republican, he served in both chambers of the Oregon Legislative Assembly and was twice the mayor of Hillsboro, Oregon...
, former attorney and state legislator in Oregon - Barbara Ann KipferBarbara Ann KipferBarbara Ann Kipfer is a linguist and lexicographer. She has written more than 45 books, including 14,000 Things to be Happy About , which has more than a million copies in print and has given rise to many Page-a-Day calendars. She was the editor of the sixth edition of Roget's International...
, prolific linguistLinguisticsLinguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
and lexicographer - Keith Kizer, executive director, Nevada State Athletic Commissionhttp://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/columns/story?id=3265618 http://www.maxboxing.com/News/Scotto042006.asp
- John LutzJohn Lutz (television writer)John Lutz is an American actor, writer and comedian.-Biography:The son of a Lutheran minister, Lutz grew up in suburban Chicago and Detroit. He attended Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana, where he was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, majoring in psychology and minoring in...
, actor, "30 Rock30 Rock30 Rock is an American television comedy series created by Tina Fey that airs on NBC. The series is loosely based on Fey's experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live...
;" writer, "Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
" - Jacki LydenJacki LydenJacki Lyden is a radio correspondent and host primarily working for National Public Radio. She contributes to a variety of programs at NPR, reporting extensively from the Middle East...
, a senior correspondent at NPRNPRNPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=2100824 and author of Daughter of the Queen of Sheba - William MarchWilliam MarchWilliam March was an American author and a highly decorated US Marine. The author of six novels and four short-story collections, March was praised by critics and heralded as "the unrecognized genius of our time", without attaining popular appeal until after his death.March grew up in rural...
, novelist, Company KCompany KCompany K is a 1933 novel by William March, first serialised in parts in the New York magazine Forum from 1930 to 1932, and published in its entirety by Smith and Haas on 19 January 1933, in New York. The book's title was taken from the Marine company that March served in during World War I...
, The Bad Seed - Lloyd McClendonLloyd McClendonLloyd Glenn McClendon is a former professional baseball player and manager, currently serving as the hitting coach for the Detroit Tigers under Jim Leyland...
, former MLB player and manager, current hitting coach for the Detroit TigersDetroit TigersThe Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant... - Craig McKenzie, sports and entertainment agent
- George William NorrisGeorge William NorrisGeorge William Norris was a U.S. politician from the state of Nebraska and a leader of progressive and liberal causes in Congress...
, United States Senator from NebraskaNebraskaNebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
and father of the Tennessee Valley AuthorityTennessee Valley AuthorityThe Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected... - Eugene E. ParkerEugene E. ParkerEugene Parker, born February 24, 1956 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, is the sports agent of Deion Sanders, Emmitt Smith, and many other NFL athletes. He has been named by Black Enterprise Magazines top 50 influential blacks in sports while also being known for the past two decades as owning one of the...
, sports attorney - Rebecca R. PallmeyerRebecca R. PallmeyerRebecca R. Pallmeyer is a United States federal judge in the Northern District of Illinois.Born in Tokyo, Japan, Judge Pallmeyer received a B.A. from Valparaiso University in 1976 and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School in 1979. She was a law clerk to the Hon. Rosalie E. Wahl,...
, United States federal judge - Caleb PowersCaleb PowersCaleb Powers was a United States Representative from Kentucky and the first Secretary of State of Kentucky convicted as an accessory to murder.-Early life:He was born near Williamsburg, Kentucky...
, United States Representative from Kentucky and the first Secretary of State of Kentucky convicted as an accessory to murder - David RuprechtDavid RuprechtDavid Martin Ruprecht is an American actor/writer primarily known for his work as host of the Lifetime/PAX game show, Supermarket Sweep. He has hosted the live stage show version of The Price Is Right at casinos in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Mississippi and Connecticut. He has also hosted Family...
, host, Supermarket SweepSupermarket SweepSupermarket Sweep is an American television game show. Part of the format was similar to other team-based quiz shows; the other part was a live-action race through a supermarket, a novel concept at the time...
, Real PeopleReal PeopleReal People is an NBC reality television series that aired from 1979 to 1984, on Wednesday and then Sunday nights. Its initial episodes aired live in the Eastern and Central Time Zones.-Synopsis:... - James Monroe SmithJames Monroe SmithJames Monroe Smith, Sr. , was the president of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, during the 1930s...
, president of Louisiana State UniversityLouisiana State UniversityLouisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
, 1930–1939 - Rene SteinkeRene SteinkeRene Steinke is a novelist and a poet. She is the author of The Fires: A Novel which was inspired by her research and experience while attending Valparaiso University and most recently Holy Skirts, a novel based on the life of the Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven.Holy Skirts was a finalist...
, novelist, The Fires, Holy Skirts - Donald Edgar TewesDonald Edgar TewesDonald Edgar Tewes is a retired businessman and a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives for Wisconsin's Second Congressional District from January 3, 1957 to January 3, 1959....
, United States Representative from Wisconsin - Lowell ThomasLowell ThomasLowell Jackson Thomas was an American writer, broadcaster, and traveler, best known as the man who made Lawrence of Arabia famous...
, writer and broadcaster - Frederick "Fuzzy" ThurstonFred ThurstonFrederick Charles "Fuzzy" Thurston is a former American football guard in the National Football League who played for the Baltimore Colts and Green Bay Packers...
, All-pro guard for the Green Bay Packers, 1959–67 - Jim WackerJim WackerJim Wacker was an American football coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Texas Lutheran University , North Dakota State University , Southwest Texas State University, now Texas State University–San Marcos, , Texas Christian University ,...
, former football coach at the University of MinnesotaUniversity of MinnesotaThe University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557... - Lowell YerexLowell YerexLowell Yerex was born in New Zealand, and attended Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana United States.He graduated from Valparaiso University in 1916...
, aviation entrepreneur
Methodist foundation
| Valparaiso Male and Female College | Established | 1859 | Affiliations | Methodist |
| Closed | 1871 to 1873 | |||
| Northern Indiana Normal School and Business Institute | Acquired | 1873 | Affiliations | secular |
| Valparaiso College | Renamed | 1900 | ||
| Valparaiso University | Renamed | 1906 | ||
| Acquired | 1925 | Affiliations | Lutheran | |
What is now Valparaiso University was founded by the Methodist Church in 1859 as Valparaiso Male and Female College, one of the first co-educational four-year institutions in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Citizens of Valparaiso were so supportive of the placement of the College that they raised $11,000 in early 1859 to encourage the Methodist Church to locate there.
Students paid tuition of $8 per term (three terms per year), plus nearby room and board around $2 per week. Instruction at the college actually began with young children, and most of the students were in the elementary grade levels. Courses at the collegiate level included math, literature, history, the sciences, and philosophy. Courses stressing the Christian faith included "moral philosophy" and "moral science."
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. Not only did most of the men (both students and administrative members) enroll in an army, but Indiana had passed a bill in 1867 that provided for state support for public education, and the Methodists' very broad Indiana-wide efforts toward higher education meant that none of the schools were self-sustaining. This combination proved too much to overcome for the Male and Female College.
Intermediate growth
The school was reopened by Henry Baker Brown two years later as the Northern Indiana Normal School and Business Institute. The school was renamed Valparaiso College in 1900 and gained its current university status when rechartered in 1906. For the next two decades, Valpo gained a national reputation as an economical institution of higher learning, earning it the positive nickname The Poor Man's Harvard. At the height of enrollment, it was the second largest school in the nation, behind only Harvard UniversityHarvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. However, the aftermath of another conflict, World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, took its toll, and the school was forced into bankruptcy.
Lutheran revival
In 1923, the Ku Klux KlanKu Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
assembled a bid to purchase the university. At that time, the Pillar of Fire was publishing the pro-KKK monthly periodical The Good Citizen
The Good Citizen
The Good Citizen was a sixteen-page monthly political periodical edited by Bishop Alma White and illustrated by Reverend Branford Clarke. The Good Citizen was published from 1913 until 1933 by the Pillar of Fire Church at their headquarters in Zarephath, New Jersey in the United States...
. They pledged to offer the university's appraised value of $175,000, expand it to the size of Purdue University
Purdue University
Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...
, and devote the institution to the instilling of Americanism
American exceptionalism
American exceptionalism refers to the theory that the United States is qualitatively different from other countries. In this view, America's exceptionalism stems from its emergence from a revolution, becoming "the first new nation," and developing a uniquely American ideology, based on liberty,...
. However, in 1925 the Lutheran University Association outbid the Klan for the school's ownership. The association was a group of clergy
Clergy
Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. A clergyman, churchman or cleric is a member of the clergy, especially one who is a priest, preacher, pastor, or other religious professional....
and church laity
Laity
In religious organizations, the laity comprises all people who are not in the clergy. A person who is a member of a religious order who is not ordained legitimate clergy is considered as a member of the laity, even though they are members of a religious order .In the past in Christian cultures, the...
that saw promise in the school and wished to create an academic institution not controlled by any church denomination. Valparaiso is still operated by the Lutheran University Association, and remains an independent Lutheran
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
institution which enjoys close relations with the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod
Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod
The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod is a traditional, confessional Lutheran denomination in the United States. With 2.3 million members, it is both the eighth largest Protestant denomination and the second-largest Lutheran body in the U.S. after the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The Synod...
and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a mainline Protestant denomination headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA officially came into existence on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three churches. As of December 31, 2009, it had 4,543,037 baptized members, with 2,527,941 of them...
.
Student activism
As a liberal artsLiberal arts
The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...
institution, Valparaiso University has a detailed history of student activism
Student activism
Student activism is work done by students to effect political, environmental, economic, or social change. It has often focused on making changes in schools, such as increasing student influence over curriculum or improving educational funding...
.
Kinsey Hall fire
While many colleges either amended or canceled the remainder of the 1969-1970 school year following the Kent State shootings
Kent State shootings
The Kent State shootings—also known as the May 4 massacre or the Kent State massacre—occurred at Kent State University in the city of Kent, Ohio, and involved the shooting of unarmed college students by members of the Ohio National Guard on Monday, May 4, 1970...
due to unrest, the Valparaiso administration ignored student calls for a series of seminars and forums about violence at other campuses. A large group of students then organized a protest march from the campus Victory Bell to the Porter County
Porter County, Indiana
Porter County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2010, the population was 164,343. Much of the population growth has to do with the expansion of the Chicago Metropolitan Area eastward into Indiana. The county seat is Valparaiso...
courthouse. Continued protests led to discussions between the administration and student leaders. When these talks failed, a group of still-unidentified students set fire to the empty Kinsey Hall administrative building in the early morning. The aftermath of the fire left Kinsey Hall destroyed.
Venture of Faith
The existence of Valparaiso University's current College of Engineering is the result of student activisim. The university's engineering program had been reduced to a two-year associate's degree in response to reduced enrollment during economic depression which dominated the 1930s. When students began inquiring in 1948 regarding the possibility of restoring a four-year degree program, the current university president, O.P. Kretzmann, cited a lack of space and lack of resources to build a new facility. Students responded with an offer to build the new facility if he would guarantee faculty positions, to which the President agreed. The students constructed the facility themselves using their engineering education and an intense fundraising campaign, and by 1951 the new College of Engineering was again granting four-year bachelor degrees. The building still exists today, home to the Art department. This story received national attention and was turned into a feature-length film entitled Venture of Faith.
Burning of the shanty
During the 1988-1989 school year, a mock shanty town
Shanty town
A shanty town is a slum settlement of impoverished people who live in improvised dwellings made from scrap materials: often plywood, corrugated metal and sheets of plastic...
was erected on campus to show solidarity with victims of apartheid in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. Mike Weber and Phil Churilla, two columnists for VU's student newspaper The Torch, wrote a column critical of the protest due to student use of portable CD players, wool blankets and packaged food in the shanties. A few days later the shanty town burned down and a culprit was never found.
Valparaiso University Police Department
For campus security, Valparaiso University employs a police department with academy trained and certified officers that sometimes assist other local law enforcement as a result of reciprocal agreements.
Valpo has long been a dry campus
Dry campus
"Dry campus" is the term used for the banning of alcohol at colleges and universities, regardless of the owner's age or intention to consume it elsewhere...
, but enforcement was raised dramatically in recent years, and in the spring of 2006, the VUPD began considering placing officers on the campus escort vans in an attempt to curb underage drinking. Days later a city police officer entered the Sigma Pi fraternity house with his gun drawn, believing he had witnessed drug use through a window. Though university officers only responded to the scene later, these incidents strained student-police relations further, prompting mass resignations of student drivers from the escort service and a protest of over 500 students. The protests centered on the VUPD's increased focus on alcohol consumption and new placement of police officers with student escort services.