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Getting back to the reputation of Valpo, would it make sense to drop certain majors in help our rankings? With the cost of education continuing to rise rapidly, does it make sense to continue to have education as a major? Would we be better off only offering Masters level programs? Do parents have a tough time spending 45k pre yr for an education degree when a state degree is about half the cost? Especially since little Johnny and Jenny will come out making less than 30k? Can the same be said for exercise science? Not trying to offend anyone, just asking a question with how much we cost compared to when I went to school.

I am not the most eloquent of writers so I think some of you are missing the point of what I am trying to say. A little about me, I was a football player, a business student and in a fraternity so my Valpo experience was geared towards those things. So no, I didn't step in the VUCA, I didn't even know what it was. I went to Urshel to the ARC to the house. Yes, I talk about the social scene a lot because I think that has a lot to do with your college experience.  Whether you partake in the beverages or not, you don't want to go to a college where a lot of the students leave on the weekends to go home or visit other campuses. It makes it have a community college or commuter college feel. My wife works at a prestigious college out east; about the size of Valpo; with students on a daily basis, and she is shocked when she hears about the number of students that leave every weekend.  For the guys that went to Valpo in the 70's and 80's, how did you enjoy your time on campus? Just because you have a liberal alcohol policy, it doesn't mean that you are going to attract lesser students.  Do you think the kids at Harvard and Columbia like to partake in the beverages? Does that hurt their elite reputation or the types of students they get? I am not saying to turn into Arizona State, but I think we can make that better.

As I said, I commend where the university is going. It will take time and money but campus is changing for the better. I just hope that they keep up the improvements to position us for generations to come. VU72, I guess I have a disconnect from you and probably a lot of people on this board. I didn't think of Valpo of a place of graduating a lot of "spiritual" people. I came here for the academics and football, the religious aspect was just part of the experience. But I am starting to see that religion was a bigger factor for a lot of you so I apologize if I come across as a meathead. We all came to Valpo for different reasons, but I think we can all agree that Valpo helped us become the men and women we are.

Listen, I commend the college for what they have done over the last decade. The campus is vastly improved from my time in the 90's. But we are paying for the lack of vision to see what students want and we are playing catch-up. The VUCA was built during my time there and I never stepped foot in it, along with many people from my era. We could've used a new union or library then. Renovating the rest of the dorms should've happened right after the finished fixing up the 'Burg.  Or how about you ask the science and business students what its like to use outdated buildings. Did you know that most of the science building uses an actual chalkboard? So until we improve those buildings, then we still will be behind some of these other schools.

Did someone actually use the new hotels as an attraction for students? We have nothing like Broad Ripple or Rush & Division, etc. As much as we dance around it, I think the social scene is a big factor. Students like to drink. But between the campus, city and county police every weekend is an adventure. Do you that the campus safe ride is now run though the police office? They monitor pick-up and drop off locations and if there is an inordinate amount to a certain location they then pick-up the patrols to that area. Friends that have gone to Northwestern and Butler have gotten rides home from the police at night due to their inebriated state not to the city jail. Right or wrong, that is a factor when dealing with potential student-athletes who are considering Drake, Dayton and Butler.

I love Valpo and I am excited to see the future of the campus, but I'm fearful that it will be another 10 yrs for us to see all the growth pay off.

Does it bother anyone else but me that we still have the original stairs of the ARC that lead to the windows of coaches offices? Or that we can't connect the sidewalk across the street from the ARC? Why did we just leave the opening from when they closed off the entryway of the old Dau parking lot? The cutting corners drive me crazy. Even with the new Welcome Center, they cut corners. What one of the admissions counselors told me was the decided not to put any storage over there for admissions booklets and handouts. So they have to go back to their old building to get what they need. They only put 1 set of bathrooms in the building instead of putting another one back in the office area.

In my opinion, I think Valpo is going in the wrong direction as a school. I think part of the reason we are sliding in the rankings and on kids lists is our campus. These rising schools like Hope, Wheaton, etc having been building new facilities (dorms, classrooms, etc) for years. That gives students and families the wow factor they are looking for. We went something like 20+ yrs with the only new building being the VUCA. So we are paying for it now, with outdated science, business and math/engineering buildings. I know we just built the edition to the engineering building but it is just lipstick on a pig. So when students look at outdated facilities, more factors come into play. Our financial aid packages are good but not great. Greek life is all but gone. So the social scene is not what we remember which leads to students that do come to transfer. Our athletic facilities are a joke including what is available for the general students.

I understand your frustration as to why we aren't mentioned in the same breathe as Butler, Georgetown, Northwestern, etc; I think it comes down to those are urban schools. 18-22 love the idea of having everything at their fingertips 24/7. I would think we compare more to Bucknell/Lehigh or Bradley/St Olaf type of school. But those schools have a lot of new construction over the past 15 yrs and the campus embraces/protects the college social scene.

Finally, I wonder if the Northwestern your friends child was considering was the Northwestern in Iowa. From my experiences, that is typically the one that would be considered with the St Olaf type of schools not the Big10 Northwestern.

from footballscoop: Valpo (FCS): Sources tell us that Lehigh offensive coordinator / quarterbacks coach Dave Cecchini will be the new head coach at Valpo.

If this is true... this is a great hire. He is a proven winner and has a track record of recruiting high academic student-athletes.

Rumor has it that some candidates will be on campus this week. Any ideas on who it might be?