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Obviously, Valpo is not alone as many universities are experiencing enrollment declines. This fact still doesn't make the very soon to be announced cuts and consolidations any better. Brace yourself.

What happens with an endowment when a school closes? Presumably, much of the money would be earmarked for something other than expenses related to closing.

Wasn't Madison Soliday Director of Football Operations last year?

Women's Tennis deserves a lot more love. They had their best season in over 15 years and they keep winning academic accolades. Coach Modesto is widely revered and runs a top-notch program.

Valpo softball just announced 9 new recruits for next season, so perhaps a turnaround has begun.

The History Department numbers presented are skewed because of the present faculty situation. One veteran professor just retired with the buyout, another longtimer has been on sabbatical, yet another is teaching overseas, and the department hired two brand new professors less than two years ago.

T. Boone Pickens died September 11, 2019.

Perhaps all of you will be put out of your misery tomorrow.  Listen for something out of Chicago...

Zane Doughty goes 10 for 13 and 20 points to lead Ben Davis to the state championship and a 33-0 record.

Valpo is selling land not buying it.

St. Francis was founded the same year as Valpo and their athletics were a charter member of the NCAA with men's basketball starting in 1896. They added men's volleyball and women's soccer only in 2019. The decision to cancel all 19 Division 1 sports was a result of "increased operating expenses, flattening revenue streams, and plateauing enrollment due in part to a shrinking pool of high school students in the aftermath of COVID."

For those of you who are still not accepting the depth of the grave situation facing higher education these days, there have been and will continue to be very difficult choices to be made. So, while we are complaining about our facilities and the lack of action on a buyout for our basketball coach, an alternative is St. Francis College in Brooklyn who is eliminating all Division 1 sports at the end of this semester. Other schools in the Northeast Conference didn't see it coming. This is how wh has suggested to lead. Those who have the knowledge and ability to do something about it should take decisive action and let the chips fall where they may.

If Valpo were truly a business, they would have to pay taxes on their assets. Since they, and all the other non-profit universities, do not, can you imagine how much worse off they would all be it they had to pay taxes. Why are there exceptions for any non-profits such as universities, churches, hospitals, think tanks, etc...

Every program needs someone like Paul Oren covering the team- loyal, honest, realistic, and a true fan. Every team wants a guy like Todd Ickow calling its games- professional, consistent, trusted, and a homer only when deserved.

Looking at the financial statements is revealing in many ways. When you see that some of the highest paid employees for the entire university were Law Professors, it makes you wonder. This shows how painful, and necessary, the closing was. Law School Faculty were literally paid millions of dollars the last year to honor the commitment to about a dozen students who remained.

Totally agree with Ben's contribution and really appreciate his loyalty.  Dan Oppland was a stud on some sub-par teams.  He walked around and played with more confidence than almost any Valpo player in decades.

wh often times has good posts but he has completely checked out from Valpo and the basketball team. Cheers to you providing the necessary balance.

The article is in the Post-Tribune not the Chicago Tribune. Yes, it is confusing because it says Chicago Tribune on the top but they are the parent company of the Post-Tribune. The Chicago Tribune may have, or perhaps will publish it online or in print, but Amy Lavalley works for the Post-Tribune and lives in Valpo.

As I have mentioned before, real estate has recently been sold on old campus that a non-profit is using to build affordable housing. That small windfall doesn't necessarily have a destination. What's unique about the selling of works of art from the Brauer Museum of Art collection is that this will be used to fund some renovations to existing dorms and possibly new Freshmen dorms. Already, there is a debate on campus about whether the works of art are integral to the liberal arts curriculum or are they superfluous to the overall mission. This board decision was made known to a handful of people at the beginning of January but just now made public. The Urschel Family had given substantial money to the museum with the caveat that it be named for Richard Brauer and now the name of the museum may be in question. The collection of almost 3,000 pieces includes such artists as Andy Warhol, Junius Sloan, Dale Chihuly, Ansel Adams, and Georgia O'Keeffe. Aside from some legal and ethical issues surrounding this development, look for more similar funding mechanisms in the near future.

Please see an article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch this weekend that highlights Webster University. While there are several similarities with Valpo, one of the main takeaways is that dozens of universities will be fighting for their existence in the next few years.

pal- thanks for the awesome video, those were the days! Also, the team before Bryce did jumpstart the program and David Redmond was the key.

Phoenix weather is only nice for a few months in the winter. It was over 100 degrees for 145 days in 2022, and who wants to spend almost 30 days where it's over 115 degrees. And as many comedians like to point out, it doesn't matter whether it's dry heat or not, it's still 115 degrees.

Frank Mrvan helped secure some 1 million dollars that the Nursing School will use to bridge the present facilities with the future ones. To attract new students and retain present ones, a new Nursing complex is a higher priority than a new Arc.

When I mentioned this back in August, this bridge funding was only for present facilities to buy time for a new building. They are hoping that to take maybe five years to start construction, absent a big donor. The bigger recent news is the decision to build the new facility on campus versus off campus anywhere in the region in partnership with a separate healthcare provider. For my part, I applaud this news.

When even vu72 uses the words "mess" and "failing" to describe Valpo Athletics, there probably is a great challenge ahead. Let the current staff ride out the season while putting feelers out now, then move quickly after the season ends to clean house. Would we want someone who wants to come here right now? What does that say about their character that they would bail on their season somewhere else? That type of person would not be a good fit long-term for Valpo. The quality and quantity of applicants will grow substantially once the middle of March comes. To put somebody in charge now from in house defeats the purpose of what most everyone here is saying - that a 100% reset from outside needs to occur. And finally, no matter how hard you want to be in the big time, we do not have the money.  We just sold a parcel on Old Campus for some desperately needed cash. We don't have the money to pay more than one person to do one job.

78crusader-your comments on the "let's get VU" campaign by the NWI Times local newspaper leaves out several nuances. First of all, the recently retired President, CEO and Chairman of Lee Enterprises, which owns The Times and is the fourth largest newspaper company in the country, is a Valpo grad. Mary Junck credits her interest in Journalism to her time at Valpo when she became the editor of The Beacon. She has always spoken highly of her alma mater. The most recent series of publishers of The Times, however, have been tied to the local political kingpins. We are only a year or so removed from VU and the City of Valparaiso suing each other so you can read a lot into many things.