Padilla Q&A

[78crusader]

I thought I heard that President Padilla was going to host a Q&A sometime this week with the general public. I am curious if anyone on this forum attended the meeting, and if so, what the president had to say.

Thank you,

Paul

[valpotx]

Regardless of the faculty buyout, we are in a much better position than a lot of other smaller liberal arts private schools.  We will see many other schools close, before Valpo would ever get close to such a thing.  Now, if the BoD ever decides to take us D-3 in athletics, you might as well put a nail in our coffin.

[David81]

From what I've seen, Pres. Padilla is bringing to VU a blend of enthusiasm, presence, smarts, and pragmatic decision making. It is hard for me to imagine that VU's very survival is at stake here. However, VU is among a list of comparable private universities with long, rich histories not matched by deep traditions of fundraising success. When the overall financial environment for higher education becomes challenging, schools like this face difficult decisions.

[usc4valpo]

Is there a real push by some to move to D3? If so, why and who specifically is promoting this? What a cop out!

[valpopal]

Is there a real push by some to move to D3? If so, why and who specifically is promoting this? What a cop out!

If anyone anywhere is promoting a move to D-3, there is not any real consideration of this by Padilla or other upper university administration, who are fully committed to D-1. This proposal for change would be nothing like the push to remove the Crusader.

[valpotx]

Others have previously mentioned that there was at least 1 proponent on the BoD for such a thing, outside of the faculty component.

[vu84v2]

All that I have ever heard is that there are a few faculty members who feel that the university should be focused on higher learning instead of "wasting" money on D1 athletics. While I don't agree that this money is wasted (and note that our reported financials to the US EADA show that the university essentially breaks even on annual spending), their arguments stem from their admiration for the model at the University of Chicago, lower salaries relative to their peers at other universities, and reduced funding for their programs.

[crusader05]

I agree that the D-3 thing is dead in the water unless something goes incredibly south at VU. Padilla is VERY enthusiastic about athletics as a way to bring the school together and a big piece in school spirit and pride. I have heard him talk so enthusiastically about how his time at U of M feels so important b/c the athletics piece drew the campus together and I have heard that he likes to actually hire former athletes for other positions b/c he thinks it's a valuable life/learning experience.

I have been in a few Q&As or townhalls or have heard from people who have and his general theme seems to be 1. the original cutting was not done well or right 2. he realizes salaries and opportunities for faculty and staff need to be changed and 3. that's going to take time and aggressive action and some patience for those that are here right now.

I also think he is going to more aggressively court not just town and gown relationships between the city of Valpo but the entire state of Indiana.

[David81]

I know that it's hard to calibrate specific results with any precision -- the right transfer or the wrong injury can change an entire season -- but I think that VU has to develop some vision for how competitive it wishes to be as a mid-major DI sports program. This includes budget considerations weighed against academic priorities, the latter of which in my opinion need to take precedent over athletics. In MBB, at least, I think that viable sweet spot is to be consistently competitive for post-Arch Madness tournament invitations -- NCAA, NIT, CBI, etc. -- with the possibility of a 1998-type season for the ages an occasional one.

VU's academic strengths raise their own challenges. The University can tout very successful alums from both the arts & sciences and the professional programs, and severely cutting back on either risks losing a major piece of the school's identity. This already has been a sad and painful cost of shutting down the Law School, a decision that could be reasonably argued either way but ultimately ended a long chapter of VU's history. I don't think VU can afford to severely diminish its core undergraduate offerings during the years to come.

[usc4valpo]

Back in the early 80s, I had Bill Marion as a Calc 3 professor. Good professor, good person, very tough, very demanding but fair.  He was very anti Div 1 athletics at Valpo and suggested the D3 push. I saw him at a homecoming, after college where I was working at a defense company, and he was disappointed I was working on an SDI project. Interesting times...

Valpo going D3 would be shameful, but we need to commit to a higher level.

[crusadermoe]

Yes, I think a lot of faculty wanted D-3 back in the 80s.  It was a reasonable argument with resources scarce and most schools of their size just living within their means in terms of athletics. And we were horrible in D-1 at the time.

Then the Pioneer League for football became a good niche in the mid-90s to play D-1 hoops and basketball found its way to the "dance" and the Sweet 16.  The MVC is a good fit now with Drake and Bradley being almost exact peers with us.