While Padilla may be shifting focus from ensuring good academics and wanting to invest in the faculty don’t automatically think the Board is doing the same. I have it on good authority that there are Board members very unhappy with the strategic decisions being made by him and have been trying to ensure the faculty are listened to and there concerns are being acted upon. However this is difficult with a charismatic president who is very strong willed.
I have been a broken record on this board in saying that Valpo is missing a marketing opportunity that actually bridges two great qualities that some have regarded as being at odds with each other: Values and Vocation. In other words, a Valparaiso education can deliver both the liberal arts/values element and the preparation for a professional career/vocation, thus providing a fuller grounding for a life after college.
Jake Diebler, the highly regarded VU point guard and now Ohio State basketball coach, basically said as much during his post-game remarks after the two schools played last night. Here's a snippet of what he shared, drawn from Paul Oren's post-game takeaways in The Victory Bell:
Diebler continued to share his thoughts about Valparaiso during an all-encompassing 20-minute postgame press conference that included some tears from the Upper Sandusky native. Diebler talked about his playing style and his love for Valparaiso while Homer Drew sat in the back of the room with a wide smile on his face.
“I think it was very easy for me to play as hard as I played because I love that place,” Diebler said. “I love the people that I played for. I also know I wouldn’t be where I’m at without them.”
Diebler proceeded to tell a story about how calling his father, Keith, during his freshman year at Valparaiso (2005-06) and telling his dad that he didn’t believe Homer Drew liked him. Diebler, who had originally committed to West Point, wasn’t sure if Valpo was the right fit at that time.
“First off, if you know Homer Drew at all, you know he doesn’t not like anybody,” Diebler said. “That’s how messed up I was as a freshman…I think all of this was ordered. I believe that and it’s not any surprise that when I got there and had to fight through some adversity, that led to believe in Christ. That put a passion in my heart to go into coaching. I didn’t go to college, I didn’t go to Valpo wanting to go into coaching. My parents were lifelong educators. My dad coached forever. I thought I want to go home and own my own business. The whole course of my life was changed when I ended up at Valpo and I believe Valpo was a launch pad for the rest of my life. Thank goodness I had a coach who actually loved me and he didn’t hate me like I thought as a freshman. He forced me to grow and get better. I’m just so forever grateful for that place and for that man (Homer Drew) back there.”
https://www.thevictorybell.com/p/five-storylines-from-ohio-states
(Paul, apologies for the liberal cut & paste that probably violates the fair use rule!)
How many alums of the school they just beat by 22 points would give that kind of a testimonial to their collegiate experience and the people who were part of it during their post game?
So that's my point once again, with a hat tip to Coach Diebler. Valpo, and schools like it, can provide a well-rounded, life-relevant education with a personal quality. I can't imagine that there aren't a couple of hundred more college applicants every year who wouldn't benefit more from this opportunity than the choices they're making.
While Padilla may be shifting focus from ensuring good academics and wanting to invest in the faculty don’t automatically think the Board is doing the same. I have it on good authority that there are Board members very unhappy with the strategic decisions being made by him and have been trying to ensure the faculty are listened to and there concerns are being acted upon. However this is difficult with a charismatic president who is very strong willed.
Fascinating, if true! The Board's curt response to the no-confidence vote, reaffirming "full confidence" in Padilla, gave no such indication.
Diebler continued to share his thoughts about Valparaiso during an all-encompassing 20-minute postgame press conference that included some tears from the Upper Sandusky native. Diebler talked about his playing style and his love for Valparaiso while Homer Drew sat in the back of the room with a wide smile on his face....
This is great! Fantastic story, great promo for the university!
We just need more contemporary evidence of this type of meaningful connection. I have heard so many inspiring stories of the good-'ol-days when Kretzman was president or Drew was coach. That nostalgia can remains powerful and attractive, as in cases like this where Diebler is still talking about it 15+ years later in 2024. But what percentage of the campus community was actually here in the 1990s or 2000s when Drew was? For the most part, these are not memories that people actually hold, so can seem like stories of another Valpo. VU needs a stronger sense of this special loving community still existing, lest the stories just reinforce the suspicion that Valpo's good days are over.
Valpofan and VUIndiana - There are 24 members of Valpo's board of trustees (excluding Pres. Padilla), which creates opportunities for factions within the board. If the board is making statements of support for Pres. Padilla, it is far more likely that there is a majority who support him and his strategies and a minority (probably small) who are against him. Further Pres. Padilla (like any senior executive) would be very foolish to implement strategies that run contrary to the views of the majority within the board.
To the comment by David81 and the second part of the comment by VUIndiana: Many of the things that make Valpo great as an academic institution are still there. For instance, there are great professors and leaders in the professional colleges who truly care about students and helping them succeed in all facets of their lives (not saying that this is not also true in liberal arts - I just have less familiarity there). To David81's point, Valpo needs to create a vision for prospective students, using recent evidence, that they too can follow the path to success.
