Valparaiso University
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Valparaiso University (Valpo) is a
private university Private universities and private colleges are institutions of higher education, not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. They may (and often do) receive from governments tax breaks, public student loans, and grant (money ...
in
Valparaiso, Indiana Valparaiso ( ), colloquially Valpo, is a city and the county seat of Porter County, Indiana, United States. The population was 34,151 at the 2020 census. History The site of present-day Valparaiso was included in the purchase of land from the ...
. It is a
Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
university with about 3,000 students from over 50 countries on a campus of . Originally named Valparaiso Male and Female College, Valparaiso University was founded in 1859 as one of the first coeducation colleges in the United States. Valpo has five undergraduate colleges and a graduate school. It is home to the second-largest collegiate chapel in the world, the
Chapel of the Resurrection The Chapel of the Resurrection is the centerpiece structure on the campus of Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana. Primarily used to facilitate many Lutheran campus worship services, the Chapel of the Resurrection also serves as a site f ...
.


History


Valparaiso Male and Female College

In 1859, citizens of Valparaiso were so supportive of the placement of the college that they raised $11,000 to encourage the Methodist Church to locate there. The school opened on September 21, 1859, to 75 students, and was one of the first coeducational colleges in the nation. Students paid tuition expenses of $8 per term (three terms per year), plus nearby room and board costs of approximately $2 per week. Instruction at the college actually began with young children, and most of the students were in elementary and grade levels. Courses at the collegiate level included math, literature, history, sciences, and philosophy. Courses stressing the Christian faith included "moral philosophy" and "moral science." During the Civil War, most of the men (both students and administrative members) enrolled in the army. Further difficulties arose In 1867, when Indiana passed a bill that provided state support for public education, adding competition for students. Moreover, the Methodists’ broad statewide efforts toward higher education meant none of their schools were self-sustaining. The combination of factors proved too much to overcome for the Male and Female College, and the school closed in 1871.


Northern Indiana Normal School and Business Institute

The school, reopened by Henry Baker Brown in 1873, was named the Northern Indiana Normal School and Business Institute. In 1900, the school was renamed Valparaiso College and gained its current university status after being rechartered in 1906.


Valparaiso College, then Valparaiso University

Henry Baker Brown bought the American College of Medicine and Surgery from
Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...
; he later changed the name to Chicago College of Medicine and Surgery. Students could save money by spending their first two medical college years in Valparaiso. In 1905 the university formed an affiliation with Chicago College of Dental Surgery to provide dental education for its students. For the next two decades, Valpo gained a national reputation as an economical institution of higher learning, earning its positive nickname ''The Poor Man’s Harvard''. At the height of enrollment in 1907, it was the second-largest school in the nation, behind only Harvard University. In 1914, monthly literary magazine ''The Torch'' was founded; it became the university's weekly student newspaper in 1915. The university began intercollegiate athletic competition in 1916. Valpo's first game was a basketball game against the Chicago YMCA Training School, in which VU fielded players from intramural teams. In 1917, World War I and the death of President Brown took its toll, and the school was forced into bankruptcy. Valparaiso University sold the Chicago College of Medicine and Surgery to
Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Cathol ...
. In 1923, a fire destroyed the original 1860 Old College Building, and VU could not afford to clean the site. This was one of many financial problems Valparaiso faced in 1923, as President Horace M. Evans tried to settle a $375,000 debt. Evans appealed to the Rockefeller Foundation and other wealthy individuals before asking the Indiana state legislature to make VU public. The legislature refused, and Evans almost sold the university to the Invisible Hand of the Ku Klux Klan, but the deal was stopped due to "legal technicalities", likely cited to save face for both organizations. Valparaiso University was eventually bought by the Lutheran University Association, a conglomerate of National Lutheran Education Alliance and American Luther League.


Lutheran revival

In July 1925 the Lutheran University Association, affiliated with the
Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), also known as the Missouri Synod, is a traditional, confessional Lutheran denomination in the United States. With 1.8 million members, it is the second-largest Lutheran body in the United States. The LC ...
, took over ownership of the school. The association was a group of
clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
and church
laity In religious organizations, the laity () consists of all members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-ordained members of religious orders, e.g. a nun or a lay brother. In both religious and wider secular usage, a layperson ...
that saw promise in the school and wanted 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 is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
institution that enjoys close relations with the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant Lutheran church headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA was officially formed on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three Lutheran church bodies. , it has approxim ...
. On March 13, 1929, the
North Central Association of Colleges and Schools The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA), also known as the North Central Association, was a membership organization, consisting of colleges, universities, and schools in 19 U.S. states engaged in educational accreditation. It w ...
accredited the university. Two years later, President Kreinheder created the Valparaiso University Guild, a volunteer and philanthropy organization to help students, and in 1934 the Alumni Association began operation. The university's College of Engineering started a cooperative education program with
Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...
in 1938. At the end of the 1930s, the university completed a new gymnasium. In 1941, VU instituted its Department of Art. Coincident with the beginning of World War II, Valparaiso University renamed its yearbook from ''The
Uhlan Uhlans (; ; ; ; ) were a type of light cavalry, primarily armed with a lance. While first appearing in the cavalry of Lithuania and then Poland, Uhlans were quickly adopted by the mounted forces of other countries, including France, Russia, Pr ...
'' (a German soldier) to ''The Beacon''. The next year Valpo changed its athletic team name from the ''Uhlans'' to the ''Crusaders.''


Modern era

In 1940, O. P. Kretzmann became president of the university. During his 28 years in office, he marshaled significant changes, many of which remain in place. Valparaiso University bought about of land in 1944 east of campus near the corner of Sturdy Road and US Highway 30. The large oak tree occupying this land was named "Merlin" and remains a central feature of campus. This purchase would transform campus, as the university moved to its current location over the course of many years. Kretzmann increased enrollment from 400 to more than 4,000. Academic rigor increased along with enrollment. VU created its Honor Code in 1943 and remains in place today, as students continue to write the code on top of assignments. After the Second World War, Valparaiso offered its first four-year degrees: mechanical, civil, and electrical engineering. On November 27, 1956, the Chapel-Auditorium burned down. The university quickly rebuilt its worship space: the Chapel of the Resurrection was dedicated on September 27, 1959. VU installed a subcritical nuclear reactor in 1958, and in the 1970s the University Branch of the United States Atomic Energy Commission called Valpo's nuclear physics lab "a model for all small universities wishing to provide excellent training in the field of undergraduate physics." President Kretzmann founded Christ College, the honors college of Valparaiso University, in 1967. Christ College was only the third such honors college in the nation. The campus radio station
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 and streams online at WVUR's website. The station features a range of students, staff, members of the ...
began broadcasting in 1960.
Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, ...
spoke before 5,000 people in 1968 at VU while campaigning, and in the same year, the university began its long-standing international study centers in
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
, England, and
Reutlingen Reutlingen (; Swabian: ''Reitlenga'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the capital of the eponymous district of Reutlingen. As of June 2018, it has a population of 115,818. Reutlingen has a university of applied sciences, which ...
, Germany. During student protests in 1970, Kinsey Hall burned. The first class of the College of Nursing graduated in 1971. In 1976, Valparaiso University began
NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...
competition. In 1991, Valpo became home to the Lilly Fellows Program, a national program that supports young scholar-teachers, during its inaugural year. This program has grown to almost 100 universities. The 1998 men's basketball team reached the Sweet Sixteen of the Division I national tournament. In 2002, a new international study center was established in
Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whi ...
, China.
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...
established a chapter at Valparaiso University in 2004. In 2013 the university completed a
solar furnace A solar furnace is a structure that uses concentrated solar power to produce high temperatures, usually for industry. Parabolic mirrors or heliostats concentrate light ( Insolation) onto a focal point. The temperature at the focal point may ...
and research facility, the only undergraduate institution to operate a solar furnace, and one of only five solar furnaces in the US. In 2008, Mark Heckler became Valparaiso University's 18th president. During his initial years in office, Heckler led the "most comprehensive and collaborative strategic-planning endeavor in the University’s history". The plan includes goals such as increasing enrollment to 6,000 students, multiple building initiatives, and increased global engagement. President Heckler announced his retirement as of September 2020, and
Colette Irwin-Knott Colette Irwin-Knott is an American academic administrator. She served as the interim president of Valparaiso University from September 1, 2020 to February 28, 2021. Irwin-Knott graduated from Valparaiso University in 1981 with a bachelor of scie ...
was named as Interim President. José Padilla became President-Elect on January 1, 2021, and assumed the university presidency on March 1, 2021. In 2021, Valpo adopted ''Beacons'' as its athletic team name. Since 2015, Valparaiso University has struggled with enrollment and retention of students. The student population dropped from 4,544 in Fall 2015 to 2,939 in Fall 2022. The university's enrollment and budgetary problems reached an acute point during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in the discontinuances of multiple undergraduate programs (secondary education major, theatre major and minor, Chinese minor, French major, Greek and Roman studies major and minor). Due to financial stress, the university also laid off numerous lecturers and more than a dozen other tenure-track faculty in remaining programs, and offered a retirement incentive buy-out package to long-term faculty and staff to incentivize voluntary departures. Meanwhile, the student retention rate also fell to 77%. In 2021, the Indiana Attorney General's office announced an investigation into the university's
Confucius Institute Confucius Institutes (CI; ) are public educational and cultural promotion programs funded and arranged currently by the , a government-organized non-governmental organization (GONGO) under the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic o ...
, alleging that it promotes Chinese propaganda. The university closed the institute and denied the allegations.


Campus


Old campus

The ''Old Campus'' of Valparaiso University is adjacent to and a part of the historic downtown district of the city. Old Campus is the site of the
School of Law A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...
, 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 The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1976. In 2009, the school started a restoration project, essentially rebuilding the facility. The school's fraternities and the Kade-Duesenberg German House and Cultural Center are on old campus as was the Martin Luther King, Jr., Cultural Center before acts of vandalism and arson destroyed the building in 2009. Old Campus is also the site of Valpo's Doppler
weather radar Weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar (WSR) and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, and estimate its type (rain, snow, hail etc.). Modern weather radars are mostly puls ...
. North of Old Campus is Lebien Hall, home to the College of Nursing and Health Professions.


New campus

Beginning in the 1950s, the school expanded eastward to occupy what is now known as "new campus". Today, it is center of the university, home to thousands of students in nine dormitories as well as most of the academic buildings. At the center of campus is the
Chapel of the Resurrection The Chapel of the Resurrection is the centerpiece structure on the campus of Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana. Primarily used to facilitate many Lutheran campus worship services, the Chapel of the Resurrection also serves as a site f ...
, a -high building that is the home of Valparaiso University's many worship services and convocations. Built on the highest elevation on the university's campus, it has been a
Northwest Indiana Northwest Indiana, nicknamed The Region after the Calumet Region, comprises Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Newton and Jasper counties in Indiana. This region neighbors Lake Michigan and is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. According to the 2020 ...
landmark since 1959. In 2011, Rev. Mark and Kathy Helge gave a $15-million gift for a major expansion to the chapel. The addition opened in the fall of 2015. 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 The Brauer Museum of Art is home to a 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 (VUCA) on the campus of Valparaiso University ...
. Kallay-Christopher Hall opened in 2004 and 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,
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 and streams online at WVUR's website. The station features a range of students, staff, members of the ...
, the university's student-run radio station, an
VUTV
the university's student-run television station. The Donald V. Fites Innovations Center, an addition to the College of Engineering's Gellersen Hall, was completed in the summer of 2011. The $13-million, LEED-certified building has two suites of labs that support advanced undergraduate research in areas such as materials science and energy systems. The Department of Physics and Astronomy has a computerized
reflecting telescope A reflecting telescope (also called a reflector) is a telescope that uses a single or a combination of curved mirrors that reflect light and form an image. The reflecting telescope was invented in the 17th century by Isaac Newton as an alternati ...
to aid in
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
research and VisBox-X2, a
virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), educ ...
system used to immerse students in a visualized
three-dimensional Three-dimensional space (also: 3D space, 3-space or, rarely, tri-dimensional space) is a geometric setting in which three values (called ''parameters'') are required to determine the position of an element (i.e., point). This is the informal ...
image. The Arts and Sciences Building, adjacent to the Christopher Center for Library and Information Resources, opened in 2012 and houses classrooms and offices for faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences. The James S. Markiewicz Solar Energy Research Facility was dedicated in September 2013. Professors and students use the energy research facility, profiled in ''The Atlantic'', in developing methods to produce low-carbon magnesium with 90 percent less fossil fuel energy than standard production methods. The , $74 million Harre Union opened in 2009. Named in honor of former University President Alan F. Harre, who retired in 2008, it is more than three times the size of the previous union. The Harre Union has consolidated all dining services on campus, with the exception of the law school. It has room for all student organizations, as well as a new bookstore, lounge areas, student mailboxes for every student on campus, entertainment areas, a large ballroom, a career center, and an outdoor terrace overlooking the chapel. The design architect was
Sasaki Associates Sasaki is a design firm specializing in Architecture, Interior Design, Urban Design, Space Planning, Landscape Architecture, Ecology, Civil Engineering, and Place Branding. The firm is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, but practices on an i ...
, Inc. and the architect of record was Design Organization. In June 2013, the Duesenberg Welcome Center on campus was completed for visitors coming to campus. The creation of this building was funded by Valparaiso University alumni, Richard and Phyllis Duesenberg. A new residence hall, Beacon Hall, opened in 2014. A "
STEM Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...
village" of three new buildings will soon replace Neils Science Center and become the new home for the biology, chemistry, and physics departments. The first of these buildings was completed in 2017. Neils Science Center was erected in 1974 and includes an astronomical observatory, greenhouse, and a now decommissioned sub-critical nuclear reactor that helped the facility receive an Atomic Energy Commission citation as a model undergraduate physics laboratory. The new Center for the Sciences: Chemistry and Biochemistry opened in fall 2017.


Academics


Undergraduate programs

Valparaiso is organized into five undergraduate colleges: Arts and Sciences, Business, Engineering, Nursing and Health Professions, and Christ College.


College of Arts and Sciences

The College of Arts and Sciences offers a personalized education that integrates liberal arts and professional development. It provides hands-on, undergraduate research opportunities and internships to accompany the classroom experience. With more than 70 academic programs in 21 departments, the College of Arts and Sciences supplies the liberal arts core for all programs.


College of Business

The College of Business is among the elite 25 percent of undergraduate business programs nationally accredited by the AACSB International — The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. The College of Business offers focused majors in accounting, business analytics, finance, international business, management, and marketing. Starting 2018 Fall, the college of business is offering a new major and minor in supply chain and logistics management.


College of Engineering

The 2021 ''U.S. News & World Report'' named the College of Engineering the 13th-best undergraduate engineering program among institutions that do not have doctorate programs. The College of Engineering won the 2012 Engineering Award presented by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering. About 90 percent of undergraduates complete the program within four years. The college provides several service learning opportunities as well as undergraduate research opportunities.


College of Nursing and Health Professions

The Virtual Nursing Learning Center offers patient stations complete with interactive mannequins, beds and equipment simulating a hospital environment. The baccalaureate, master's, and DNP programs at Valpo are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.


Christ College

Christ College is the interdisciplinary Honors College of Valparaiso University. Known on campus as "CC", Christ College was chartered by President O. P. Kretzmann in 1967. In 1964, Kretzmann convened a committee to plan a successor to the Directed Studies Program, which was established to better serve the influx of gifted students to the institution. This new college within VU would seek students who had "a passion for learning and the pursuit of excellence generally." The Christ College curriculum was to be based, in part, on the University of Chicago's "Liberal Arts" core model. Incoming freshmen would read classical texts and use the Socratic Method to discover "that they did not know what they thought they knew." In later years, courses that transcend assignment to a particular academic discipline challenged students to explore important questions from an imaginative perspective. This structure remains intact as every freshman enrolls in the Freshman Program, which consists of a 16-credit, two semester course that introduces students to classic works of history, literature, art, music, philosophy, religion and theology, and social science. In addition to classes, a number of traditions create camaraderie and foster the intellectual formation of students. The most notable of these annual events are the fall Christ College Freshman Production and the spring Christ College Oxford Debates. The Freshman Production is an original play or musical that is written, scored, choreographed, directed, produced, and performed exclusively by members of the Christ College freshman class. The Christ College Oxford Debates are a series of formal debates in which two groups of students represent either the affirmative or negative side of a topic they have researched for five or six weeks. Following debate, the debate moderator asks the audience members to "vote their minds" and decide the winner of the debate. Another notable academic opportunity offered by Christ College is the Student Scholarship Symposium, in which undergraduates present research in a formal lecture setting. It features student-selected research projects, from a diverse set of academic fields, delivered in a critical and interactive environment. Students in the college often spend a semester studying at one of Valpo's overseas study centers; many take a Christ College Abroad course, which are led by faculty each spring break. Approximately 90 students, or 10 percent of the university's incoming class, are admitted each year. Students in the honors college concurrently enroll in another undergraduate college at VU, and can complete their study with a major or a minor in humanities to complement the major received in their main field of study. In 2013, Peter Kanelos became the fifth Dean of Christ College, succeeding Mel Piehl. Piehl had led the college for ten years after Mark Schwehn stepped down from the position. The fall of 2017, Professor Jennifer Prough became interim Dean after Peter Kanelos stepped down, becoming the first female Dean of CC. The next Dean, Susan VanZanten, took office in 2018. She stepped down in July 2021. Since, Jennifer Prough has become the interim dean once more.


Graduate school

Valparaiso University offers a variety of master's programs.


Law school

Founded in 1879 the Law School was accredited by the ABA in 1929 and the AALS in 1930. In 2010, Valparaiso Law Students had an 83 percent first-time bar pass rate. After a censure by the
American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acad ...
in October 2016, the university sought to downsize the law school or merge it with another institution. In November 2017, the university announced the law school would not enroll a new class in 2018, and in October 2018 the university announced it will close the law school and is developing a plan to allow the remaining students to complete their degrees.


Study abroad

More than a third of all undergraduate students study abroad, placing Valparaiso University among the top 40 institutions in the country. VU offers more than 40 study-abroad programs around the world, and the duration of study-abroad programs ranges from a week to a full academic year. In 2013, the U.S. Department of State named VU as one of the colleges and universities that produced the most
Fulbright scholars The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...
. Between 2003 and 2013, 26 Valparaiso students studied abroad as a Fulbright scholar. Valpo maintains four global study centers (Cambridge, England; Reutlingen, Germany; Hangzhou, China; and San José, Costa Rica), each of which provides group trips and excursions, a course on the life and culture of the host country, and specialized housing, all under the guidance of an on-site resident director. Valpo partners with International Education Programs, or IEP. Other sites students can study in include Athens, Greece; Granada, Spain; Zaragoza, Spain; Cergy-Pointoise, France; La Rochelle, France; Paris, France; Limerick, Ireland; Newcastle, Australia; Rottenburg am Neckar, Germany; Tübingen, Germany; Chiang Mai, Thailand; Delhi, India; Coimbatore, India; Osaka, Japan; Viña Del Mar, Chile; Puebla, Mexico; and Windhoek, Namibia.


Distance learning

The university offers online degree programs such as the Post-MSN Doctorate in Nursing Practice. The accelerated degree programs are Web-based and allow versatile learning.


Reputation and rankings

In the 2022 '' U.S. News & World Report'' university rankings, Valpo was ranked 176 among national universities. ''U.S. News & World Report'' rated Valpo 43rd in "Best Value Schools", #186 in Top Performers on Social Mobility, and #15 in Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs. ''
Washington Monthly ''Washington Monthly'' is a bimonthly, nonprofit magazine of United States politics and government that is based in Washington, D.C. The magazine is known for its annual ranking of American colleges and universities, which serves as an alternat ...
'', which publishes its College Guide annually, ranked Valpo #149 for social mobility, #182 for research, and #291 for service among national universities.


Student body


Students

Valparaiso University Students are from geographically diverse backgrounds. Of the nearly 3,000 students, only one-third is from the school's home state of
Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
. The remainder come from almost every other state of the United States and from nearly 50 countries. Over half graduate in the top quarter of their
high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
class, and 77 percent return to Valpo after their freshman year. Annually, more than $26 million is awarded by the university to more than 80 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-one percent of Valparaiso University students live on the school's city campus, as University regulations require nearly all students who do not have senior status to live in residence halls. Twenty-seven percent of students are
Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
, and 75 percent participate in faith-related activities. Valpo supports more than 100 student-administered organizations, clubs, and activities. Fifty percent participate in
intramural Intramural sports are recreational sports organized within a particular institution, usually an educational institution, or a set geographic region. The term, which is chiefly North American, derives from the Latin words ''intra muros'' meaning " ...
athletics, and more than 1,000 students give more than 45,000 hours of community service to the region each year.


Greek life

More than 25 percent of Valpo students are members of one of the school's ten national
fraternities A fraternity (from Latin ''frater'': "brother"; whence, "brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club or fraternal order traditionally of men associated together for various religious or secular aims. Fraternity in ...
or six national
sororities Fraternities and sororities are Club (organization), social organizations at colleges and universities in North America. Generally, membership in a fraternity or sorority is obtained as an Undergraduate education, undergraduate student, but conti ...
. The Greek Life community is coordinated by the "Interfraternity Council" for fraternities and by the "Panhellenic Council" for the sororities. Many of the fraternities were local until the 1950s, when they were accepted as chapters into national and international fraternities. The sororities had no national affiliation until 1998. In the 2013-2014 Fraternity & Sorority Life Annual Report, more than 10,000 hours of community service and $45,000 of financial report to local and national non-profits were reported. All but one organization had a cumulative GPA above 3.0 during the spring semester, and the average GPA across all Greek Life was 3.247. In 2015, the university announced plans to construct new housing for all five sororities. The two-story, building will occupy a site west of the Athletics-Recreation Center. Each sorority will occupy a 25-bed portion of the complex and share a single chapter room. Construction will begin in March 2015 and be completed by the end of the year. ;Fraternities *
Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never restricted membership on the basis of color, creed ...
*
Lambda Chi Alpha Lambda Chi Alpha (), commonly known as Lambda Chi, is a college fraternity in North America which was founded at Boston University in 1909. It is one of the largest social fraternities in North America, with more than 300,000 lifetime members a ...
*
Phi Delta Theta Phi Delta Theta (), commonly known as Phi Delt, is an international secret and social fraternity founded at Miami University in 1848 and headquartered in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, along with Beta Theta Pi and Sigma Chi form the Miami Triad ...
*
Phi Kappa Psi Phi Kappa Psi (), commonly known as Phi Psi, is an American collegiate social fraternity that was founded by William Henry Letterman and Charles Page Thomas Moore in Widow Letterman's home on the campus of Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pen ...
*
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America (colloquially known as Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Phi Mu Alpha, or simply Sinfonia) () is an American collegiate social fraternity for men with a special interest in music. The fraternity is open to men "w ...
*
Phi Sigma Kappa Phi Sigma Kappa (), colloquially known as Phi Sig or PSK, is a men's social and academic fraternity with approximately 74 active chapters and provisional chapters in North America. Most of its first two dozen chapters were granted to schools in ...
*
Pi Kappa Alpha Pi Kappa Alpha (), commonly known as PIKE, is a college fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1868. The fraternity has over 225 chapters and colonies across the United States and abroad with over 15,500 undergraduate members over 30 ...
*
Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American fraternal literary societies. The fraternity has 244 active (undergraduate) chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has initiated more tha ...
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Sigma Phi Epsilon Sigma Phi Epsilon (), commonly known as SigEp, is a social college fraternity for male college students in the United States. It was founded on November 1, 1901, at Richmond College (now the University of Richmond), and its national headquarte ...
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Sigma Pi Sigma Pi () is a collegiate fraternity with 233 chapters at American universities. As of 2021, the fraternity had more than 5,000 undergraduate members and over 110,000 alumni. Sigma Pi headquarters are in Nashville, Tennessee. The fraternity ...
;Sororities *
Alpha Gamma Delta Alpha Gamma Delta (), also known as Alpha Gam, is an international women's fraternity and social organization. It was founded on May 30, 1904, by eleven female students at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York, making it the youngest member ...
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Chi Omega Chi Omega (, also known as ChiO) is a women's fraternity and a member of the National Panhellenic Conference, the umbrella organization of 26 women's fraternities. Chi Omega has 181 active collegiate chapters and approximately 240 alumnae chapte ...
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Gamma Phi Beta Gamma Phi Beta (, also known as GPhi or Gamma Phi) is an international college sorority. It was founded in Syracuse University in 1874, and was the first of the Greek organizations to call itself a sorority. The main archive URL iThe Baird's Man ...
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Kappa Delta Kappa Delta (, also known as KD or Kaydee) was the first sorority founded at the State Female Normal School (now Longwood University), in Farmville, Virginia. Kappa Delta is one of the "Farmville Four" sororities founded at the university, wh ...
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Kappa Kappa Gamma Kappa Kappa Gamma (), also known simply as Kappa or KKG, is a collegiate sorority founded at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois, United States. It has a membership of more than 260,000 women, with 140 collegiate chapters in the United States a ...
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Pi Beta Phi Pi Beta Phi (), often known simply as Pi Phi, is an international women's fraternity founded at Monmouth College, in Monmouth, Illinois on April 28, 1867 as I. C. Sorosis, the first national secret college society of women to be modeled after ...
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Sigma Lambda Gamma Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority, Incorporated () (also known as Gammas or SLG) is a national sorority. It was founded on April 9, 1990, at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, by five collegiate women who wanted an organization to em ...


Honor societies

Valparaiso hosts chapters of all major honors fraternities, including
Mortar Board Mortar Board is an American national honor society for college seniors. Mortar Board has 233 chartered collegiate chapters nationwide and 15 alumni chapters. History Mortar Board was the first national honor society for college senior women ...
National College Senior Honor Society. *
Alpha Epsilon Delta Alpha Epsilon Delta () is a U.S. health preprofessional honor society. The organization currently has more than 144,000 members within 186 chapters at universities throughout the United States, making it the world's largest Honor Society serving ...
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Alpha Lambda Delta Alpha Lambda Delta () is an honor society for students who have achieved a 3.5 GPA or higher during their first year or term of higher education. History Alpha Lambda Delta was founded in 1924 by the Dean of Women, Maria Leonard, at the Universit ...
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Alpha Psi Omega Alpha Psi Omega National Theatre Honor Society () is an American recognition fraternity for participants in collegiate theatre. History The ''Alpha Cast'' (Alpha Psi Omega's term for "chapter") was founded at Fairmont State College (now Fairm ...
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Beta Gamma Sigma Beta Gamma Sigma () is the International Business Honor Society. Founded in 1913 at the University of Wisconsin, University of Illinois and the University of California, it has over 980,000 members, selected from more than 600 collegiate chapters ...
* Chi Sigma Iota *
Gamma Theta Upsilon Gamma Theta Upsilon ( or GTU) is an international honor society in geography. History On May 15, 1928, a local professional fraternity by the name of Gamma Theta Upsilon was formed at Illinois State University under the guidance of Dr. R. G. Bu ...
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Eta Kappa Nu Eta Kappa Nu () or IEEE-HKN is the international honor society of the Computer Science and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). "The organization promotes excellence in the profession and in education through an emphasi ...
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Eta Sigma Phi Eta Sigma Phi () is a collegiate honor society for the study of Classics. It grew out of a local undergraduate classical club founded by a group of students in the Department of Greek at the University of Chicago in 1914. This organization late ...
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Kappa Delta Pi Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society in Education, () is an honor society for education. It was founded in 1911 and was one of the first discipline-specific honor societies. Its membership is limited to the top 20 percent of those entering ...
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Lambda Pi Eta Lambda Pi Eta () is the official Communication Studies honor society of the National Communication Association (NCA). As a member of the Association of College Honor Societies (ACHS), Lambda Pi Eta has more than 500 active chapters at four-year c ...
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Sigma Alpha Iota Sigma Alpha Iota () is a women's music fraternity. Formed to "uphold the highest standards of music" and "to further the development of music in America and throughout the world", it continues to provide musical and educational resources to its m ...
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Sigma Theta Tau The Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing () is the second-largest nursing organization in the world with approximately 135,000 active members. While often referred to by nurses as simply Sigma, its official name is "Sigma Theta ...
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Sigma Tau Delta Sigma Tau Delta () is an international excelled English honor society for students of English at four-year colleges and universities who are within the top 30% of their class and have a 3.5 GPA or higher. It presently has over 850 chapters in ...
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Tau Beta Pi The Tau Beta Pi Association (commonly Tau Beta Pi, , or TBP) is the oldest engineering honor society and the second oldest collegiate honor society in the United States. It honors engineering students in American universities who have shown a ...
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Theta Alpha Kappa Theta Alpha Kappa () is the national honor society for religious studies and theology. It was founded in 1976 at Manhattan College in Riverdale (the Bronx), New York City to recognize the academic achievements of religion and theology students. ...
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Pi Delta Phi Pi Delta Phi () is the National French Honor Society—La Société d'Honneur de Français—for undergraduate and graduate students at accredited public and private colleges and universities in the United States. Founded as a departmental honor ...
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Pi Sigma Alpha Pi Sigma Alpha ( or PSA), the National Political Science Honor Society, is the only honor society for college and university students of political and social sciences in the United States. Its purpose is to recognize and promote high academic ...
* Phi Alpha Theta *
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...
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Phi Epsilon Kappa Phi Epsilon Kappa () is a national professional fraternity for persons engaged in or pursuing careers in the fields of physical education, health, recreation, dance, human performance, exercise science, sports medicine and sports management. Histo ...
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Psi Chi Psi Chi () is a college student honor society in psychology with international outreach founded in 1929 at the University of Kansas in the United States. Psi Chi is one of the largest honor societies in the United States, with more than 1,150 cha ...
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Chi Epsilon Pi Chi Epsilon Pi () (Also known as XEP) is a national honor society for outstanding students in the field of meteorology/atmospheric sciences. The purpose of the society is mainly twofold: to serve as a means for awarding distinction to students wh ...


Student activism

Valparaiso University has a history of student activism. Prominent examples with long-lasting effects include: ;Kinsey Hall fire While many colleges amended or canceled the remainder of the 1969–1970 school year after the
Kent State shootings The Kent State shootings, also known as the May 4 massacre and the Kent State massacre,"These would be the first of many probes into what soon became known as the Kent State Massacre. Like the Boston Massacre almost exactly two hundred years bef ...
due to unrest, the Valparaiso administration ignored student calls for 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 is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2020, the population was 173,215, making it the 10th most populous county in Indiana. The county seat is Valparaiso. The county is part of Northwest Indiana, as well as the Chicago m ...
courthouse. Continued protests led to discussions between the administration and student leaders. When these talks failed, still-unidentified students set fire to the empty Kinsey Hall administrative building in the early morning. The fire destroyed the building. ;Student-led restoration of engineering college The existence of Valparaiso University's College of Engineering is the result of student activism. The university's engineering program had been reduced to a two-year associate 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, 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's 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''.


Student media

Valparaiso University's student media organizations ( WVUR: The Source, VUTV, The Beacon, The Torch, and The Lighter) are all award-winning and long-standing. Though the organizations are all award-winning, many of their student participants have also won awards for their work in the student-run media organizations.


Athletics

Valpo's colors are
brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...
and
gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
and athletic teams are known as the Beacons. 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 mostly participate in
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
Division I (I-FCS for
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
) in the
Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest. History The MVC was established ...
. Valparaiso competes in four sports that the MVC does not sponsor. The football team plays in the
Pioneer Football League The Pioneer Football League (PFL) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as a football-only conference. It has member s ...
at Brown Field. Men's swimming and men's tennis compete in the
Summit League The Summit League, or The Summit, is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference with its membership mostly located in the Midwestern United States from Illinois on the East of the Mississippi River to the Dakotas and Nebraska on the W ...
, and bowling (a women-only sport at the NCAA level) competes in the
Southland Bowling League The Southland Bowling League (SBL) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) bowling-only conference. The SBL was founded in 2015 for schools that sponsor women's bowling teams, but do not have bowling sponsored by their primary confere ...
. In 1942, Valparaiso University fielded the tallest basketball team in the world, and the so-called "Valparaiso Giants" or "The World's Tallest Team" played at
Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
in the 1944–1945 season. The VU football team played in the Cigar Bowl on New Year's Day 1951. Valpo is also known for its men's basketball head coach
Homer Drew Homer Walter Drew Jr. (born September 29, 1944) is an American former college basketball coach and administrator who coached at Washington State Cougars men's basketball, Washington State, LSU, Bethel College (Indiana), Bethel College, Indiana-So ...
and his son Bryce Drew, who led the team to its Sweet Sixteen appearance in the 1998 NCAA basketball tournament by making "
The Shot The Shot was a basketball play that occurred during a 1989 playoff game between the Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). It took place on May 7, 1989 at Richfield Coliseum in Richfield Township, ...
", 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. The men's soccer team won the Horizon League regular season conference championship in 2011. Men's basketball followed with a 2011 Horizon League crown of its own while the baseball and softball teams both won regular season and Horizon League Tournament titles, representing the conference in the NCAA Tournament. In addition, the bowling team earned a berth at the NCAA Championships in just its third season of existence. In addition, Head Coach Carin Avery led the women's volleyball team to great success recently. In their 2014–2015 season they pursued their 13th consecutive 20-win season. They were one of 10 programs nationwide to have won at least 20 matches in each of the previous 12 years, during which time Avery led the team to three conference regular season and tournament championships, as well as advancing to the NCAA Tournament on three occasions. In the spring of 2013 the men's golf team won the Horizon League Championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. NCAA Division I teams include baseball (men), basketball, bowling (women), cross country, football (men), golf, soccer, softball (women), swimming, tennis, track & field, and volleyball. The university has cheerleading and spirit squads, as well as several intramural and club sports: flag football, innertube water polo, miniature golf, sand volleyball, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, ultimate frisbee, and volleyball. On February 11, 2021, Valparaiso announced it would retire the "Crusaders" nickname because of the "negative connotation and violence associated with the Crusader imagery". On August 10, 2021 "Beacons" was announced as the new nickname.


Notable people


Faculty

*
Marcia Bunge Marcia J. Bunge (born 1954) is an American Lutheran theologian. She is Professor of Religion and the Bernhardson Distinguished Chair of Lutheran Studies at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota. Biography A graduate of St. Olaf Colleg ...
, theologian in Christ College from 1997 to 2012 who researches children and childhood in religion and ethics *
Faisal Kutty Faisal Kutty is a lawyer, academic, writer, public speaker and human rights activist. He is Visiting Associate Professor of LAWS at Southwestern Law School. He served as an adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School and was an Associate Prof ...
, law; internationally recognized scholar, writer and public speaker * Gilbert Meilaender, ethics and theology; held the Duesenberg Chair in Christian Ethics from 1996 to 2014, as of 2020 Senior Research Professor of Theology. Also serves as a Fellow of the
Hastings Center The Hastings Center is an independent, nonpartisan bioethics research institute and think tank based in Garrison, New York. It was instrumental in establishing the field of bioethics and is among the most prestigious bioethics and health policy i ...
and as Paul Ramsey Fellow at the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture * Walter Wangerin, Jr., English and theology;
National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...
winning author of The Book of the Dun Cow


Alumni

* R.J.Q. Adams, M.A. 1969, historian *
Adam Amin Adam Amin (born December 19, 1986) is an American sportscaster. Amin joined Fox Sports in June 2020 as a play-by-play announcer for MLB and NFL games after previously working for ESPN from 2011-2020. He is also the television play-by-play annou ...
, ESPN play-by-play broadcaster * Roy E. Ayers, member of the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...
and as the 11th Governor of Montana * Fredrick Barton, novelist and film critic *
Chris Bauman Chris Bauman is a Canadian football wide receiver-slotback for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was drafted first overall by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the 2007 CFL Draft and spent four seasons with the team befo ...
, entertainment entrepreneur and independent music activist * Frederick M. Bernthal,
Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs The 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. The Assista ...
from 1988 to 1990 * Anthony Bimba (1894–1982), Lithuanian-American Communist historian and newspaper editor *
Beulah Bondi Beulah Bondi (born Beulah Bondy; May 3, 1889 – January 11, 1981)According to the State of California. ''California Death Index, 1940–1997''. Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California. At ...
, actress *
Mikhail Borodin Mikhail Markovich Gruzenberg, known by the alias Borodin, zh, 鮑羅廷 (9 July 1884 – 29 May 1951), was a Bolshevik revolutionary and Communist International (Comintern) agent. He was an advisor to Sun Yat-sen and the Kuomintang (KMT) i ...
,
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
and
Comintern The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet Union, Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to ...
representative to China * LeRoy Earl Brophey Sr., Minnesota state representative and lawyer *
Alys McKey Bryant Alys McKey Bryant ( McKey; 1880–1954) was an American aviator. She was the first woman to fly on the Pacific Coast and in Canada, and one of the few female members of the Early Birds of Aviation—individuals who had solo piloted an aircraft p ...
, aviation pioneer *
John E. Cashman John Edward Cashman (1865–1946) was a politician in Wisconsin. Cashman was born in Franklin, Kewaunee County, Wisconsin. He attended Valparaiso University and the University of Chicago Law School. Career Cashman was a member of the Wisconsin ...
,
Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
State Senator *
JoBe Cerny JoBe Cerny (born December 5, 1947), sometimes credited as Jo Be Cerny, is an American actor. He is best known as the current voice of the Pillsbury Doughboy, succeeding Paul Frees and Jeff Bergman, and as Procter & Gamble's silent spokesman, The C ...
, owner, Cerny/American Creative; character actor and voice of the
Pillsbury Doughboy Poppin' Fresh, more widely known as the Pillsbury Doughboy, is an advertising mascot for the Pillsbury Company, appearing in many of their commercials. Many commercials from 1965 until 2005 (together with some for GEICO between 2009 and 2017) en ...
*
Paul Chambers Paul Laurence Dunbar Chambers Jr. (April 22, 1935 – January 4, 1969) was an American jazz double bassist. A fixture of rhythm sections during the 1950s and 1960s, he has become one of the most widely-known jazz bassists of the hard bop era. ...
, CNN anchor/film critic *
Stoyan Christowe Stoyan Christowe (also known as Stojan Hristoff) was an American author, journalist and noted Vermont political figure. Born in then Konomladi (then a part of the Ottoman Empire), he is best remembered as the author of six books written about ...
, writer, journalist, member of the
Vermont Senate The Vermont Senate is the upper house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The senate consists of 30 members. Senate districting divides the 30 members into three single-member districts, six two-m ...
from 1959 to 1972. *
Patrick Roger Cleary Patrick Roger Cleary (1858-1948) (known locally as P.R. Cleary) was the founder and namesake of Cleary University in Howell, Michigan. Patrick Roger Cleary was born in Nenagh in Ireland in 1858.Ann Cleary Kettles, ''Ypsilanti Gleanings'', Spring ...
, founder of
Cleary University Cleary University is a private university focused on business education with its main campus in Livingston County, Michigan. It also has an education center located in Detroit. Cleary University offers certificate, ABA, BBA, MS, and MBA programs. ...
* Jay Christopher, cofounder of '' The Pampered Chef'' * Thurman C. Crook, a
United States representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
from Indiana * Andre "Add-2" Daniels, rapper *
Blanche Evans Dean Blanche Evans Dean (June 12, 1892 – May 31, 1974) was an American naturalist, conservation movement, conservationist and schoolteacher. Biography Dean was born Viola Blanche Evans in 1892 to John James and Catherine Evans, the youngest of th ...
, naturalist, conservationist, and author; honored in the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame *Marcellus Dorwin, Wisconsin State Assemblyman *Scott Drew, College basketball coach and NCAA National Champion * Bryce Drew, College basketball coach and former National Basketball Association, NBA player *David W. Dugan, United States Federal District Court Judge, Southern District of Illinois *Michael Essany, television talk show host *Don Fites, chairman and CEO (retired), Caterpillar Inc. *Edward Grassman, Wisconsin State Assemblyman *Walter Hunt (Wisconsin), Walter Hunt, Wisconsin State Senator *Samuel B. Huston, former attorney and state legislator in Oregon *Omer Stokes Jackson, 28th Indiana Attorney General *Andrieus A. Jones, Senator, supported New Mexico statehood (1885) *Reuben Leon Kahn, Reuben Kahn, immunologist and inventor of a test for syphilis *Barbara Ann Kipfer, prolific linguistics, linguist and lexicographer *Keith Kizer, former executive director, Nevada State Athletic Commission, and Nevada Chief Deputy Attorney General *Moses Lairy, Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court *Edgar E. Lien, Wisconsin State Assemblyman *Cal Luther, college basketball coach *John Lutz, actor, "30 Rock;" writer, "Saturday Night Live" *Jacki Lyden, a senior correspondent at NPR and author of ''Daughter of the Queen of Sheba'' *Idael Makeever, poet *William March, novelist, ''Company K'', ''The Bad Seed'' *Lloyd McClendon, MLB player and manager *James F. McDowell (Wisconsin politician), James F. McDowell, Wisconsin State Assemblyman *H. Lane Mitchell, public works commissioner in Shreveport, Louisiana, Shreveport, Louisiana, from 1934 to 1968; graduated from Valparaiso with degree in engineering *George William Norris, United States Senator from Nebraska and father of the Tennessee Valley Authority *Eugene E. Parker, sports attorney and agent to Larry Fitzgerald, Deion Sanders, Hines Ward, Greg Jennings, Ndamukong Suh, Michael Crabtree, and many other NFL players *Rebecca R. Pallmeyer, United States federal judge *William Edmunds Plummer, Wisconsin State Assemblyman *Caleb Powers, United States Representative from Kentucky; Secretary of State of Kentucky; convicted as an accessory to murder of the state governor *William P. Richardson (law school dean), William P. Richardson (1864–1945), co-founder and first Dean of Brooklyn Law School *David Ruprecht, host, ''Supermarket Sweep'', ''Real People'' *Paul Schrage, designer of the "Golden Arches" logo; senior vice-president and Chief Marketing Officer McDonald's Corporation, 1967–1997 *Kathi Seifert, Executive Vice President Kimberly-Clark 1991–2004, one of Forbes Magazine's top 10 businesswomen 2001 *Benjamin Shively, United States Senate, U.S. Senator from Indiana, 1909–1916 *Judith Sherman, multi-Grammy award-winning record producer *James Monroe Smith, president of Louisiana State University, 1930-1939 *Len Small, 26th Governor of Illinois *Rene Steinke, novelist of ''The Fires'' and ''Holy Skirts'' *Donald Edgar Tewes, United States Representative from Wisconsin *Lowell Thomas, author of over 50 books, a war correspondent during World War I who made T.E. Lawrence Lawrence of Arabia internationally famous in print and by filming him; pioneer broadcast journalist; world traveler; 1976 Presidential Medal of Freedom *Jill Long Thompson, United States Representative from Indiana 1989–1995, Under Secretary of Agriculture for Rural Development 1995–2001, 2010 Presidential appointee to board overseeing the federal Farm Credit Administration. *Fred Thurston, Frederick "Fuzzy" Thurston, All-pro guard for the Green Bay Packers, 1959–67 *Jim Wacker, former football coach at the University of Minnesota * Austin Walton, certified NBA agent and owner of Walton Sports Management Group *Otis Wingo, U.S. representative from Arkansas's 4th congressional district, 1913–1930 *Lowell Yerex, aviation entrepreneur *Ginger Zee, meteorologist, ''Good Morning America'' and ABC News


References


External links

*
Valparaiso University Athletics website
* {{authority control Valparaiso University, Lutheran universities and colleges in the United States Buildings and structures in Valparaiso, Indiana Educational institutions established in 1859 Private universities and colleges in Indiana Northwest Indiana Education in Porter County, Indiana Tourist attractions in Porter County, Indiana 1859 establishments in Indiana