Valparaiso University

Valparaiso University, commonly known as Valpo, is a regionally accredited private university located in Valparaiso, Indiana, United States. The university is a coed, four-year, private institution that enrolls about 4,500 students from over 50 countries on a campus of 350 acres (140 ha). Valpo consists of five undergraduate colleges, a graduate school, and a law school. It is the largest independent Lutheran university in the United States and is home to the second-largest collegiate chapel in the world, the Chapel of the Resurrection. Originally named Valparaiso Male and Female College, Valparaiso University was founded in 1859 as one of the first coeducation colleges in the United States. Due to reverses brought about by the Civil War, the college was forced to close its doors in 1871. Two years later it was revived by educator Henry Baker Brown and named Northern Indiana Normal School and Business Institute. At the turn of the 20th century, Brown changed the college's name to Valparaiso College, and shortly after it was rechartered as Valparaiso University. Initially founded by Methodists, in 1925 the school was purchased by the Lutheran University Association, which continues to operate it today.

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.” Due to the fallout of the Civil War, the school closed in 1871. At this time, most men (both students and administrative members) had enrolled in the army. In addition, Indiana passed an 1867 bill that provided state support for public education, and the Methodists’ broad statewide efforts toward higher education meant that none of the schools were self-sustaining. The combination proved too much to overcome for the Male and Female College.

Campus:

The Old Campus of Valparaiso University is both adjacent to and a part of the historic downtown district of the city. Old Campus is the site of the School of Law, 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 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 located 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. Located north of Old Campus is the College of Nursing, whose students use SIMMAN, a robotic patient simulator used to train students in real life treatment to better serve their education.

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 and most of the academic buildings. At the center of campus is the Chapel of the Resurrection, a 98-foot (30 m)-high building that is the home of Valparaiso University's many worship services and convocations. Built on the highest elevation of land on the university's campus, it has been a Northwest Indiana landmark since 1959. In 2011, Rev. Mark and Kathy Helge gave a $15-million gift for a major expansion to the chapel. The 11,000-square-foot (1,000 m2) 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.

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, the university's student-run radio station, and 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 contains two suites of labs that support advanced undergraduate research in areas such as materials science and energy systems.[20] The College of Engineering has both a 16-inch (406 mm) computerized reflecting telescope to aid in NASA research and VisBox-X2, a virtual reality system used to immerse students in a visualized three-dimensional image. The 52,000-square-foot (4,800 m2) Arts and Sciences Building, located adjacent to the Christopher Center for Library and Information Resources, opened in 2012 and houses state-of-the-art classrooms and offices for faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences. A "STEM village" consisting 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 is scheduled to be 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 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 202,000-square-foot (18,800 m2), $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 on campus, 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, 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.