Valpo (Not a Cereal) - Melting Down - This Conflict Concerns the School Selling Off Donated Paintings

 

Museum for sale! Yoohoo!
Christina refused to attend Valpo and wisely chose Augustana College.
We met at Augie on the first day of English 101.

In a related development, Richard Brauer, the museum's founding director and namesake, formally withdrew his efforts to intervene in the university's petition to the Porter Superior Court.

According to a press release from Brauer, the decision to withdraw was driven as a result of mounting legal pressure.

"It was a very difficult decision. The university was threatening me, and my attorney, who was representing me pro bono, with sanctions if the court rejected my petition to intervene. The thought of that fight made me sick to my stomach. A 97-year-old man, and the attorney working for free, facing untold thousands of dollars in sanctions and fines? It was not a position I could afford to be in. I did not want my heir paying fines to Valparaiso University over my decision to try and save the museum which bears my name," Brauer said.

Brauer, who sought to prevent the sale, emphasized that his involvement stemmed from a desire to protect the legacy of Sloan, the benefactor whose trust funded the museum's collection.

"The University President signed a sworn pleading that I had ventured far from Sloan's intent," Brauer said. "Sloan's collection included multiple works of what the university now deems 'non-conservative paintings.' I applied to intervene to identify the inconsistencies and inaccuracies in the university's petition as it pertained to me, and in the process recover my good name. I will now let the university face the consequences of its efforts."

Following declining enrollment, the university's annual expenses have grown exponentially. The projected operating deficit for the 2023-2024 fiscal year is $9 million.

"I still hold out hope the President and the Board of Directors will back away from this very dangerous wager. If they do sell the paintings, however, I will ask to have my name removed from the museum, as I will be ashamed to have my name associated with this affair," Brauer said.

Very unseemly.  Published, though, I think, in the Valpo newsletter - The Torch.

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Dave Benke

It's OK to Pray

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GJ - Colleges and universities are shutting down, due to trends that were perfectly obvious 35 years ago (ELCA born, 1989). WELS DP John Seifert said to the pastors, "In a few years you will not recognize the Wisconsin Synod." The incompetence and abuse of funds in the Big Five are a warning (ignored) for the future.

    I remember the WELS SP (Synod Poltroon) who said, "If we spend more than $8 million dollars, we will pull the plug on Martin Luther College." Soon after he said, "They already have the bulldozers there!" According to one source, they spent $30 million." That genius SP was previously hauled into court for wasting the funds given to a widow and forced to pay a million to her (so I heard). A Circuitous Pastor said, "We will have to be more careful about the funds we accept." I know someone who still laughs about that gigantic fib. It was the deceased fault that he donated a business to WELS (Giving Counselor alert)! But that is the way they are - antinomians who cannot be wrong because they were born (preferably in Wisconsin) guilt-free, absolved, righteous.

    More could be said.

Like LCMS sheep, WELS chased after the worst of the worst - including the gay Roman Catholic Archbishop, now attending his honorary roast.

This fellow was not the gay pope at GA. 

News About Valparaiso University - The Canary in the Coalmine

 

"It looks like we are going to need a bigger mask!"

"The president of Valpo announced today that the theology major and minor will be discontinued. If you read his announcement closely, you will see that what will replace that major and minor will be something dealing with "religion," but it is unclear to the theology and philosophy faculty how this new, reimagined program will look or how it will be taught, given the serious faculty reduction in the theo/phil dept. The only remaining philosophy faculty member was informed this morning that his position will be terminated at the end of the next academic year. With my departure, the dept. has just three remaining tenured faculty members whose graduate degrees are in Christian theology.

Unclear to me is how theology will continue to be a required component in the gen. ed. curriculum, given the very small size of the dept. Perhaps the administration intends to hire cheap labor to teach those required courses? (I think we had as many part-time and adjunct faculty teaching theo courses this past year as we had full-time tenured theo faculty.)

Among the other programs that will be discontinued are the bachelor of music (all concentrations), the German major, philosophy major and minor, and the theology and ministry major. Christ College lost its secondary humanities major. It now looks like the admin. plans to shutter the Brauer Art Museum for good, perhaps selling off the art collection to raise money for dorm renovations (?). It is very difficult for me to fathom the end of theology and German at Valpo, two historically stellar depts--both tied to German Reformation history and American church history--but that's the current situation.

I heard this morning that enrollments are significantly down." Matt Becker

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"This turn at Valpo is truly disturbing, and matches ironically with the impending demise of Concordia Ann Arbor.  The Concordia Matters Official Page at Facebook keeps documenting the incredibly awkward and mission-absent methodologies being pushed on Ann Arbor. 

One thing that might have been a great next step would/could have been a decided effort by Valpo to reach out to these many stranded students and families with Valpo's quality Lutheran/Christian theology programs including music, German, philosophy and the like.  Which no longer exist. 

Both places have that downside feel of a fire sale.  Everything must go.  It's just going to take awhile.  We're running out of legacy institutions. 

And if you take the blinders off, that includes the local congregation as well.  I still like the advice given by Paul Hinlicky - work as hard as you can on the local Gospel mission.  It will be tougher than ever, but it will remain the beating heart of the Church.  Even when steeples and classrooms are closing."

Dave Benke It's OK To Pray

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"Valpo is in the news this morning for breaking ground on the new Rafi Interfaith Center. President Padilla joined our U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan (D) and the guy paying for it for the front page first shovel photo. The donor's daughter, a VU grad, led a Muslim prayer to kick off the event. Apparently the donor owns the land and is paying for the building, so Valpo is really just putting their name on it and incorporating into their programming.

Unfortunately, the article seems to be behind a paywall.

https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/education/vu-breaks-ground-on-interfaith-center/article_312fe11a-6192-11ef-bf9b-9f6823dc0c32.html"

Peter Speckhard

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GJ - The elderly ALPB Ovaltines have posted the reality of Valparaiso University and Ann Arbor. The same is happening at Bethany Lutheran College/Mini-Seminary and Martin Luther College School of Ministry. The ELS and WELS colleges are 29 miles apart, but they have spent about 30 million dollars on their two, gigantic gyms. "Build it and they might come." 

Have a look at ELCA's shrinking seminaries :(

 Link this for the combo.

Three Garfield Elementary School students, from the same class and neighborhood - Moline, Illinois, earned degrees at Yale University.

"The cost of attendance at some colleges is now nearing six figures a year, after factoring in tuition, fees, room and board, books, transportation and other expenses.

Among the schools appearing on The Princeton Review’s “The Best 389 Colleges” list, eight institutions — including New York University, Tufts, Brown, Yale and Washington University in St. Louis — have a sticker price of more than $90,000 for the 2024-25 academic year, according to data provided to CNBC."

Benke - "It's OK to pray at a pan-religious service at Yankee Stadium." - Mourning Losses with Father Weedon

 

"It's OK to pray at a pan-religious service at Yankee Stadium."
Benke was put back in office - Wallace Schulz was fired for doing the right thing.

ALPB Online Ovaltines

Quote from: Weedon on Yesterday at 08:16:08 PMI had heard that Slubs had died. I was very blessed to spend a day with him a couple years ago. He was at the seminary for a class anniversary and so I picked him up and gave him a tour of the IC and we enjoyed a lovely lunch. He was one of my favorite professors. Give my greetings to Greg (best man at my wedding!) and to Doc and Dorothy.

Will do.  One of the side effects of a college closing is the effect on the town/gown congregation connected to the college.  In Bronxville's case, the church across the street is Village Lutheran.  Their new neighbor is Iona College, which purchased the Concordia property.  They seem to have survived, with their well-regarded day school continuing its outreach and mission function.  Some of the Concordia professors shepherded small congregations in the surrounding communities.  Tom Sluberski had charge of St. Matthew, Hasting-on-Hudson, for many years.  St. Matthew closed several years ago, and will soon become the office headquarters of the Atlantic District.

Since I spent about a third of my life on the Concordia campus where the District office was located, I literally have not returned to Bronxville since the college closed - too painful a reminder of loss.  Maybe the re-purposed offices at Hasting-on-Hudson will provide relief and hope.

Dave Benke

It's OK to Pray

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Dave Benke

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Yesterday at 07:49:27 PM

1) Closing the Music major is a big blow.  At Concordia Bronxville the music program offered through Concordia continues as an independent center in (I think) Stein Hall.  So there can be music after the music major.  Maybe they'll continue the summer program on campus.  Or

2) Go to St. Olaf:  https://wp.stolaf.edu/music/academics-in-music/.  I've heard them at Carnegie Hall - they're superb!  Maybe the summer institute could migrate to Northfield.

3) For Bronxville folks, a venerable professor passed away yesterday - Thomas Sluberski.  Funeral service Saturday at Village Lutheran.  Preaching will be Rev. Dr. Greg Walton.  I would imagine Ralph and Dorothy Schulz as well as Viji and Janet George will be there, past Concordia Presidents.

4) As harsh as these changes are at Valpo, and Jim presents well the challenges, the recent situation at CUWAA is best described as a debacle, poorly conceived, poorly delivered, and walked back with a stout version of the Missouri Synod there in Michigan openly talking about de-coupling from the attempted overreach.

5) Charles' point is well taken.  If and as there are vibrant campus ministries for Christian young people at secular college campuses, the various programs in the arts are most likely going to lead to better vocational choices at those colleges/universities and not at the expense of Christian growth.  Queens College, right down the block from me and in the City of New York University system, has a really fine music program, and is - yes - affordable. 

Dave Benke

It's OK to Pray

Valparaiso University in Crisis - Starting with Proposed Sale of Paintings, Which Are Hidden But Unsold

 

Mountain Landscape by Frederic Edwin Church

Valparaiso's decline began with a possible $20 million sale of three paintings, donated to the school.

A loud national uproar responded with questions about selling the art to pay for two Valpo dorms being renovated. Likewise, some of us have wondered about the obsession of building unaffordable gyms (Martin Luther OJ College and Bethany Lutheran OJ College) to attract more better students. The ELS and WELS professors are supposed to be synodical buddies, so why would they plunk down $30 million for two gyms within 35 miles of each other?

The paintings are now in a secure and undisclosed place. Lawyers are on full alert. Selling paintings for dorm improvements seems to be ludicrous, but removing theology from a soi-disant Lutheran school (Valpo) is pathetic.

An Indiana University’s Plan Sell $10M. Worth of Art to Fund Dorm Renovations Overcomes Legal Hurdle

In 1953, the donor trust agreement made between collector Percy H. Sloan, who donated nearly 400 works to the university including 276 by his father artist Junius Sloan, and Valparaiso University stipulated that “the collection shall be open to the public generally during … reasonable hours…; it being the intention of the parties to make the benefits of this collection available to all persons.” Though it required pieces from Sloan’s collection to be on view in a dedicated space, it made no clear provisions on the future sale of any of the artworks in the gift.

In a statement, Valparaiso University president Jose D. Padilla said that the plan “is consistent with the donor’s intent in that it will result in more students on campus and more students able to appreciate the art displayed at the university.”

But, but, but - trading paintings for a newly painted dorm or two is not consistent with the concept of a university.

Valpo's history is worthy of a small book. The new president, Jose Padilla, is a Roman Catholic. As of February 2024, the paintings remain unsold.

More "Oh Noes" Are Coming from Valporaiso

 

More information is here - https://www.valpo.edu/uplift-valpo/thrive-2/operational-sustainability/

From Matt Becker

Some elements in today's announcement did catch me and others by surprise. The proposal includes the elimination of tenure (even for those of us who have been tenured for decades [not sure they can do this, but that's in the proposal]), the establishment of one-year rolling contracts for all affected faculty (which means that any one of us could be told mid-year that our contract won't be renewed for next year), and the requirement (at least for me) to teach an additional course per semester at no additional pay. (I have been teaching a 3-3 load, and occasionally a 3-2 load, since I joined the faculty in 2004. The proposal requires a 4-4 teaching load for all affected faculty.)

It is not at all certain that the current theology requirement (two required 3-hr courses in the gen ed curriculum) will continue. The basic 200-level "Christian Tradition" course will likely continue, at least for a while, but the upper-division theo courses will likely go away. If that would happen, the dept would eventually disappear, since no prospective faculty member will want to come to an institution where they can't teach in their area of expertise and research. As theo faculty retire (or if their contracts are not renewed), those spots won't be filled. Who would want to join a dept if the university can only offer new faculty a one-year rolling contract, no tenure, no program per se, no support for research, just "service teaching" in the gen ed curriculum at a 4-4 level?

Valparaiso University (somewhat Lutheran) Is Kicking Out Their Theology Major and Minor

https://t.e2ma.net/webview/g32bun/8a9a26f09e8335a53b15c0ad06317119.

Here is a letter that went out today. Apparently the theology department got the news just this morning.

Dear Friends -
 
I'm writing to give you a heads up about some news that you may hear coming out of Valpo today. Over the past year we have been going through a program review as part of our strategic planning process. Part of that review includes evaluating the number of majors we offer and the enrollment in each program.
 
The decision has been made to place a small number of programs into a program discontinuance process. The Theology major and minor are among those programs. You can find the full information here: https://t.e2ma.net/webview/g32bun/8a9a26f09e8335a53b15c0ad06317119.
 
This does not mean that the programs will definitely be discontinued. It also doesn't mean that Theology would disappear even if the major and miner were discontinued. All of our students have to take 2 or 3 Theology courses depending on their major. Regardless of final decisions, all current students enrolled in these programs will be able to finish their degrees at Valpo.
 
I wanted to let you know about this before you hear about it elsewhere. The campus community received an email at 11:30 AM. The affected departments were informed this morning.
 
Valpo remains committed to its Lutheran identity and faith-based mission to prepare students "to lead and serve in church and society." This is evidenced by the fact that we have the highest number of students we've ever had in our Allen Scholars program. This program helps students discern how they are called to live out their Christian vocations. Many of those students are discerning a call to ministry; all of them will be fantastic leaders in their congregations.
 
What can you do?
 
1.   Please pray for our community...particularly those who are directly affected by the cuts.
 
2.   Feel free to reach out to me and/or the President's office to express your feedback. My email address is brian.beckstrom@valpo.edu and you can email the President at president.admin@valpo.edu.
3.   Please pray for wisdom and guidance for the coming review process. After I learned about the affected programs on Tuesday, I felt a lot of emotions. Now I find myself asking, "What is God up to at this moment? How is God calling us to reimagine the way we prepare ministry leaders and help all our students to develop theological literacy?"
 
Thank you for your prayers and faithful service to the church. May you be filled with the hope of the resurrection even as we travel with Jesus this Lenten season through the darkest valleys.
Blessings,
Brian