Valparaiso University history

The combination of factors proved too much to overcome for the Male and Female College, and the school closed in 1871.

The school, reopened by Henry Baker Brown in 1873, was named the Northern Indiana Normal School and Business Institute.

“America’s greatest character actress,” according to United Artists, MGM, and Paramount, was born Beulah Bondy in 1888.

Until 1900, the school went by the name Northern Indiana Normal School and Business Institute.

In 1905 the university formed an affiliation with Chicago College of Dental Surgery to provide dental education for its students.

Yet, once enrollment peaked in 1907, venerable Valpo plunged into an unexpected, two-decade-long decline.

With 6,000 students on the rolls in 1914–15, Valparaiso was the second largest university in the United States, after Harvard University.

The university began intercollegiate athletic competition in 1916.

In 1919, Indiana passed a new law requiring private colleges to maintain a half-million dollar endowment.

By July of 1923, the trustees of Valparaiso University and the Klan were talking.

In 1925, the organization helped fund a hospital in Logansport that catered only to Protestants.

When the college moved back to the Windy City in 1926, it formed the nucleus of Loyola’s medical program.

In 1929, the Valparaiso Vidette Messenger printed excerpts of colorful New York reviews of Bondi’s portrayals:

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 in 1938.

Bondi received recognition and accolades for her supporting roles, receiving commendation by the New York Times for her role in the 1939 film On Borrowed Time, in which she played opposite Lionel Barrymore.

In 1940, O. P. Kretzmann became president of the university.

In 1941, VU instituted its Department of Art.

VU created its Honor Code in 1943 and remains in place today, as students continue to write the code on top of assignments.

Valparaiso University bought about 90 acres (36 ha) of land in 1944 east of campus near the corner of Sturdy Road and US Highway 30.

In 1956, Valpo’s chapel-auditorium was destroyed by fire.

The university quickly rebuilt its worship space: the Chapel of the Resurrection was dedicated on September 27, 1959.

The campus radio station WVUR-FM began broadcasting in 1960.

President Kretzmann founded Christ College, the honors college of Valparaiso University, in 1967.

Robert F. Kennedy 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, England, and Reutlingen, Germany.

The first class of the College of Nursing graduated in 1971.

The Vidette Messenger aptly concluded in 1976 that Bondi “deserves a place in the series of local celebrities-and unlike some who have gone off to conspicuous success in the entertainment world-she never belittled the town that was the scene of her childhood.

At the sunset of her career, Bondi received an Emmy award in 1977 for Outstanding Lead Actress for a Single Appearance in a Drama or Comedy Series for her portrayal as Aunt Martha on an episode of The Waltons.

In 1991, Valpo became home to the Lilly Fellows Program, a national program that supports young scholar-teachers, during its inaugural year.

In 2002, a new international study center was established in Hangzhou, China.

Christopher Center for Library and Information Resources was built in 2004.

In 2008, Mark Heckler became Valparaiso University's 18th president.

President Heckler announced his retirement as of September 2020, and Colette Irwin-Knott was named as Interim President.