Place Affects Mission: Enhancing the Student Experience

As summer slips into fall, the physical environment of Valparaiso University continues to evolve.

The new South Chapel Drive, which extends from the Sturdy Road entrance to Guild and Memorial halls, is one of several physical enhancements that have occurred on campus in accordance with a master plan adopted by the VU Board of Directors in 1997. Facilities proposed under the plan, such as the Christopher Center for Library and Information Resources, are designed to enhance students’ educational experiences and the university’s national reputation and brand as well.

“We chose facilities that we think have the potential to impact the greatest number of students,” says VU President Alan Harre.

Opening in the fall of 2004, the Christopher Center drew four times as many students than the old library did the previous fall. Students, faculty and staff daily reap the benefits of the center—and other recently constructed buildings such as Kallay-Christopher Hall and Kade-Duesenberg German House and Cultural Center. The university has now turned its attention to the next priority, a new union.

The current Valparaiso Union, which opened in 1955 to a population of 2,000 students, has served the campus well but is no longer sufficient for today’s enrollment of 3,900.

“An adequate union is not a luxury,” says University Archivist Mel Doering ’53, who helped plan the existing union. “As a cultural, recreational and social center, it is an essential and significant part of a truly sound liberal education. It is a laboratory for leadership development.”

The need for a new union is clear, and so are the advantages. At 206,000-square-feet, the proposed union is more than four times the size of the current 50,000-square-foot structure.

Highlights include: a large central dining hall, a cafe, a convenience store, a post office and mailbox for each student on campus, and a bookstore that also would carry Valpo merchandise for alumni. The building would provide room for symposia and other events for 1,000 people and serve the more than 100 student organizations on campus.

Like all new campus facilities, the proposed union would be constructed using funds raised from generous alumni and friends.

“The union is a critical next step in fulfilling the university’s campus master plan,” says President Harre. “We believe this facility will have the greatest impact in enhancing the educational experience for all students. It underscores the faith-based, residential community education that distinguishes Valparaiso University, and is the central element to help VU achieve brand recognition and boost student recruitment and retention.”