Looking for information about campus life. Religious expectations? Ability to get involved with multiple clubs and groups? Support systems?
We are trying to make choices while we can’t really visit because of covid… (sigh)
Any insights- positive or negative would be welcomed.
To answer some of your questions about Valparaiso:
There’s no requirement to go to Chapel, but students do have to take two theology courses. These are mostly about Christianity, but some on other religions and philosophies.
There are a good number of clubs, but the commuter student population is pretty high (over 30% so that means a large chunk of the undergrads aren’t involved on campus). Sororities and fraternities are especially strong as a way of building community, and generally pretty nice (not toxic).
Campus culture is sort of iffy in the wake of COVID (like probably a lot of schools), but especially because of the budget problems and all the program discontinuances and staff and faculty layoffs. A lot of students were unhappy at losing their programs mid-way through or the range of course offerings they had expected.
The new president is trying to court Hispanic students and to revive a sports culture to help with the declining enrollment (90% admittance, 10% yield) and retention (77%) problems.
Professor are generally dedicated and willing to write letters of rec for students or to try to help make connections for internships and jobs.
The downtown (about a 15 minute walk from campus) is nice and has an ice rink in Winter. Getting to Chicago is pretty hard, so only worth it on a long weekend.