ELCA News Blog
June 29, 2007
Valparaiso University president announces retirement, fundraising campaign
by Lauren A. Lamb, ELCA News Service*
Dr. Alan F. Harre, president, Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Ind., announced at a news conference this week that he will retire June 30, 2008. He also introduced a $200 million campaign to support the university. Harre said he is committed to ensuring the success of the fundraising campaign, which is scheduled to end in 2009 during the university's celebration of its 150 years. Valparaiso University is an independent Lutheran institution.
"I consider the campaign to be an appropriate capstone to my career," Harre said. "In addition to providing immediate benefits to the campus community, it will help ensure that my successor inherits a thriving institution poised for new levels of greatness." The fundraising campaign will focus on building Valparaiso's endowment and three capital projects, including completion of a 202,000-square-foot student union now under construction, Harre said. The campaign follows a $75 million campaign, publicly launched in April 2000 and concluded in 2002, which raised more than $121 million in gifts. The new campaign will fund improvements to recreational and athletic facilities and improvements to instructional space for the College of Engineering, while building an endowment to support faculty and provide scholarships for students.
Harre, an ordained minister of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, was named president of Valparaiso University in 1988. David J. Hessler, chair of the university's board of directors, said a search committee is being appointed to coordinate selection of the university's 18th president. The committee is expected to recommend its choice to the board no later than spring 2008, according to Hessler.
*Lauren A. Lamb is a senior public relations and speech communication major at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. This summer she is an intern with the ELCA News Service.
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