Valparaiso University is a private institution of higher learning in Valparaiso, Indiana. It was founded by the Methodists in 1859 as Valparaiso Male and Female College. The school closed in 1871, after the American Civil War. Educator Henry Baker Brown reopened the school in 1873 as Northern Indiana Normal School and Business Institute. The school was renamed Valparaiso College in 1900, and it became Valparaiso University in 1906. The university fell into bankruptcy and was purchased by the Lutheran University Association in 1925. It remains affiliated with the Lutheran Church but welcomes students of all religious backgrounds.
Valparaiso University is often referred to as “Valpo.” Its sports teams are nicknamed the Beacons. Well-known graduates of Valparaiso University have included Richard G. Hatcher, the first African American mayor of Gary, Indiana, and United States Senator George W. Norris, who served in the Senate from 1913 to 1943.
The university’s website at https://www.valpo.edu/ offers additional information.
