VALLEY CITY, N.D. (VCSU) – We had the opportunity to celebrate the retirement of Larry Robinson this past week with the official dedication and naming of the Larry J. Robinson Center for the Arts on June 10, 2024. It was a wonderful and celebratory event bringing a wide array of people back to VCSU. It was also a time for us to recognize the efforts of the building committee and all who contributed to the important details of the facility design.

This event was the culmination of a day full of VCSU Foundation related activities beginning with our annual donor recognition luncheon. This well attended luncheon recognized the contributions of many friends and patrons of our university. It is always an honor and privilege to publicly thank those individuals, families, and businesses, who have helped make the pathway to a college degree more attainable through their generosity and support.

Following this luncheon, our Foundation Board of Directors met for our annual June meeting. Several reports, including financial, director, president, and campaign were presented. The conversation was robust and engaging. The involvement and contributions of our board members to the ongoing health of our university is greatly appreciated and important to our future.

As I listened to the various reports and began reflecting on the importance of the day, I couldn’t help but reflect on the visionary thinking of past leaders, employees, alumni, and friends of the university. Dr. Ellen Chaffee was responsible for the formal organization of the VCSU Foundation in 1996. She, along with key campus and community leaders, recognized the significant importance of scholarship funding and the possibilities involving the university, community, and foundation working together to move the institution forward. Larry Robinson served as the first executive director until 2021 when he assumed the role of directing our first ever capital campaign, at which time Cory Anderson became the executive director. In the history of the VCSU Foundation, there have only been two directors.

It’s quite humbling and amazing to reflect on how far this institution has come over the years. In 2006, just ten years after establishing this entity, the VCSU Foundation had grown to a strong financial position of $2.2 million in assets. Today, almost twenty years later, we are providing almost that much in annual scholarship assistance to our students. This past academic year, VCSU awarded over $2 million in scholarship assistance. What a tremendous and positive difference this makes in the ability of so many students to achieve their dream of attaining a university degree.

As we enter the activities of the summer, we reflect with great appreciation for the contributions of so many who continue to support the mission of VCSU. We are very excited to move VCSU into the future.

Go Vikings!