[Humble_Opinion]

When I worked at LU I was exposed and involved in the strategic planning aspects of the business from a Finance perspective. Establishing a campus internationally has long been a consideration, so this doesn't surprise me. They've looked at a couple of different places in S. America for sure, but I do not recall them looking at Europe.

[Humble_Opinion]

The Champion Center is a dumb waste of money and space. Sorry it has to be said.

It's mostly a multi-purpose center which would definitely be useful as the residential population increases and more use for events when needed (if Vines Center is occupied). Look at the bigger picture while using the center as the center point for visitors including the welcome center next door.

Can't wait for the Champion Center to open. We are in need of a larger event space for multiple reasons. The Vines just doesn't work well for some larger events on campus.

When I look at the establishment of a new facility, I primarily look at it from a financial perspective. The usage of this facility will not be for the purpose of supporting revenue generation, which means it's heavily subsidized. At 68,000 SF, I'd estimate that the cost of construction plus the furnishings alone will be at least $45M. The annual operating costs of this facility (depreciation, utilities, and incremental employees to operate it) will be over $3M a year. Looking at the latest financial statements if you isolate the programmatic Revenues and Expenses (Student generated activity), the net margin per FTE is ~15% (Online and Resident). That means, to cover the annual cost of this facility, LU would have to add ~1,400 FTE. Now, that's using the blended Resident/Online population. The resident program is not self-sufficient at this point and is heavily reliant on LUO, where the margins are much better. Even if you assume a 40% margin per FTE (Online), you still need ~525 to fund the operation of this facility, excluding any maintenance needs that come down the road.

I like shiny new toys as well, but the core purpose of the university is to educate students in a Christ centered environment. This space is not essential to that end and is a waste of valuable resources. The more of these types of facilities you build, the more of a strain it puts on the revenue generating assets. If Online enrollment were to drop a third in the next 10 years (demographic shifts, AI, less need for degrees, etc.) the campus will become heavily reliant on the investment proceeds from the quasi-endowment. So yes, it’s a waste of resources. If you need to have an event space that can host 2,000 people, there are plenty of places to make this happen already.

[Humble_Opinion]

To continue... if you took the $45M you're spending on the building and put it in the investment fund assuming a ROR of 5% YOY and then continued to contribute the incremental operating expenses (cash perspective) that would have run ~$1.5M (unadjusted for inflation) each year, at the end of 30 yrs you contribute $91M in cash and have total returns of $218M, or an ROI of 239%. With that you could fund a 30% off scholarship for 530 students a year in perpetuity.