Higher Ed

Food pantries on each of Iowa’s public universities have seen huge usage spikes of late – coinciding with rising tuition rates, soaring food prices and shifting demographics in a state seeing more first-generation, low-income and minority high school graduates headed to college.

The tumultuous and twisting Mercy Iowa City bankruptcy took another stunning turn Friday when the hospital revealed in a court filing that earlier in the day it re-opened the auction it already closed and changed its mind about who won – declaring the University of Iowa as having made the “higher or otherwise better” bid, instead of its largest bondholder Preston Hollow.

Two years ago, in summer of 2021, the NCAA suspended generations-old rules barring student-athletes from monetizing their “name, image, and likeness” – ushering in a new era allowing collegiate stars to capitalize on their fame.

“Marching band is a lot of work,” Lisbon native Renae Hasselbusch said. “There are times when we're on the field and it’s cold in November and it's no fun.” But there are more good times. Like when the Cyclones went to the Cheez-It Bowl in Orlando in 2021.

Mercy Iowa City’s delay in closing its bankruptcy sale is hurting hospital operations by, among other things, scaring away patients and providers, eroding community confidence, and adding expense to an estate already depleted of resources – according to a Wednesday court filing asking a judge to force the issue.

After taking a “short” five-hour break during a bankruptcy auction in Chicago on Oct. 4 to discuss whether to raise their original $20 million offer for Mercy Iowa City’s assets in response to bondholder Preston Hollow’s $27 million counter bid, University of Iowa attorneys — at least initially — decided not to.

For years, in an attempt to meet growing student demand for expanded mental health services on campus, the University of Iowa has been embedding counselors into high-need spaces — like its dental college, Department of Athletics, and residence halls.

The gift, given by Wilson Automotive Group owner and Chief Executive Officer David Wilson, represents the first time a college at the University of Northern Iowa has been named for a person.

As attorneys wrangle over dwindling money available to pay lawyers, bankers, creditors and employees with the now-bankrupt Mercy Iowa City, the hospital’s pensioners are asking for a voice too.

Unlike Iowa’s public universities that reported larger student bodies this fall than last, many of Iowa’s private colleges saw enrollment drop this semester. And even those bucking the decline have smaller student bodies today than they did years ago before the pandemic struck.

After declaring its largest bondholder Preston Hollow winner of a bankruptcy auction for its assets last week — and issuing a news release to that effect — Mercy Iowa City now is refusing to move forward with the transaction and transition to new ownership, confirming Friday it has “reached an impasse.”

“I can still remember we talked about it a lot,” Jerre Stead, 80, told a crowd of hundreds Thursday on the University of Iowa campus, where in earned his bachelor’s degree in 1965. “Mary Joy said, ‘Someday, if we ever are fortunate enough, having had multiple children born here, we want to give something back for that. We want to make a difference at the university’.”