Vanessa Miller

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’.”

The University of Iowa this week officially exited the “silent“ portion of a new fundraising campaign, aiming to generate more than $3 billion, by announcing that it already is halfway to that goal — which, if achieved, would top its last capital campaign record by more than $1 billion.

The University of Iowa’s final bid to win the assets of Mercy Iowa City -- as part of its filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy -- was $28 million, plus an additional commitment of at least $25 million in “immediate facility upgrades,” new UI Health Care Vice President for Medical Affairs Denise Jamieson said in a question-and-answer about the Mercy deal.

The evening meal at the Gables’ with the Hawkeye women’s wrestling team, including Coach Clarissa Chun, was among several uniquely-Iowa experiences the Ukrainians had during this fall’s 10-day visit as part of an international training tour – organized out of necessity, given the realities of war have made training in Ukraine increasingly difficult.

In late May, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed new legislation into law requiring Iowa’s Board of Regents to report specific financial-success metrics of its public university graduates – including their median annual income one, five, and 10 years post-graduation; median debt of those who took out student loans; and the percent of a graduate’s income spent paying off student-loan debt.

Hospital, marking 150 years serving Iowa City, awaits sale approval from bankruptcy judge.

In response to Tuesday evening’s surprise news the University of Iowa won’t be taking over its long-time community health care competitor Mercy Hospital after being outbid in a bankruptcy auction for its assets, UI President Barbara Wilson and UI Health Care Vice President Denise Jamieson expressed disappointment Wednesday morning.

In a stunning turn of events many didn’t anticipate — including Mercy Iowa City and its executives — bondholder Preston Hollow Community Capital in a drawn out auction has outbid the University of Iowa for Mercy’s assets as part of the hospital’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case.

Protests are planned on the University of Iowa campus next week, when a conservative student organization plans to host a lecture from a teenage activist who “vehemently opposes the transition of minors.”

Mercy Iowa City's philanthropic foundation has — after contentious backroom negotiations — agreed to help fund the hospital’s operations as it navigates Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

University of Iowa College of Pharmacy Dean Donald E. Letendre will step down next summer -- aiming to continue leading the nationally-ranked college until his successor is hired. Even then, Letendre won’t be far -- intending to stay on faculty as a professor.

Without disclosing details about ongoing backroom auction deliberations, a U.S. bankruptcy judge has agreed to postpone “to a later date” a sale hearing for Mercy Iowa City’s assets that was scheduled for Tuesday.

Two days have passed since Mercy Iowa City opened an auction for substantially all its assets, and the hospital will head into the weekend without a new owner or operator -- notifying a U.S. bankruptcy judge Friday afternoon the auction “will resume next week.”